Ronald McDonald House Charities Of Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana

Our goal is to be a trusted and valued partner in Chicagoland's medical community. From providing housing for families to be close to their hospitalized child to providng direct medical care in vulnerable communities, RMHC-CNI helps families gain access to the medical care they need for their children.

Through the Ronald McDonald House Program we aim to:
1) Reduce the emotional and financial stress families experience during their child's medical crisis.
2) Enhance the pediatric patient's experience/recovery at the hospital by keeping the family close by.
3) Increase the ability of parents to spend more time with their hospitalized children, to interact with their clinical care providers, and to participate in care decisions and provision.
4) Enhance families overall hospital experience by keeping them close to the care and resources they need.
5) Help strengthen coping abilities by providing a sense of community.

Through the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile program we aim to:
1) Address the community's most critical childhood health needs
2) Complement existing healthcare services in target communities and
3) Eliminate many of the barriers under-served families in our region face in accessing healthcare services.

Through our Scholarship program we will:
1) Provide financial assistance to community-minded and academically outstanding students to pursue their higher educational goals with an emphasis on assisting past Ronald McDonald House families (pediatric patient or sibling), youth volunteers and students with a healthcare related focus.

For nearly forty years, together RMHC-CNI's leadership, staff and volunteer corps have been able to carry out and grow the mission throughout our community. Additionally, RMHC globally is a mature network of local and national entities that has a presence in over 60 countries and territories impacting nearly 7 million children and families each year. To be a licensed chapter of this network requires high performance standards in the areas of programming, fundraising and non-profit administration. RMHC of Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana excels in each of these areas and is widely recognized as a high performing chapter throughout the network.

Throughout the charity's forty-year existence, RMHC-CNI has been able to answer the call of providing for the health and well-being of children and families in our area. Our leadership team consisting of our board of directors, house councils, together with staff and volunteers deliver on providing the programs but also on raising the resources necessary to fund the operation.

We have a development team focused on raising dollars in the community through special events, major gifts, grant-making, corporate gifts and McDonald's initiatives.

Since the opening of our original House in 1977, RMHC-CNI has grown its partnerships in Chicago's medical community to provide eight facilities in the area:
1986 - opening of the Ronald McDonald House near University of Chicago Children's Comer Hospital
1995 - opening of the Ronald McDonald House near University of Loyola Medical Center
2006 - original Hyde Park House replaced with larger facility; Family Room at UCCCH opens.
2008 - opening of the Ronald McDonald House near Children's Advocate Hospital
2012 - opening of the world's largest Ronald McDonald House - the Ronald McDonald House near Lurie Children's Hospital (replacing the original House) and opening of the Ronald McDonald Family Rooms in Edward Hospital and Lurie Children's Hospital
2015 - opening of the Ronald McDonald House near Central DuPage Hospital
2022 - Construction beginning on a new Ronald McDonald House inside Northwestern Prentice Hospital, and a new Ronald McDonald Family Room within Advocate Children's Hospital in Park Ridge.

Collectively, 172 rooms are available to keep families close to their hospitalized children each night of the year.

The Ronald McDonald Care Mobile debuted in 2008. This partnership with Advocate Children's Hospital has provided medical screenings for over 14,000 at-risk children residing in Chicagoland communities. A second care mobile was added in 2017 that helped the medical team grow its reach and impact from 2,000 children to an estimated 6,800 children each year.