RMH

November 19, 2011
Toronto Sun
Sharon Lem

Toronto is now home to the largest Ronald McDonald House in the world.

Having outgrown Toronto's original Ronald McDonald House on Gerrard St. and turning away 70% of requests, the new home at 240 McCaul St. will provide housing for three times the number of parents and children in need, with 96 bedrooms to accommodate 81 families per night.  The Gerrard home--which opened in 1981 -- used to house 28 families per night.

"We're really excited. We've been waiting six year for this to come to fruition," Jane Marco, executive director of the Ronald McDonald House Toronto.

The new home -- which cost $33 million to build and another $3 million per year to operate--features a common kitchen, an accredited private school and programs for the kids being housed, outdoor gardens and a playground.

"Coming to Toronto from out of town is a frightening experience, along with the stress of the critical illness, so we want to provide a sanctuary and a place of respite for them," Marco said.

"We didn't start out to build the largest Ronald McDonald House in the world. It speaks to the world-class pediactric centres at the Hospital for Sick Children and Mount Sinai Hospital's neo-natal units, which brings critically ill children across this country and from around the world," Marco said.

For Sylvie Hauth and her 11-year-old daughter, Abbie, Toronto's Ronald McDonald House has been a lifeline.

The Thunder Bay girl was diagnosed with a tumour on her spine a year ago and underwent surgery at the Hospital for Sick Children.

For nearly a month, Hauth and her daughter stayed at Toronto's Ronald McDonald House on Gerrard in November and December 2010.

"Our stay at Ronald McDonald House was phenomenal. It was our first experience and it felt like a home away from home. We met other families whom we were able to emotionally connect with and we got strength from the staff during a most difficult time," Hauth said.

The Hauths -- who are in town for Abbie's followup appointment -- are staying at the newly opened Ronald McDonald House on McCaul.
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HOW THE HOUSE HELPS

every year, hundreds of families come to Toronto in search of treatment for their children. Without the House, these families would have to stay in hotels or sleep in waiting rooms to be close to their child. In 2009-10 the families who stayed came from far and wide:

* Ontario: 82%
* Western Canada: 8%
* Atlantic Canada: 6%
* International: 2%
* Northern Canada: 1%
* Quebec: 1%

Kids who stayed there were being treated for:
* Hematology/ Oncology: 30%
* Cardiac: 24%
* Neonatal: 15%
* Gastrointestinal: 8%
* Organ Failure/ Transplants: 5%

* Neurology: 3%
* Other issues: 15%

http://www.torontosun.com/2011/11/18/ronald-mcdonald-keeps-on-growing