Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Washington D.C.

Ronald McDonald House Charities® of Greater Washington, DC (RMHCDC) eases the hardship of children’s illness on families through programs that directly improve the health and wellbeing of children.

RONALD McDONALD HOUSE®: Keeping families close.

Many families travel far from home and often spend weeks or months away to get the best treatment for their seriously ill or injured children. This is a long time to be away or to divide a family. And, for children facing a serious medical crisis, nothing seems scarier than not having mom and dad close by for love and support. Our Ronald McDonald Houses provide a home for families so they can stay close by their hospitalized child at little or no cost.

Our Houses are built on the simple idea that nothing else should matter when a family is focused on the health of their child - not where they can afford to stay or where they will get their next meal. We believe that when a child is hospitalized the love and support of family is as powerful as the strongest medicine. Staying at our Houses improves adherence to needed treatment plans and allows better communication with the child's medical team. Over the last 36 years, stressed families have stayed more than 191,050 nights at our Houses.

RONALD McDONALD CARE MOBILE® PROGRAM: Keeping children healthy.

Our KIDS Mobile Medical Clinic/Ronald McDonald Care Mobile (KMMC/RMCM) delivers free health care to children, ages birth to 21, living in underserved communities in the District of Columbia. These children are often at risk and have poor access to comprehensive pediatric medical services. The KMMC/RMCM, operated in association with MedStar Georgetown, provides high quality, cost-effective, family-centered medical care to these children regardless of financial means.

The FITNESS (Fun in Teaching Nutrition and Exercise to Successful Students) Program is a new initiative of RMHC DC and MedStar Georgetown. Partnering with local schools in DC, MD and VA, this second mobile unit will deliver a curriculum focusing on healthy eating and the importance of physical activity to students in grades K-8.

RONALD McDONALD FAMILY ROOM: Supporting family-centered care.

Our Ronald McDonald Family Rooms (RMFR) in the Hematology/Oncology unit at Children's National and at Inova Children’s Hospital complement our partner hospitals’ family-centered approach to patient care. The Family Rooms provide families a place to regroup just steps from their child and make it easier for parents to actively participate in their child's treatment plan.