WHY DANCE FOR SICK KIDS?
Each year, over 64,000 families with sick and injured children will receive critical support from Ronald McDonald House Charities in Australia.
Thank you for dancing to help make a difference for families like these.
18 Houses Across Australia
Located close to most major children's hospitals, Ronald McDonald Houses provide a warm, safe, home-away-from-home when seriously ill or injured children require specialist care and treatment far from their home towns in regional and rural Australia.
By fundraising for RMHC, you'll help provide valuable family-centered care that plays an important role for families while their child receives treatment. Your support will help to provide much needed financial, emotional and practical support that reduces the stress and costs to families while improving their ability to cope.
Meet Isabelle
After noticing Isabelle had a swollen wrist, her mum Chrystal took her to the emergency department.
Just a few days later, after travelling from West Kempsey to The Children’s Hospital in Westmead, they received the devastating news that Isabelle had been diagnosed with osteosarcoma (bone cancer).
As part of her ongoing treatment, Isabelle had her fibula removed. Thankfully, her family have been by her side. They have called Ronald McDonald House in Westmead home for over 255 nights when they needed it the most.
"Just having a place to come home to, where there are meals after a long day and activities for the kids...thank you so much" - Isabelle's Mum, Chrystal
Belle has recently returned home to West Kempsey but will continue to come to Westmead for regular check-ups. Although her future as a dancer is unknown, her love for dance continues and she is taking it one physio appointment and one fouetté turn at a time.
By joining Dance for Sick Kids, you're making an everlasting impact on the lives of seriously ill children and their families. Thank you!
Other Ronald McDonald House Charities Programs
19 Family Rooms
Our Family Rooms are located close to children’s wards. They give families a chance to recharge after many stressful hours at their child’s side. Each room is equipped with areas to sleep, eat, freshen up, play and relax.
6 Family Retreats
Our Family Retreats give families a chance to forget the stresses of hospital life. They’re open to families with a seriously ill or injured child, or those grieving the loss of a child, who might not have the time or finances to take a much-needed break.
Hospitality Carts
Our Hospitality Carts provide practical support in the hospital by offering activities and refreshments for both children and families free of charge at the bedside.
Learning Program
Extended stays in hospital means kids miss school. Our tailored one-to-one tuition help kids keep up with schoolwork so that they feel confident when they get back to school.
Our Learning Program also offers professional development for educators. EDMed® provides teachers with information about the potential impacts of chronic illnesses, as well as educational strategies to support the needs of these students impacted by chronic illness.
Impact
A global research team* worked with RMHC to evaluate the impact of our House Program on families around the world. The following is a summary of those findings**.
Access to the best care
Our House Program makes it possible for families who travel long distances, to access the top children’s hospitals around the world.
Stronger mental health
Having a child in hospital can trigger clinical anxiety in parents. Our Houses provide families with the emotional, mental and practical support to better manage their stress, so that they can be more actively involved in the care of their children.
Financial peace of mind
Ongoing medical bills, travel and accommodation costs are a huge source of stress for many families. Our Houses offer accommodation at no cost, close to hospitals, to alleviate some of the burden.
Parents sleep better
Parents who sleep at one of our Houses have a better night’s rest than those that sleep at their child’s hospital bedside. This ensures they have the strength to support their child.
Children’s recovery
Having family and siblings close by, who are invested in a child’s care, can improve a hospitalised child’s recovery and treatment outcomes.
Positive hospital experience
Families who stay at a Ronald McDonald House find they have a more positive experience of hospital than those that stay elsewhere.
Families cope better
Having family together under one roof, including the support of experienced volunteers and other families, greatly improves a family’s ability to cope with having a child in hospital.
Safe, affordable alternative to hospital
Many high-risk pregnant women who are stable but need to be close to care, can now afford to stay close to care. This is also the case for parents who have a newborn in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
Siblings cope better
Play is how children interact and make sense of the world. That’s why play areas are such an important part of our offering. They allow siblings to connect and cope more with the stress of a difficult situation.
* The global team of researchers was drawn from leading universities, including the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), George Washington University, the University of Chicago, as well as from top medical centres in Hong Kong; Sydney, Australia; the United Kingdom; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Cincinnati, U.S.; and Toronto, Canada.
** Findings taken from RMHC Impact Research – the name for a suite of studies on the impact of RMHC around the world. The summaries provided here provide a snapshot of the findings from each of the key Ronald McDonald House Impact studies.
