Catherine Wallace said she doesn’t like to think about what would have happened to her family last spring if it hadn’t been for Ronald McDonald House in Toronto.
On March 20, the Sudbury woman gave birth to her first child, Evan, three months early, at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. Sudbury Regional Hospital is unable to care for extremely premature babies.
To complicate matters, her husband, Glen, had been let go from his job in February.
Because staying in hotels was too expensive, the couple asked the social worker at Mount Sinai if there was anywhere else they could live. She referred them to Ronald McDonald House.
The downtown Toronto facility provides low-cost accommodations to families of children receiving treatment for life-threatening conditions in the city.
We were so astounded with Ronald McDonald House. It’s just an incredible organization.
Catherine Wallace,
who stayed at Ronald McDonald House in Toronto after her son’s birth
McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada provide financial support for the 12 Ronald McDonald House facilities in the country.
Catherine and Glen stayed at Ronald McDonald House from March 22 until their son was transferred to Sudbury Regional Hospital May 12. Baby Evan was able to go home for good nine days later.
“We were so astounded with Ronald McDonald House,” Catherine said. “It’s just an incredible organization. The staff there was wonderful.”
She said each family is assigned a room and shares a kitchen with several other families.
Several times a week, community organizations come in with meals for those staying at the facility. Catherine said she and her husband were treated to lasagna, barbecued pork tenderloin, pizza and “every dessert you can imagine.”
Evan Wallace at seven months old. Supplied photo
“Those days were especially good because you didn’t have to worry about what you were going to eat,” she said.
“On top of that, the dinners gave us an opportunity to meet with the other families that were staying in the house.”
The couple keeps in touch with a family from Barrie who was staying at Ronald McDonald House at the same time, and who also had a premature baby being cared for at a Toronto hospital.
Catherine said she also met several families from Sudbury and other parts of northern Ontario who were staying at the facility.
About a third of the families who stay at Ronald McDonald House in Toronto are from northern Ontario, Judy MacGowan, director of development with the organization, said.
The current Ronald McDonald House facility in Toronto is able to accommodate 28 families, she said.
However, the organization is in the process of building a $34-million, 100,000 square foot facility, which will accommodate 80 families. It is set to open in the fall of 2011.
MacGowan said the larger facility is needed because Ronald McDonald House is currently forced to turn away 70 per cent of the families seeking help.
Donations from the public are needed, as another $2.5 million still needs to be raised to pay for the facility, MacGowan said.
McDonald’s Restaurant owner/operators from across northern Ontario, including Brian Gainer of Sudbury, have pledged $1 million for the new Ronald McDonald House in Toronto.
Everything about Ronald McDonald House is “designed with families in mind,” McGowan said.
The Toronto facility even has a fully accredited school and employs a teacher so the children living there — both patients and their siblings — don’t miss out on schooling.
“(The school) has really changed the face of the house, and really been there to help families,” MacGowan said.
“We all know that when you’re going through something like this, your family provides you with the strength you need. We’re all about keeping families together, and our school allows us to do that.”
Ronald McDonald House also employs a child-life specialist to help children staying at the facility understand the medical conditions they or their siblings are dealing with, she said.
Evan is now thriving, Catherine said. He weighed just two pounds, 14 ounces when he was born, but now tips the scales at 17 pounds.
Although he’s seven months old, developmentally, he’s more like a four-month-old because he was born prematurely.
“The day before yesterday was the first day he rolled over from his back to his front,” she said. “He’s really, really doing well.”
She encourages other northerners to donate to Ronald McDonald House. For more information about the organization or to donate, go to www.rmhtoronto.org or phone 416-977-0458.
