Today, families just like yours are moving into a new house. Only this house doesn’t belong to them and they aren’t necessarily excited to be moving. They are moving into one of many Ronald McDonald Houses across the county.

The Ronald McDonald House Charities exist to support families going through medical crisis, providing rooms for the families to stay as their children are in and out of hospitals dealing with difficult and long-term serious medical conditions. The amazing and compassionate staff care for these families by providing a place to live at a deeply discounted rate, including meals and activities that encourage and uplift.

Cheeriodicals has had the privilege of delivering to Ronald McDonald Houses across the country and each time, our hearts are touched by these families facing a new normal while learning to live in a new house.

Recently, our team delivered boxes to families at the Ronald McDonald House in Dallas. We were introduced to a smiling and precocious little boy, running through the house like it was his own. His mother, just as joyful and exuberant, laughed along with him as be bounced from place to place, just looking for something to occupy his mind and hands. The left hand that had already been through multiple surgeries in two years to separate tiny fingers that had been joined together since birth.

Speaking in broken English, his mother kindly shared her story. They came to the RMH in Dallas from Peru when he was only a few months old. They came with no family, no friends – just a child in need of healing. Through a smile that covered up her many months of worry, she spoke to me of their history at the RMH. “He took his first steps here. He said his first words here. He had his first, and second birthdays here. He learned to speak English here, and so did I. I got married here. I now have family here. I have friends here. This now is my home.”

As family after family walked through picking up their Cheeriodicals, I was struck with the beauty of true community and a true home. Each family rejoiced with one another as they shared good news: a teenage girl recovering from surgery, a mom getting good news on a prognosis for her daughter, a little boy finally getting to go home. They all smiled together, like a family would. Breaking cultural barriers, language barriers, and physical barriers, these families joined together in loving and supporting one another through crisis.

This is the beauty of how the RMH is much more than just a place to live. Families bond and share their lives together, creating those emotional ties and memories that truly make a house, a home.