over 40 years strong

San Diego’s Ronald McDonald House was founded in 1980. From the very beginning, it’s been an independent, locally-run effort to keep families together when it matters most.

Our initial 8-bedroom House operated primarily as a bed and breakfast service for families with young cancer patients. Yet the population of Southern California was growing, and new pediatric treatments were appearing for a range of critical conditions. In 1989 we added four bedrooms to address this growing demand.

However, we were turning away a hundred families a month due to lack of space. Even with subsidized hotel stays, there was no way we could serve all of the families who so urgently needed to be near their hospitalized children.

In 2006, we seized a unique opportunity to build a much larger House. The location was unusual—the top deck of a parking structure—yet it was ideally located directly across from Rady Children’s Hospital. With great community support, we built our current facility, which opened in 2009. This Silver LEED-certified building has 47 guest suites and a variety of shared living spaces, as well as peaceful courtyards and both indoor and outdoor play spaces. Our entire old House would fit inside our current Great Room.

This expanded space presented new opportunities to serve even more families. In 2009 we added a Family Care Center to support families who are not staying with us overnight. Local families can take a break with us before returning to their child’s bedside. The Family Care Center offers hot meals, napping rooms, showers, computer access, play spaces, and much more during daytime hours.

While parents must focus on the urgent needs of a hospitalized child, it’s not just hospitalized children who need attention. Healthy siblings need support, too. For this reason, in 2010 we opened an onsite school in partnership with San Diego Unified School District, along with enrichment activities and “camp” during vacation periods. These programs help children continue to learn and grow while also being with their families at this critical time.