Ronald McDonald House Charities of Memphis Celebrates 25 Years

Focus Mid-South

Ray Rico, a Latinx advocate, owns a digital marketing agency and publishes Focus LGBT magazine, amplifying LGBTQ+ voices in Tennessee and the Mid-South. He champions HIV advocacy, fighting stigma and discrimination. Through his work, Ray strives for a more inclusive society.

courtesy Ronald McDonald House Charities of Memphis

Ronald McDonald House Charities of Memphis®, at no charge to our guests, provides supportive services and “keeps families close” while children are receiving treatment for cancer and other catastrophic childhood illnesses at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Since opening its doors in 1991, Ronald McDonald House of Memphis has provided a home, at no charge to our guests, for more than 9,400 children from nearly every state and 45 countries.

It is our aim at Ronald McDonald House of Memphis to give our families more time with their sick child. That means more hugs, more kisses, and more “I love you’s.” Families are stronger when they are together, and their presence helps a sick child heal faster and cope better.

We enable families to focus on the health of their children rather than anything else, such as paying bills, cooking meals, or cleaning the house. Families are allowed to preserve a sense of normalcy with warm beds, warm meals, and warm hugs from other families fighting the same battle.

One example is Emma, who is 14 years old and from Decatur, Ill. In 2015 an X-ray of Emma showed a mass. After she was diagnosed as having Ewing Sarcoma, she and her mother Jenny headed to Memphis. Three different times they have stayed at Ronald McDonald House of Charities® of Memphis. Jenny said, “Emma’s treatment is more bearable because you are not constantly at the hospital.”

Twenty five years after opening, RMHC Memphis is more than just a home. RMHC Memphis provides supportive programs that have a local impact such as the Family Field Trip Program so that families experience Memphis; the Chefs in the House Program so that they experience the food our city’s talented chefs provide; the Wings of Love Bereavement Program to support them after the battle is fought; and the Perseverance Scholarship Program to encourage patients to pursue their dreams.

Volunteers contribute their time to prepare meals for families, host movie and pizza nights, clean and organize kitchens, and play areas, restock pantries and staff the front desk. By cooking meals, cleaning kitchens and play areas, volunteers allow families more time to spend with their sick children.

To learn more about volunteer opportunities, contact our Volunteer and Program Manager Deenean Wilson-Henderson at deenean@rmhc-memphis.org or by calling 901.312.7478.

In the words of a parent, “RMHC Memphis is way better than having to stay in a hotel room especially when you have to be here a longer time”. To another, RMHC Memphis is “shelter, relationship, and sharing of burdens.” One teenager says, “Thank you for making these incredibly difficult medical treatments a little bit easier for patients and families.” A young girl adds, “Thank you for all the support you have given to my family and everybody else. What you give is what we really need.” According to the father of one patient, RMHC Memphis has an “impact within the healing process, not so much within the medical-healing part of things but the spiritual part of things, the soul-helping part.”

While RMHC Memphis cannot make medicine taste better or take away painful treatments, we can help lessen the burden and ensure families have the stability and resources they need to keep their child healthy and happy. RMHC Memphis is “Keeping Families Close” so they can face the weight of illness together.