Boise’s Ronald McDonald House turns away families. This is why that will change
It’s a common refrain heard at Boise’s Ronald McDonald House.
Families from out of town call seeking a place to stay while their children receive medical care at St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital or through the Saint Alphonsus Health System. They’re often told all 17 rooms are occupied by other families, and they’ll have to find someplace else.
That will change Monday. That’s when Ronald McDonald House Charities of Idaho opens its new 47-room Ronald McDonald House, located at 139 Warm Springs Ave., just a few steps east of the old house. With an increase in size from 14,000 square feet to 42,000 square feet, suddenly there will be room for everyone who needs it.
“It’s kind of bittersweet,” said Mindy Plumlee, the charity’s executive director. “We were in that space for 32 years and it’s our home, as well, and we love it. But it’s hard to tell people we’ll put you on the waiting list, but we don’t have any space and don’t expect to have room for you.”
A private ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday. Gov. Brad Little and Gay Simplot, the daughter of the late J.R. Simplot will be among the guests. The Simplot family has been a major donor over the years.
Beginning at noon, the public is invited to attend an open house that will last until 5 p.m.
The celebration coincides with the Boise Ronald McDonald House’s 32nd anniversary.
During an 18- month fundraising campaign, 500 donors gave $15.3 million to pay for the new building. The largest donation, $1.5 million, came from McDonald’s restaurant owners and operators in Southern Idaho and Eastern Oregon.
It does not include money dropped into collection jars at McDonald’s restaurants. That pays for day-to-day costs at the Ronald McDonald House.
The two-story building has 16 rooms on the ground floor and the rest upstairs. The first floor also includes a private welcome room, four kitchens for use by staff and families who want to cook their own meals, a family room, a dining room with seating for 30 at a time, a children’s playroom and a game room.
There’s also a board room for Ronald McDonald House’s 21-member board, made up of Idaho residents from across the state. The room will also be available to community groups needing a place to meet.
Three large windows look into the playroom from the dining area so parents can relax and have adult conversations while keeping an eye on their children. In the old house, parents had to stay in the small playroom with their children.
The playroom contains a fish tank and a large photographic mural showing hot air balloons from the annual Spirit of Boise Balloon Classic, which will be held this year Sept. 2 through 6. Ceiling lights depict the balloons.
The game room, which includes three monitors for use with electronic games, includes a wooden game board that kids can sit around, a wall-mounted Scrabble board, and a Pac-Man board where, when it’s dark, children can use small flashlights that simulate Pac-Man pieces moving across the wall.
In the living room is a secret compartment hidden behind a portrait of Disney’s Tinkerbell. Waving a magic wand and uttering secret words causes a door to open and reveals a wall of toys that children can pick from.
Artwork with an Idaho theme is displayed throughout the building. The lobby includes a massing horizontal black walnut and resin piece titled “IdaHome” that was created by WoodLab, an Eagle company. It depicts mountains, forests, grasslands and streams, including the Boise, Payette and Snake rivers.
Boise photographer Mark VanderSys, whose daughter has dealt with a serious childhood illness, took photos throughout the state that hang in common areas, offices and the overnight family rooms. His company, Pixel Light Creative Group, donated the images.
“We wanted to create a space for families to come in and see that it’s just beautiful and serene,” Plumlee said.
Outside, there are play structures and benches, including one where a Ronald McDonald statue sits. It came over from the old house, where it was a favorite for children and their parents and siblings to pose for photos.
Half of the overnight rooms have single queen-size beds. The other rooms contain two queen beds each. The larger rooms also have a pull-out coach that could provide added bed space. A room comes with cabinets, a heating and air conditioning unit, a small refrigerator, a television, and a bathroom with a tub or a walk-in shower.
There are stairs and an elevator to the upper floor. The old house only had stairs, which caused problems for some people, Plumlee said.
St. Luke’s will take over operation of the existing Ronald McDonald House, using it for adult patients and their families.
The Boise Ronald McDonald house is part of a charity established by McDonald’s restaurants and is one of 364 across the globe that operate independently. It opened in 1988 inside a home built in 1890 at 101 E. Warm Springs. At the time, the four-bedroom home was the smallest Ronald McDonald House in the world. Two expansions over the years increased its size.
Last year, Boise’s Ronald McDonald House provided 4,765 nights of lodging for 689 families, up from 4,573 nights and 578 families in 2017. The average stay was 11 days, up from nine in 2017.
Families who stay at the Boise Ronald McDonald House are asked to pay $10 a day to cover some of the expenses of food and lodging. No one is turned away for not being able to afford that.
“We take care of the families so they can be close to the hospital and they can be close to their child during really what is the most difficult time in their life,” Plumlee said. “This enables them to have a safe, clean, comfortable environment to rest and heal and engage with other people who are going through the very same situation.”
This story was originally published January 30, 2020 at 4:37 PM.
