New Ronald McDonald House design focuses on the families

There are not many homes in St. Louis with 72 bedrooms, but that is the room count at the newly opened Ronald McDonald House in the Forest Park Southeast (the Grove) neighborhood. Providing a welcoming place to stay for families with seriously ill children traveling to St. Louis to receive care at any of the area hospitals, the new 76,000 square foot family oasis replaces two older Ronald McDonald Houses in the city that have been closed.

“Our houses allow a family to concentrate on the well-being of their child,” says Judy Schuler, the former vice president of operations who had an important role in the design of the home. “Guest families do not need to worry about where they can afford to stay, shop, cook, eat or sleep.”

To accomplish that mission, staff members greet new guest families in private welcome rooms to brief them about a stay. “Often with a recent diagnosis, they do not know if they are arriving ‘on foot or horseback,’” Schuler says. “There is also a welcome desk where someone is available to answer questions throughout the day.”

Each guest room is actually a mini suite, consisting of two rooms separated by a full bath. Some are two bedrooms, while in others the second room has a couch. All have desks, large screen televisions, WI-FI access and artwork on the walls.

For meals, the house includes a commercial kitchen led by an on-staff chef serving breakfast and dinner in a cafeteria, as well as a large family kitchen where guest families can cook for themselves. “Having the ability to prepare their own food is important to make a family feel more at home,” Schuler says. “Often they feel so much of a part of a community here, they want to make cookies or treats for all our guest families, or just make a meal on their own that is a family favorite.”

For guest families with a child being treated for an immune suppressed illness requiring an enhanced sterilized surrounding, a separate wing with 10 bedrooms, limited access, and a dedicated outside entrance is part of the home.

Allyson Huggins of Popular Bluff, Missouri, recently stayed at the Ronald McDonald House on West Pine before the new home opened. “Our son Bryar was born weighing 1 pound, 13 ounces and we stayed almost three months,” she remembers. “For my husband and me, it was the way we could be close to the hospital, unwind, get a good meal, a nice rest, and do it all over again the next day.”

Additionally, it allowed the Huggins family to spend time with their other son, Ty Jentry, who was 6 years old. “One of us would be at the hospital with Bryar and the other would stay at RMH with Ty. But, knowing that both of my children were close by made it so much easier during the hardest time of our lives.”

Beyond the staff and 300 volunteers, some unexpected touches make a stay feel more like home than might be expected. Doors into each bedroom suite are made to look more like a paneled front door of a home, and beside each door is a mailbox for guests to receive mail during a long stay.

Also, abstract art decorates the walls in every public space and guest room. “All the art was selected to be bright and upbeat,” Schuler says. “Each piece is meant to be comforting and something to take a guest’s mind off what they are going through.”

“We wanted to give back to the community, so we used many St. Louis area artists,” Schuler adds, mentioning the names of Jessica Hitchcock, Sheppard Morose, Nicholas Kriefall, Lauren Younge, Aly Ytterberg and Zack Smithey.

Other amenities include a large St. Louis Cardinals Care Family Room furnished with red themed walls and furniture, and tables with a baseball motif. Next door, is the St. Louis Blues Game Room room with a hockey themed activity room decorated in blue and yellow, which includes a wall of hockey sticks and several computer game consoles.

A large outdoor third floor patio room, yoga studio and a salon for visiting volunteer hairdressers are also in the home.

A “free store” is stocked with complimentary personal items that may have been forgotten at home, as well as stuffed animals and other goodies to make a child feel comfortable.

“Before adding this new house with more bedrooms than we had before, each night we usually had requests for 25 more guest rooms than we could accommodate,” Schuler says. “Hopefully now we be able to welcome everyone needing our service.”