What We Do

Our mission

Ronald McDonald House Charities of San Diego provides a home-away-from-home for children and their families while the child is treated for serious, often life-threatening illnesses at San Diego hospitals.

Our Purpose

Here at Ronald McDonald House, we are a home-away-from-home and more for families with seriously ill children in treatment at area hospitals. Seven days a week, 365 days a year, we provide lodging to family members of sick children who otherwise might sleep in hospital waiting rooms, in their car or drive long distances home and back. We also provide a Family Care Center for use during the day for anyone with a child in the hospital.

Last year, Ronald McDonald House provided housing for 43 families per month, and offered a reprieve during the day for 1,200 families per month. With our new 47-bedroom House, we expect to serve 20,000 families per year by providing bedrooms and a Family Care Center to those who need us. It costs $140 per night to provide a bedroom to a family, which often includes siblings and the sick child.

Studies show that when family members stay close their ailing child, the child heals better and family members cope better. A bed near the hospital, a warm meal, a hot shower and access to laundry facilities can make all the difference to those who sit by their sick child’s bedside day in and day out. Because of our new larger Ronald McDonald House, we can provide so many more families the comfort and necessities needed to cope when their lives are turned upside down by their child’s illness.