Our Mission, History & Impact
Our Mission
To provide a home-away-from-home to families of seriously ill children and support to organizations that serve the needs of children.
Our Core Values
- Acceptance – We care for others without prejudice and value diversity.
- Accountability – We commit to accepting responsibility for our actions and holding one another to the highest standards.
- Hospitality – We welcome everyone as if we are inviting them into our home, while maintaining a professional relationship.
- Integrity – We build trust through honesty, sincerity and mutual respect.
- Stewardship – We safeguard the time, talent and treasure with which we are entrusted.
History
Global RMHC History
In 1973, Philadelphia Eagles football player Fred Hill and his wife, Fran, learned that their daughter, Kim, had leukemia. While traveling into Philadelphia for treatment at the children’s hospital, they met other families in the same situation. These families drove hours to the hospital to be with their children, only to sleep overnight in waiting room chairs and to eat from vending machines because they had nowhere else to go.
Fred Hill and his football team decided to do something for these families… build them a “home-away-from-home” in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Eagles teamed up with local McDonald’s Owner/Operators to raise money, purchase and restore a house near the hospital where these families could stay. By October of 1974, the first Ronald McDonald House was born. Since that time, more than 350 Houses have been built worldwide.
Our RMHC St. Louis History
First Ronald McDonald House Opens - 1981
West Pine Boulevard
First House Expansion- 1984
West Pine Boulevard Expansion
Second House Expansion- 1989
Property to the West is purchased at West Pine
Second House Opens- 1996
Park Avenue
Long-term Apartment Building Opens-2003
Adjacent to West Pine House
First Ronald McDonald Family Room Opens- 2005
Mercy Children's Hospital
Second Family Room Opens- 2007
St. Louis Children's Hospital
Third Family Room Opens - 2008
SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital
First family Room Relocates 2010
Mercy Children's Hospital
West County Ronald McDonald House Opens- 2010
On the campus of Mercy Hospital and the 300th House in the world!
Second Family Room Renovations- 2018
St. Louis Children's Hospital
Third Family Room Renovations-2021
SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital
First Family Room Renovated- 2022
Third-floor at Mercy Children's Hospital
Fourth Family Room Opens-2022
NICU at Mercy Children's Hospital
First & Second Ronald McDonald Houses Retire - 2024
West Pine Boulevard and Park Avenue
The Grove Ronald McDonald House Opens - 2024
Forest Park Southeast Neighborhood
Achieving our mission is only possible through the help of donors and volunteers like you.