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About Us

We believe families shouldn’t have to fight alone. That’s why we are committed to increasing access to care by removing geographic and financial barriers to ensure families can be fully involved in their child’s medical care plan.

Our Mission

To provide essential services that remove barriers, strengthen families, and promote healing when children need health care.

Our Vision

A world where every family has what they need to ensure the best health outcomes for their children.

Our History

Five decades ago, Ronald McDonald House Central New York was simply a dream. A dream of a safe, comfortable place where families of children who were hospitalized could find respite just around the corner. The dream began with a grassroots community effort led by a group of very dedicated local parents of seriously ill children who were members of the Children’s Special Needs Fund. Together, they joined with McDonald’s and other community leaders to open the Ronald McDonald House.

Over the years, we’ve grown as an organization, opened a larger home and expanded our services so we can serve even more families in need. Yet after all this time, our mission remains the same.

An exterior shot of the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central New York

Chapter Milestones

  • 1982: The original Ronald McDonald House at 1027 E. Genesee St., opens on Thanksgiving Day with seven bedrooms.
  • 1986: The neighboring house at 1029 E. Genesee St. is connected by a breezeway to the existing Ronald McDonald House, increasing the number of bedrooms to 16.
  • 2006: Recognizing the physical limitations of the original House and the evolving needs of guest families, we undertook a capital campaign to build a new, larger, fully handicap-accessible Ronald McDonald House.
  • 2012: In November, almost 30 years to the day, the new Ronald McDonald House at 1100 E. Genesee St. opens. The fully handicap-accessible, 25-bedroom House enables us to expand our services to meet the diverse needs of new guest populations, including women with high-risk pregnancies.
  • 2020: We eliminate guest night fees so that there is no longer a charge for families to stay at the Ronald McDonald House. During the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, our care model pivots to provide emergency sleep accommodations to front-line health care professionals for six weeks.
  • 2023: To meet the growing needs of guest families and better accommodate large and multigenerational families, we embark on a second capital campaign to expand the Ronald McDonald House and build out our fourth floor.
  • 2024: The fourth-floor expansion of the Ronald McDonald House is completed, and we open six new family suites – including four one-bedroom suites and two two-bedroom suites – to guest families.
  • 2025: The Hospitality Cart program launches at Crouse Hospital, enabling us to extend our reach beyond the Ronald McDonald House and impact families while they are at the hospital.

“You kept our family together during our most difficult time.”

— Mother and father with siblings of child hospitalized with brain tumor

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