New Ronald McDonald House to boost support for families of hospitalized children
As Tracey Atwater led a tour through the construction site for Atlanta Ronald McDonald House Charities‘ new facility, she was all smiles under her hard hat. In just a few months, the halls would be filled with children and families.
Atwater is president and CEO of ARMHC, which on Dec. 11 will open its largest Ronald McDonald House yet to support families with children receiving treatment at nearby hospitals.
The new House sits on the property of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Arthur M. Blank Hospital in Brookhaven, right across from the parking deck. The House will have 110 guest rooms that can fit up to four people each and will be accessible for those with disabilities.
There will be 92 regular guest rooms and 18 dedicated transplant suites — rooms designed for children who are immunocompromised after receiving transplants. The Atlanta chapter of RMHC was the first to have transplant suites, which allow children to stay within the necessary proximity to the hospital during recovery.
When construction began in 2023, the original plan for the House was for 70 rooms, only 10 of which would have been transplant suites, according to Atwater. However, increasing demand for ARMHC services led to the project immediately moving to phase two’s expanded capacity — 15 years ahead of schedule.
“We were already seeing tremendous growth in our volume of people that needed to come to us,” Atwater said.
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ARMHC’s new house will include a one-of-a-kind five-story playscape, community gathering floor, multiple dining areas, a private dining area in partnership with the Marcus Autism Center, laundry rooms on each floor, an interactive discovery garden, a craft room, a game room and more.
“One of the things that we want to do is try to keep things as normal as possible for kids,” Atwater said.
Ronald McDonald Houses provide a “home away from home” for families traveling for medical treatment. The more than 385 RMHC programs across 62 countries have provided more than 2.7 million overnight stays for families facing difficult times.
Since the 1979 founding of the Atlanta chapter, the fourth-ever chapter of RMHC, ARMHC has served more than 80,000 families. Guests receive lodging, at least one hot meal a day and transportation to appointments. Families also have access to a community that can empathize with what they are going through.
Guests can make a donation at the end of their stay if they can afford to, but they are not charged for any of the services ARMHC provides.
Families from across Georgia, the Southeast and beyond come to ARMHC to stay close to their child and avoid tough financial times. Atwater said one family she spoke to would have had to decide between paying for the expenses that came with their child’s treatment or paying the mortgage.
“It’s an impossible place for a parent to have to be,” Atwater said. “That’s who we’re helping every day.”
Currently, ARMHC has two locations: one near the former CHOA at Egleston in Atlanta and one near CHOA at Scottish Rite Hospital in Sandy Springs. The new location doubles the capacity of the Egleston site, which it is replacing.
In 2024, ARMHC provided almost 27,000 overnight stays to families — a more than 1,600 increase from 2023 — and is hoping to provide even more in coming years. Stays can last for weeks or months. Last year’s longest stay by one family was 337 nights, and the average was eight nights.
ARMHC said it helped families save $9.9 million in lodging, transportation and food costs in 2024, a $1.5 million increase from the previous year.
“The families that are here become our family,” Atwater said.
Even if all the rooms at the House are full, ARMHC is still there to support them, providing lodging through partner hotels. Last year, ARMHC hosted more than 1,300 families in hotels. The new, expanded House will hopefully bring that number down in future years, Atwater said.
In addition to the House locations, ARMHC also offers the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile, a 40-foot van containing a fully functional medical clinic “dedicated to bringing primary care to children where they live, learn and play,” according to the ARMHC website.
RMCM mostly serves Atlanta schools and offers health education, primary care, asthma care, school-required immunizations, eye and ear screening, health checks, sports physicals, among other services.
RMHC is entirely philanthropy funded, according to Atwater. Thus far, ARMHC has raised $84.5 million of its $90 million goal for completing the new House. Donations are accepted on the ARMHC website, which also has information for anyone interested in volunteering at the House or donating items from the House wish list, which can be found on their Instagram.
“We are almost doubling our capacity as an organization, so we need far more volunteers than we have now,” Atwater said.
In the future, supported by the $90 million being raised now, ARMHC aims to expand programming, especially support for the caregivers of the children they serve.
About the Author
Allison Mawn joined the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as an intern for the business desk for summer 2025. She graduated from the University of Georgia with degrees in journalism and economics, and will return for a master's. Mawn has prior experience at The Red & Black and 11Alive, as well as in breaking news, local news, editing and digital media.
