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<\/a><\/a>\nThe children served by Ronald McDonald House Oakland are among UCSF Benioff Oakland\u2019s most medically fragile \u2014 children with cancer and sickle cell disease recovering from bone marrow transplants who, after discharge, face a mandatory 100-day monitoring period that requires them to remain near the hospital. For families who live far from Oakland, that reality presents an impossible equation: Stay near the hospital and bear the financial strain or go home and risk missing a critical moment in their child\u2019s recovery. RMHC Bay Area was founded to ensure families didn\u2019t have to make that choice.<\/p>
\n\u201cProximity isn\u2019t a luxury for these families \u2014 it\u2019s medicine. When a parent can walk to the hospital instead of driving for two hours, when they can sleep nearby instead of not sleeping at all, the entire family is stronger. And a stronger family means a stronger child.\u201d<\/i><\/p>
\n\u2014 Laura Keegan Boudreau, Chief Executive Officer, RMHC Bay Area<\/b><\/p>
\nThe expanded facility provides specialized, no-cost housing \u2014 private guest rooms, fully equipped shared kitchens, laundry facilities, communal living spaces, and access to meals and snacks at any hour. But Ronald McDonald House Oakland is designed to serve more than overnight residents. Every family navigating a medical crisis at UCSF Benioff Oakland is welcome to use the House as a daytime refuge: a place to decompress between appointments, share a meal, access resources, and find community with others who understand what this kind of fight looks like from the inside.<\/p>
\nRMHC Bay Area\u2019s Feed the Love meal program \u2014 which has provided hundreds of thousands of free meals inside the hospital since its launch in 2020 \u2014 will continue to support UCSF Benioff Oakland families, extending its reach to even more caregivers who need nourishment and strength to stay by their child\u2019s side.<\/p>
\n\u201cEvery child facing a serious illness deserves the comfort of having family close by, and every parent deserves the chance to be present for the moments that matter most. This expansion of Ronald McDonald House Oakland mirrors the work we are undertaking to modernize our Oakland hospital and expand access for East Bay residents. We are deeply grateful to RMHC Bay Area and everyone making it possible for more families to have a place to rest, gather strength, and stay near their child through some of the hardest days of their lives.\u201d<\/i><\/p>
\n\u2014 Nicholas Holmes, President, UCSF Benioff Children\u2019s Hospitals<\/b><\/p>
\nFounded in 1912, UCSF Benioff Oakland is the Bay Area\u2019s oldest children\u2019s hospital, a national leader in sickle cell disease treatment and research, and the safety net hospital for Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. The hospital performs bone marrow transplants for more than 20 children annually \u2014 each one beginning a 100-day post-discharge monitoring period that ties them, and their families, to the surrounding neighborhood for months at a time.<\/p>
\nWith today\u2019s expansion, RMHC Bay Area now operates a 21-bedroom Ronald McDonald House in Oakland alongside its 123-bedroom Ronald McDonald House at Stanford \u2014 one of the largest pediatric family housing facilities in the world \u2014 and a Ronald McDonald House Family Room at UCSF Benioff Children\u2019s Hospital San Francisco.<\/p>
\n\u201cThe expansion is proof of what Oakland has always known: this community shows up. The outpouring of support since we opened our first doors \u2014 from donors, volunteers, hospital partners, and neighbors \u2014 made this moment possible. UCSF Benioff Children\u2019s Hospital Oakland and RMHC Bay Area are united by a belief that all families should have access to the best care possible. We are here to stay by their side so they can stay by their child\u2019s.\u201d<\/i><\/p>
\n\u2014 Ross Glasser, Board President, RMHC Bay Area<\/b><\/p>
\nHelp a Family Stay in Their Child\u2019s Fight<\/p>
\nEvery child at UCSF Benioff Oakland is fighting. So is every parent pacing a hospital hallway, every sibling sleeping on a waiting room chair, every family trying to hold itself together under unbearable pressure. RMHC Bay Area exists to hold them up \u2014 to provide resources and support that allow families to stay by their child\u2019s side for as long as that child needs them there. We stay by their side so they can be by their child\u2019s.<\/p>
\n\u201cThe families of the most vulnerable patients in our care aren\u2019t just fighting a critical illness \u2014 they\u2019re fighting the weight of everything that surrounds it: the distance from home, the financial pressure, the exhaustion of being stretched too thin. Ronald McDonald House relieves those burdens one by one. This expansion means more of our children get to look up from a hospital bed and see the people who love them most sitting right beside them.\u201d<\/i><\/p>
\n\u2014 Judie Boehmer, Chief Nursing Officer, UCSF Benioff Children\u2019s Hospitals<\/b><\/p>
\nSince opening in 2023, the seven-bedroom Ronald McDonald House Oakland has provided nearly 4,000 nights of supportive housing for families with critically ill children, helping offset nearly $900,000 in out-of-pocket expenses through no-cost lodging, meals, and essential support resources. With the expansion to 21 rooms, RMHC Bay Area expects to provide 8,000 nights of respite and care annually while providing nearly $1.8 million in economic relief.<\/p>
\nLocal businesses and community members can help make the House like home by donating household goods, care supplies, and essential items by ordering items from the Ronald McDonald House wish list \u2014 or by making a financial gift that keeps families together when they need it most. Visit rmhcbayarea.org\/oakland<\/a> for wish lists, volunteer opportunities, and ways to give. For additional information, contact RMHC Bay Area at 650.470.6000.<\/p> \nRSVP \/ CREDENTIALS<\/b><\/p> \nMedia planning to attend are asked to RSVP to:<\/p> \nOakland House Expansion [PRESS]<\/a><\/p>