Ronald McDonald House of Des Moines

The House That Love Built

The Ronald McDonald House provides a home-away-from-home for families of children receiving medical treatment for a serious illness or injury at local medical facilities.

We can accommodate up to 12 families at a time and we serve over 400 families a year. We ask our families to contribute $10 a night for their stay but no family is turned away for their inability to pay.

When a child is critically ill, parents are reluctant to leave the hospital. Yet they desperately need a break from the ongoing stress of beeping monitors and busy intensive care units.

The Ronald McDonald Family Room offers families of pediatric patients a special place of respite, relaxation and privacy within the walls of a hospital. Our family room is central to both the Pediatric and PICU wings of Mercy Medical Center.

The Des Moines Ronald McDonald House accepts families to stay overnight that have a child age 21 or younger at a local medical facility and live outside of Polk county.

A hospital referral from a social worker, nurse or receptionist is necessary before checking in.

We don't take any overnight reservations. We operate on a first come first serve basis, however, if you would like to check in to the House but will be checking in later on in the day, call in the morning and ask us to "hold" a room for you for that day.

Once checked in, families are free to make themselves at home, come and go as they please 24 hours a day and stay for as long as they need to.