RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF ARKANSAS INC
Keeping Families Close
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
When a child is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, the family faces incredible stress. Children sent to Little Rock are hospitalized/receive outpatient treatment for days, weeks, months, or more than a year. Few families have the financial resources to stay in a hotel for an extended period, which can also be isolating in a stressful situation; there are no hotels in the immediate vicinity of the hospital. Instead of sleeping in a waiting room, car, or child's hospital room, the Ronald McDonald House and the Ronald McDonald Family Room give families comfortable suites, meals, services, activities for their other children, and more. Central Arkansas also has a large, underserved population of children who have neither access nor financial resources to seek relief from dental pain and overcome barriers to much-needed dental care and education; the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile provides these services free to the most vulnerable children in their own community.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
The Ronald McDonald House (RMH)
RMH provides a "home-away-from-home" for families of critically ill or injured children receiving life-saving treatment at a local hospital. Families of children may stay free of charge at the House in a private family suite with meals, laundry facilites, play spaces for siblings, and many other comforts of home.
The Ronald McDonald Care Mobile (RMCM)
The Care Mobile is a 40-ft mobile dental unit providing free dental care and education to under-served children in their own neighborhoods. The Care Mobile travels to low income school districts in central Arkansas (six counties) that have the greatest number of children on the free and reduced lunch program. The program provides full service dental care including cleanings, sealants, x-rays, fillings, and root canals, as well as oral health education. In 2018 the program added one single location during the summer, making this a 48-week program annually.
Ronald McDonald Family Room - UAMS
The Ronald McDoald Familiy Room is located on the NICU floor of UAMS Hospital. Open 8AM-8PM to all NICU families, they can enjoy quiet moments of respite, a cup of coffee, snacks, a meal, start a load of laundry, and freshen up with a shower. Each night families may spend the night in one of four comfortable rooms, steps from their critical infant's bedside, allowing them to stay together as a family.
Where we work
Awards
Nonprofit Organization of the Year 2016
Arkansas Business Publishing Group
High Impact Nonprofit of the Year 2016
Nonprofit Alliance
Spirit of Arkansas 2018
Rainwater Holt & Sexton
Nonprofit Executive of the Year Finalist 2020
Arkansas Business Publishing Group
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of nights families were able to stay close to their child receiving treatment at area hospitals at the Ronald McDonald House
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Families
Related Program
The Ronald McDonald House (RMH)
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Nights of restful sleep for families at the Ronald McDonald House, Ronald McDonald Family Room and Hotel Nights (since 2020; prior to 2020 no Family Room or Hotel Nights).
Number of children served
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
The Ronald McDonald House (RMH)
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
COVID has impacted our numbers the last couple of years. We expect to serve close to our typical year of about 1200 families in 2023
Number of hygiene kits distributed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Average length of stay (in days)
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
The Ronald McDonald House (RMH)
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
COVID impacted our length of stay in 2020.
Number of children and adults who receive preventive dental treatment twice per year
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Low-income people
Related Program
The Ronald McDonald Care Mobile (RMCM)
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of meals served or provided
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
The Ronald McDonald House (RMH)
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
RMHC Arkansas provides a "home-away-from-home" for families when they are most vulnerable-when their child is critically ill or injured, undergoing surgery, diagnosed with cancer or another illness, a baby is born premature, a child has been critically burned or is receiving a transplant or outpatient cancer treatment. Our goal is to keep the family together and provide them with the highest level of comfort and compassion, steps away from the hospital. At no cost to the families who stay with us, the Ronald McDonald House provides them with a comfortable suite so they can get the rest they need to make critical medical decisions for their child. Also included are meals, personal care services, play spaces for children, and activities so that families find respite and can focus on what matters most - their child's recovery. Since 1981 we have garnered support from community partners, volunteers, donors, and key stakeholders to ensure 42,000+ families served have had fewer worries during their darkest days. Together with our partner, Arkansas Children's Hospital, we provide free dental services and education to under-served children in six Central Arkansas counties through the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile (since 2009.) In January 2020 we opened the Ronald McDonald Family Room at UAMS, located on the neonatal intensive care floor (NICU). Here we serve an additional 1200+ families annually, provide overnight rooms, lounge area, wifi, laundry, snacks, dinner, a play space for young siblings, as well as a shower and additional laundry space where families can freshen up, steps from their baby's room.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Under the leadership of our Board of Directors, committees, volunteers, and staff, we provide key services to families and children through our three core programs. Our program staff is dedicated to ensuring each family staying in the Ronald McDonald House and Ronald McDonald Family Room has the services and support they need. Our development team is highly focused on raising the capital needed to support and expand these services through grants, corporate gifts, two special events, individual and major gifts, a pop tab recycling program, an annual partner program, and by seeking strategic in-kind donors. Hundreds of community volunteers provide countless hours of support and services. Also, we are beneficiaries of the McDonald's donation box program in our co-op area and receive other donations from their special fundraising initiatives (8% of our budget). In August of 2021 our board met for a retreat to develop its 2022-2026 strategic plan; it also engaged staff, families (past and present), medical and community partners, and key stakeholders. To reach the2026 vision of RMHCA, our efforts in the following four areas:
Focus Area A: Evolving and Enriching Family Care
We will model best practices in family care and operations. Through state-of-the-art facilities, innovative services and a well-staffed, top-tier team of employees and volunteers, we will meet the needs of the families we serve with empathy and compassion.
Focus Area B: Increasing Access to Quality Healthcare
We commit to expanding our capacity to better meet the needs of families in Little Rock and in other parts of our territory. An assessment of both short-term and long-term opportunities will inform our direction for growth. To support expansion, we will increase our donor base and partnerships in the geographic areas we serve.
Focus Area C: Elevating our Mission and Brand
We will work to build awareness and deepen understanding of our mission and impact throughout the RMHCA territory. Guided by a marketing and communications plan, we will strategically maximize the impact of our advertising dollars.
Focus Area D: Building our Capacity to Govern through Growth
We will strengthen and diversify our board to ensure capacity to govern through an anticipated period of growth. Engaged board members will be critical to our successful expansion as we increase access to quality healthcare across our territory.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
In addition to a highly-skilled, compassionate and mission-focused staff, our board of directors recruits other high-level, experienced professionals who have specific skill sets and spheres of influence. We seek similarly focused individuals from our community to serve on our committees. We benefit from worldwide brand recognition, scope, outreach and best practices acquired through our affiliation with the global organization, Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC). We provide opportunities for staff to seek professional development, including programs offered by RMHC and other relevant conferences, as well as participation in local professional development organizations. Important to meeting our goals, we work diligently to develop and maintain strong relationships with key stakeholders and donors. We value our growing volunteer base, who donate thousands of hours each year to support and expand our programs as well.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
In 2017, the first full year in the newly constructed, 32-family suite House we served the greatest number of families ever -1,138 - providing 9,619 nights of restful sleep. Together with volunteers and donors who support our meal program, 39,470 meals were served, snacks, 1,759 visits for kids to the Toy Closet, 1,800 items of free clothing and accessories from the on-site Red Carpet boutique, clothing for children from preemies to size 6, and 100+ haircuts in our volunteer-staffed hair salon. The Ronald McDonald Care Mobile provided 2,146 dental services to 366 children during the school year. To expand reach, in the summer of '18 this program extended its service from 38 to 48 weeks, with the addition of one summer location in an under-served area of Little Rock.
As a result of a year-long practicum project conducted by a graduate-level team from the Clinton School of Public Service, a plan for expansion of services was presented in April 2018 and the Ronald McDonald Family Room at UAMS opened in January 2020. This program serves an additional 1200+ families annually; it is located on the NICU floor of UAMS Hospital. All of the above services are free.
When the pandemic was declared in 2020, we were faced with two large challenges - how do we serve families when the healthcare system imposed stringent restrictions on family access to patients in the hospital and how to replace lost income from canceled fundraising events.
To address the needs of families, we created a mobile meal program. In 2020 we prepared and delivered more than 20,000 meals, including breakfast bags, hearty snack bags, and hot dinners for parents who chose to remain at their child's bedside, due to the risk of COVID exposure. Additionally, we provided parents with personal care bags, including items they needed to feel refreshed after long days in the hospital. These beneficial programs launched from the COVID-19 crisis are providing a great benefit to families now and continue to do so in the future.
Enforcing social distancing continues as anm important component of communal living for families with the most vulnerable little patients. We continue funding short-term hotel stays for families for those families who are unable to meet criteria for long term stays, to protect families from increased exposure.
Since early 2020, when fundraising avenues all but dissolved we created new fundraising strategies and have ended both 2020 and 2021 a $500,000 surplus each year.
Additional strategyies, and determination to serve families during COVID-19 restrictions, continue to enhance our current programs and inspires us to serve families in new ways moving forward.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
-
How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
-
Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive
-
What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, We don’t have the right technology to collect and aggregate feedback efficiently, It is difficult to get honest feedback from the people we serve, It is difficult to identify actionable feedback, When famlies check out, some times they just want to get home.
Financials
Unlock nonprofit financial insights that will help you make more informed decisions. Try our monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights?
Learn more
about GuideStar Pro.
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF ARKANSAS INC
Board of directorsas of 05/25/2023
David Avery
Windstream
Term: 2018 - 2023
Brad Hegeman
Nabholz Construction
Chris Knollmeyer
Ben E. Keith Foods
Clinton McDonald
Lion and Lamb Investments
Tim McMennamy
Innerplan Office Interiors
David Petrino
Tyson Foods
Marcy Woods-Robinson
Martin-Brower
Phyllis Rogers
AFMC
Shelia Vaught
Wedding Planner
Dennis Young
Eric Mangham
Arkansas Federal Credit Union
Lanny Nickell
Southwest Power Pool
Sam Baxter
First Orion
Brent Beaulieu
Baptist Health
Amy Fallon
Arkansas Children's Hospital
Cale Block
Barber Law Firm
John Carter
Huffman and Co
Susan Davenport
Forvis (formerly BKD)
Stephanie Fletcher
Wishing Well Ranch
Eliecer Palacios
McDonald's Owner/Operator
Sara Peeples, M.D.
UAMS
Michelle Rupp
AFMC
Deb Sefcik
First Community Bank
Gregory Sharp, M.D.
Arkansas Children's
Barry Simon
Datamax
Paula Coffield Styers
Relyance Bank
Michelle Timmermans
JB Hunt
Darryl Webb
McDonald's Owner/Operator
Amanda Williams
Arkansas Farm Bureau
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
-
Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 05/25/2023GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.