The Amarillo Ronald McDonald House Gets an Upgrade
The Ronald McDonald House Charities of Amarillo has a new building for families to call home. The charitable organization’s local chapter will celebrate the grand re-opening of their 1501 Streit Dr. location with a ribbon cutting done by the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, March 29th at 3:30pm.
The Ronald McDonald House of Amarillo is a nonprofit chapter dedicated to serving the families of seriously ill children who have traveled to the city from the Texas Panhandle, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and further. in order to receive life-saving medical care. The nonprofit's mission statement is to provide "comfort, care, and support in a home-like environment to families of children seeking medical treatment
The original building opened in August of 1983 as the 48th chapter of a national organization that now numbers nearly 400 chapters. It consisted of 13 bedrooms and served families who stayed an average of 13 days at a time. After 35 years of operation, the building had reached a point where it was described as being in "continual repair", according to a case for support document accessible on the nonprofit's website. Several areas of the house lacked ADA compliance, there were pervasive issues with plumbing, and the outdated exterior posed security issues, along with mentions of structural disrepair.
The renovated building, tagged as #TheHouseThatLoveBuilt on their social media profiles, is a community-driven undertaking that has taken three years to complete. Nestled in the heart of Harrington Regional Medical Campus, the brand new facility for the Ronald McDonald House of Amarillo is a 17-thousand square foot product of innovative fundraising efforts to secure the $4 million price tag followed by 10 months of construction.
The new Ronald McDonald House a two-story labor of love that will be soon be ready to open its doors to families traveling to Amarillo from across the nation. It is designed to meet the emotional and physical needs of families embattled with the hardship of a hospitalized critically-ill child.
Volunteers and staff have diligently worked to prepare the 1501 Streit Drive location since January. The facility will be fully operational after the ribbon-cutting ceremony set for Tuesday, March 29th.