Had another nice outing to the larger of the two Ronald McDonald Houses today. e took a ton of cupcakes and I made 25 more cards using the Candy Lane DSP, Love You Much stamp set, 3-Heart Punch, and several layouts I'd found over the past week. (You can click on the collage to see the cards larger.)The building tour was very interesting. The building cost $15.3 million to build and has 40-double occupancy rooms and 10 transplant suites. It was amazing to see these, where patients and families transition from the hospital to the "outside world". The kids who stay in these suites are quarantined to a 940 sq. ft. apartment, sometimes for 3 months! The apartment has a full kitchen, laundry facilities, and a television, but the flooring is wall to wall without any seams linoleum, and the families have their own separate entrance to the building.
The rest of the families have private rooms with their own bathrooms, but share common areas for watching television, socializing, playing games, and dining, and there is a separate craft room (which I didn't take a picture of--duh!)! The goal of these areas is to help families feel like they are at a "home away from home", since this facility feels more like a hotel than some. They can also receive mail, and it was cool to see that some had packages for Valentine's Day waiting for them!All guests have access to a stocked pantry of dry goods, all of which are donated by groups or individuals from the community, and there is also a community fridge that they can take anything they want from. There are also fridges specified for families to keep their own food in, labeled with the family's last name. This led me to believe that the families do most of their own cooking. Not so! Every night there are corporate organizations or private groups that provide a hot meal for anyone who wants it--free of charge! I love how these families are cared for!
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