Our Mission
Ronald McDonald House Charities® of Greater Washington, DC (RMHCDC) eases the hardship of children’s illness on families through programs that directly improve the health and wellbeing of children.
We help families struggling with problems like how to stay near and support a hospitalized child, how to afford staying together in another city while a child is undergoing treatment, or even how to get basic medical care in a vulnerable community. We provide solutions for these and other issues related to easing the hardship of children’s illness on families through three core programs that focus on the critical needs of children, celebrating the diversity of the donors who make them possible, staying true to our heritage of responsible stewardship, and operating with accountability and transparency.
Our Vision
RMHCDC is the catalyst to create a world where children have access to quality health care and their families are able to better comfort and support them while actively participating in their care. We continually work to improve and expand our core programs, while also developing new services to address the unique needs of the communities we serve. We don’t do it alone. We rely on you – our donors, volunteers, staff and friends.
The Problem and Our Purpose
Faced with a child’s illness, life stops overnight and parents enter a world of fear and worry.
For parents who don’t live close to the medical care their child needs, there’s an added stress – Distance. Most families have to travel hours for treatment. Living expenses quickly add up. Long drives, lost jobs, worried siblings, sleeping in cars. Being far from family and friends. These are extra burdens no family should have to experience. Help even more families stay close through the biggest challenge of their lives. Together, we can do big things.
While RMHCDC cannot make medicine taste better or take away painful treatments, we can help lessen the burden and ensure thousands of families a year have the stability and resources they need, when they need it most. We believe that when a child is sick, the entire family needs comfort and support. We believe that a home is more than four walls and a roof over your head – it is the intangible magic that transpires in moments shared together. We believe in building a global community that finds strength, hope and courage in embracing healing as a joyous experience.
RMHCDC Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement
At RMHCDC, we understand that no one person’s experience is the same, nor is any one person’s experience more valuable than another’s.
We actively listen and strive for justice and fairness in our decision making. We believe it is our differences that ultimately make us better able to support our families and each other. It is our individual journey through life that calls us all to be compassionate and have empathy for others.
We appreciate human complexity and acknowledge our varied experience, physical abilities, race, sexual orientation, religion, gender identity, and socio-economic factors.
As an organization, we care about other and we live by our core values of Integrity, Compassion, Accountability, Respect, and Excellence.