What is the Family Services Program?

As the core program of the Ronald McDonald House of Augusta, the Family Support Services Program provides housing and supportive services to the patient and their family while their child receives urgent medical care at the Children’s Hospital of Georgia or the J.M. Still Burn Center. The program is managed by the Operations Director who works with the patients and their families, community volunteers, social workers, and other medical personnel involved with the families we serve. Our families are never charged for staying with us, but donations are encouraged.

In addition to providing housing, the Family Support Services Program schedules an array of events and programming for adults, children, and the whole family together while staying in the house. Events include pet therapy, music and movie nights, special guest visits, family photos, and much more.

What is the need?

The Ronald McDonald House of Augusta, GA has provided thousands of families a “home away from home” while their child receives vital medical care. Our local medical facilities are destination points for critical care from across the state and country. The demand for the services of the Ronald McDonald House has increased dramatically over the last several years. Because of this increased need, the Ronald McDonald House of Augusta recently completed a capital campaign and built a new, 23-bedroom house, less than 150 yards from the Children’s Hospital. The new house opened in 2015 and since that date, the Ronald McDonald House of Augusta has seen a 200% increase in the number of children and their families served.

With a larger house and an expanding need, programs and services offered by the Augusta Ronald McDonald House has grown from 383 families served in 2014 to 982 families served in 2016. For the last year, the house has an 85% occupancy rate with families staying at our house for an average of 7 days. The families who stay with us are primarily parents of newborns and infants, with more than one-third of the families having a newborn receiving care in the NICU. In addition to NICU patients, Cancer patients, Pediatric ENT, Orthopedics, Rheumatology, Cardiology, and Pediatric Surgery procedures make up over 90% of the total patients.

This means that the families who stay with us experience long, stressful days caring for their child but in many cases, also care for the rest of their family (including additional children) at the house. Adding to the programmatic needs for our families, over 80% of the families are also low-income/Medicaid patients who receive some sort of social service assistance as a family.

What areas are we covering with this program?

Access to Health Care
Housing
Low-Income Support

How can you support this program?

Financial support is key.
Product donations such as detergent, diapers, books, games, and more.
Volunteer assistance

If you’d like to get involved contact us at (706)724-5901 or email info@rmhcaugusta.org to help with our programs.