The Bakersfield Ronald McDonald House® (BRMH) opened its doors on Thursday, June 4, 2009 with a grand opening celebration witnessed by community leaders, medical officials, and, most importantly, families for whom the facility is intended.
A program of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern California, the BRMH is a three bedroom facility which serves as a “home-away-from-home” for families of seriously ill children receiving treatment for cancer and other serious illnesses at Bakersfield Memorial Hospital and other nearby medical facilities. In addition to providing overnight accommodations for families who live more than 25-miles from Bakersfield Memorial Hospital, the BRMH also provides day-use services to local residents whose children are receiving treatment in the hospital’s pediatric and neonatal intensive care units.
Equipped with private bathrooms and showers, a kitchen and dining area, a living room, and a computer room, the BRMH provides low-cost, often free, lodging and much needed support for families in crisis. The House helps alleviate families’ stress by providing an escape inside of the hospital where parents can find relief and camaraderie by talking with, and just being surrounded by, others in similar circumstances, yet have the comfort of being down the hall from their hospitalized child.
“We are thrilled to open the Bakersfield Ronald McDonald House,” said Vince Bryson, executive director, BRMH. “Through our partnership with Bakersfield Memorial Hospital, this House is truly going to make a difference to families who are going through a very difficult time in their lives.”
For more than 30 years, RMHCSC has been committed to providing comfort, care and support to children and families in Southern California. RMHCSC is dedicated to creating a community where children and their families embrace life and healing with a sense of hope, enthusiasm, courage and joy. RMHCSC operates five Ronald McDonald Houses, Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times, two Ronald McDonald Family Rooms, four scholarship programs and a Community Grants Board.
Additional Southern California Ronald McDonald Houses are located in Loma Linda, Los Angeles, Orange and Pasadena, with one under development in Long Beach. Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times provides free sleep-away camp experiences for kids with cancer and their families. The Ronald McDonald Family Rooms, located in Children’s Hospital of Orange County in Orange and Mission Viejo, provide the comfort and care of a Ronald McDonald House in a hospital setting. The four scholarship programs have awarded more than $3.3 million in college scholarships to deserving high school seniors since 1990. The Community Grants Board has awarded nearly 700 grants totaling more than $14.5 million to Southern California non-profit organizations that directly benefit children. |
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