RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF CENTRAL TEXAS INC
Keeping Families Close
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Texas keeps families close to each other and the care their children need by providing temporary lodging, meals and other support services,
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Ronald McDonald House
We serve approximately 800 families annually by providing temporary lodging, meals and support services to families with ill or injured children. The 30 suite-style Ronald McDonald House is located next to Dell Children’s Medical Center in Austin. Guest rooms have living room areas, private bathrooms, TVs, and computers. There is a warm and welcoming community kitchen where volunteer groups prepare meals for families twice daily, a fitness room, laundry rooms, a video game room, a Community Room that is open and available for community and corporate groups to use for meeting space, three roof top gardens, and free Wi-Fi.
Families who stay at the Ronald McDonald House must live 25 miles or more away from the hospital. They are asked to make a suggested donation of $20/night (actual operating cost is $100/night) however, no one is turned away for inability to pay.
Our program operates 24 hours per day, 365 days a year.
Ronald McDonald Family Rooms
For families with children in the neonatal or pediatric intensive care units, RMHC CTX operates six Ronald McDonald Family Rooms located within Central Texas hospitals, often steps away from a pediatric or neonatal intensive care unit.
When families walk into a Ronald McDonald Family Room, the goal is to help them forget they’re in a hospital. The Family Rooms offer a place to rest and regroup and be moments away from their sick child. Designed to ease some burdens for families – like traveling to and from the hospital – the Ronald McDonald Family Rooms are comforting spaces that allow families to focus on the most important thing – their child’s healing. The facilities typically include sleep rooms, a kitchen with snacks and drinks, laundry facilities, full bathroom, living area with children’s play area, internet access and televisions. There are no geographic restrictions to using the room and no cost to families.
Healing Hearts Program
The Healing Hearts program helps families who have lost children by providing burial assistance and bereavement counseling. Often, families faced with this tragic loss do not have the financial means to cover the cost of properly interring their child and our burial assistance helps ease the financial burden. Additionally, RMHC CTX hosts bereavement counseling programs in the Ronald McDonald House community room with a licensed counselor and private space for sessions to help families who have lost children. Counseling services are also provided to families in the Brazos Valley.
Happy Wheels Carts
The Happy Wheels Carts stroll the hospitals and provide families with hospitalized children complimentary items that provide comfort. Snacks, beverages, books and toys are provided.
Where we work
Awards
Ethics in Business & Community Award - Nonprofit 2016
RecognizeGood
Nonprofit of the Year 2017
Cedar Park Chamber of Commerce
RecognizeGood Legend Award 2019
RecognizeGood
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of families served
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Caregivers, Families, Parents
Related Program
Ronald McDonald House
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Total number of families served through Ronald McDonald House, Ronald McDonald Family Rooms and Healing Hearts programs.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn 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?
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Texas' goal is to ensure all families with critically ill or injured children have access to temporary lodging and support services while their children are in the hospital or enduring outpatient treatment. Helping a sick child fight their illness takes an emotional toll on a family. Adding a financial strain can make it almost unbearable. Our goal is to help address those concerns by keeping families close to the care their sick children need. Through the Ronald McDonald House and Ronald McDonald Family Rooms, RMHC CTX provides resources so families can stay together during this time of greatest need. This family-centered care supports the healing process for children, reduces financial burdens for families, provides critical psycho-social support, enhances clinical outcomes and helps families resume normal activities more quickly.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Texas provides lodging and support services to families with critically ill or injured children at the Ronald McDonald House, a 30-guest suite house, and six Ronald McDonald Family Rooms located inside Central Texas hospitals. These two programs provide family centered care to ensure families stay together and have what they need while their children are hospitalized or in treatment.
The Happy Wheels Cart program brings RMHC CTX directly to families in the hospital. The Carts stroll the hallways of five Central Texas hospitals to deliver complimentary items such as snacks, juice, small toys, and toiletries to families spending long hours at their child's bedside.
The Healing Hearts program supports families who tragically suffer the loss of the child. Burial assistance is provided to families and bereavement support through the HOPE Support Group offers a six-week session led by a licensed counselor. The HOPE Support Group is complimentary.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
RMHC CTX is able to meet our goal of supporting families with critically ill or injured children by the generous support of our community. Their contributions, both financially, in-kind and through volunteerism, allow RMHC CTX to provide the lodging, resources and support services needed to ensure families can stay together and close the care their children need. In 2018, the generosity of our community saved our families nearly $2.1 million in lodging and support services.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Each year, RMHC CTX continues to support thousands of families from Central Texas and beyond who need support services while their children seek medical treatment. In 2018, we provided a record 11,529 room nights to families staying at the Ronald McDonald House and Ronald McDonald Family Rooms. In addition to lodging, families were provided daily meals, laundry facilities, computer access and additional resources to ensure they had what they needed so they could focus on the most important thing -- their children's health. RMHC CTX also supported 11,025 individuals by providing complimentary items from our Happy Wheels Carts that stroll the hallways of five Central Texas hospitals. And 173 families who tragically lost a child were supported by our Healing Hearts program that provides burial assistance and bereavement support. RMHC CTX was able to provide these services as a result of the generosity of our community.
As we move forward and the Central Texas community continues to grow, we will ensure we have the services available to support families as they face a pediatric medical crisis.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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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 understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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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 act on the feedback we receive
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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
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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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 CENTRAL TEXAS INC
Board of directorsas of 08/25/2023
David Ritter
Alvarez & Marsal
Term: 2022 - 2024
Ryan Meyer
Frost Bank
JoAnn Dalrymple
Jackson Walker LLP
Thomas Fowler
Silicon Labs
Anne Smalling
HM International, LLC
Earl Wurzbach
McDonald's
Patrick Ley
ECR
Bobby Boenigk
Entrepreneur
Nicky Brennig
Jackson Walker
Tam Hawkins
Greater Austin Black Chamber of Commerce
Katie Owen
JP Morgan
BG Joe E. Ramirez
Retired
Molly Sherman
St. David's HealthCare
Christopher Szeliga
JE Dunn Construction
Thomas Aylor
Christopher Born
Dell Children's Medical Center
David Aronica
FlowEngine
David Ritter
Alvarez & Marsal
Meredith Silliman
Jackson Walker LLP
Garry Wiseman
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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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
No data
Gender identity
No data
Transgender Identity
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data