Ronald McDonald House of Durham & Wake, Inc. - Durham, North Carolina

April H.

We had a lovely stay here, we came for my daughter’s eye appointment at Duke. Everything at the home was so nice and clean! We will be donating to this charity!! This service of the housing for the families dealing with a lot is such a huge blessing !🩷

Mary G.

I never wanted to write a bad review for a cause I have always believed in and donated to for years but maybe my review can help other families somehow.
After giving birth to twins 3 months early and having an anticipated, long NICU stay, looking back, I am disappointed Ronald McDonald house did not even consider letting us stay. It was the most traumatic time not knowing if our babies would make it and having to be far away every night, recovering from delivery, pumping breastmilk and having to drive myself an hour each way to and from the NICU. It is a horrible thing to have a child in the hospital we can all agree and it is horrible recovering from birth or surgery and having a challenging commute on top of that. Staying closer even just one or two nights a week during our 3 month NICU stay would have made all of the difference in getting more time with our babies instead of commuting. We will never get that time back. We could not afford a hotel close by. There was no consideration - just “no” because we were 2 miles short of 25 miles. I explained with construction, maps took us a different way that wound up being 27 miles and an hour long commute but it was not considered.
I like to hear about families that were helped during such hard times but I cannot share that positive experience here. Our social worker at the hospital and Tiffany at Ronald McDonald made the decision not to help us with even a limited stay. Even in the beginning. I asked and explained and even offered to volunteer where I could but it was a hard “no.”
I’m not saying this to throw a pity party. Our babies were both finally home after 99 days and we couldn’t be more grateful for that but I lose sleep at night thinking about how much time was wasted and exhausted commuting. 99 days of unknown, healing, praying, commuting, packing, and leaving every night. The exhaustion and agony of leaving our babies there is something I wouldn’t wish on any parent. We are moving closer to medical facilities for this reason but no one ever expects these things to happen.
Anyway, this is a public review not for me to complain but to hopefully persuade whoever runs this program to consider cases and what is going on as well as ACTUAL commute time instead of black and white mileage on a computer map when deciding if someone can stay or not.
The amount of times I had to hear “why don’t you stay at the Ronald McDonald House?” Every.single. day at the hospital and explain why we weren’t allowed.
Thank you RMH for all the good you do, I do not want to take away from that. Just maybe consider each family’s situation and reality before saying no because a computer spit out misleading information.

Misty S.

My son has ITP we had to go to the emergency room on a Sunday and they took us in an ambulance straight to Duke and we end up having to stay there for 4 days and two of the days we were released from the hospital and live 2 hours away and can't afford to drive back and forth we have one vehicle and six kids and they let me and my son stay so he could get his treatment he needed they have been such a blessing everyone is super nice and friendly dinner has been awesome every night and their snacks have been amazing too I said and talked to the night shift lady (Mrs. Sherry) for over an hour and could have talked to her all day she was so amazing I wish all my kids can meet her but my family is so thankful for everything they did for us maybe one day we'll be able to repay the favor

Conrad Sadler age 13 ITP WORRIER and
Mom Misty Pawlowski

Alejandra Q.

I am very grateful for the help that Ronald Mc Donalds has given me. I would like to say that my first bad experience with a person happened to me at Ronald Mc Donalds.
My son stayed for 3 nights because he had surgery on his eye for glaucoma. I live 4 and a half hours from my house, my mom just dropped me off and in the end she decided to pick me up, I thought she would leave earlier. but they were not late for the reason that it was raining very badly on the way so I dared to ask the lady in front of the entrance from the beginning she gave me a bad face and an unpleasant vibe, I told her that if my family could stay now It would be too late to return, it was half past nine, we would arrive home late and the child was in pain and fever, so I begged her to please, but she refused, first she said it was too late, she didn't know. I could and then she called one person didn't say yes or no ! Told her to give her a min and she said that was the law. Then I told her that my family had an ID but a passport because they were in the process of obtaining legal documents so they only had a passport. She refused and said that there could be felonies that we could steal and so then she said that they did not accept immigrants when that was racist and rude, then my 11-year-old sister told her that she did have one and she yelled at her. She felt very bad. She is sensitive so than started crying afterwards. Then my mom went inside and showed her passport and made a call and that person told her that it was fine, she did let them in but forced and angry, then I went down to buy me a soda and she sent someone to tell me that we should wear gloves when the food was in. disposable plates.

sister just wanted to grab a bite of food and then I called Dominos who would leave food delivery and the guy went inside Ronald Mc Donald building left food inside that made her angry I think, because then she called me in front and told me that next time I had to tell him to go outside I understand that! That was bad ! but I had no idea he would come in. I tried to explain but she wouldn't let me talk, and she just made me feel like I didn't have to be there.
In my life I have not had anyone who is a racist and rude she made me feel bad and me and my family felt like that they werent welcome that we are a nuisance. Because of that experience, next time I will stay in a hotel because we were so afraid to go outside and bring my baby Water for milk bottle but we was afraid she was going to tell us something else. My baby didn't eat that night, it made us feel like we were in trouble for no reason!

Mario H. S.

So blessed that me and my family was able to stay here with my wife and family after our medical care got transfer to Duke. First day we arrived at the RMH we were received with such a warm smile and welcome. They gave us a tour and walked us to our and told us if we needed anything all we had to do was ask. The facility was so clean, organized an so well maintained it surprised me on how a place that runs on charity was so well maintained comapared to a regular hotel you pay. Anyways there was a big kitchen with lots of food, a big dinning room, laundry room and lots of other things. Our room had a kitchen, tv, 2 queen beds, futon, washer and dryer. The RMH also provies a shuttle bus wich is excelent because paying for parking adds up alot quicker than you think and also great if you do not have transportation. The House kithcen is full of food for everyone living at the RMH and everyother day they have a group of people cooking for the entire house. Me and my wife are really thankful that we had the chance to stay here and for as long as we had to. Thanks RMH at Durham for everything!

Queen C.

I stay in Ronald Mc Donald’s because my baby had eye sergury for glaucoma , I live 5 hours away bad weather , my family which who brought me here my mom arrived late because the rain was pretty strong on their way I was told that siblings could stay , but this lady was very very rude with a big attitude never felt like that in a place in my 25 years of life and is sad to have my first experience in Ronald’s Mc Donald’s it supposed to be family from my understanding , thought everybody could be nice , anyways this lady was very rude sayed that they needed a legal document because it could had a killing felony or a bad record and that it couldn’t be a passport or anything that lady even yelled at my sister . And at me saying that she didn’t care how far I loved I just needed to leave than all the time she had an attitude I went to the cafeteria get some drink from vending man chime she also sent somebody to tell my sister to use some gloves to get some meals which they all closed plastic plate I believe no one else does it , than I called delivery guy I guess he didn’t know he couldn’t get in and she also called my attention in that when I didn’t know , well she made me feel like I wasent supposed to be rheee she made me feel like Ronald Mc Donald’s don’t care about kids she made me feel very bad and she also had this races attitude my question is if I didn’t have my legal papers I couldn’t stay in Ronald Mx Donald’s ? Than I had forget n my room keys inside and she gave me this ugly attitude I felt like I wasent in trouble for no reason ! I had never ever know a person like her before and next time am going to have to get a hotel if my bad has another sergury because she made it seems that Hispanics can’t be there!

Ttthaodd A.

Unfortunately! The house was nice UNTIL. One day I decided to go home 2 in a half hours away to get more things. When I returned back our key worked Normal and we got through the doors and into our room with no problem. We noticed bed covers were changed. That’s when we quickly noticed our things where gone that we had left. Food,shoes,bath soap etc. so I told my husband to wait in the room while I go to front desk. When I got to front desk the lady didn’t have a clue what had happened and wasn’t sure while our key was still working if they had put us out. We didn’t receive a call or a warning from anyone. She called her boss. Her boss was unaware but knew that the room number was under another family !!! Our things were no where to be found. & the lady at the front desk didn’t have anything available,they would put us back on the list for a room that will fit our family. Remember we stay 2.5 hrs away. Time went pass I was calling to see if they found any of our belongings. My husband last gift from his deceased mother , “the slides” we’re never found almost a year later. Only reason for a long review I wanted them to correct the issue before I gave a one star!

Cpt N.

The staff made us feel very welcome during our stay. Close to hospital with shuttle service to Duke main entrance. Easy 10 to 15 min walk to Hospital entrance. Play areas for kids, computer lab, free wifi. Talk to your staff at Duke if you have a seriously ill or injured child and they may be able to get you a room. But, even with 54 rooms, this place STAYS FULL!
Some rooms are quite small like 8ft by 8ft with a shared bathroom. Some suites are larger and have a kitchenette.
House Kitchen is open to everyone with multiple stoves, ovens, refrigerators, freezers, microwaves, dishwashers, sinks, cookware, cooking utensils, etc. The cupboards and fridge/freezer are stocked with some foods. There are private locking cupboards for you to store your own foods.

This place is amazing and allowed us to spend SO much more time with our son than if we had gotten a hotel in Durham.