World's Largest Ronald McDonald House® Opens Its Doors in Chicago

GETTYS' New Design Helps Provide a 'Home Away from Home' for Families of Hospitalized Children

• 
  SAVE
• 
  SHARE
• 
  TEXT SIZE
• 
  PRINT
• 
  COMMENT
• 
  PDF

. July 26, 2012

July 26, 2010 - Ronald McDonald House Charities® of Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana (RMHC®-CNI) recently celebrated a significant milestone — officially opening the world's largest Ronald McDonald House located at 211 E. Grand Avenue in Chicago's Streeterville neighborhood.

GETTYS, a leading global hospitality design, procurement, branding and development firm, partnered with Ronald McDonald House Charities® of Chicagoland & Northwest Indiana (RMHC®-CNI) by providing interior design and procurement services for all public areas as well as 86 guestrooms within the 100,000-square-foot House. GETTYS handled design for communal spaces including the entry lobby, all kitchens, dining rooms, living rooms and reading areas, children's areas, the reception and lobby living room.

“This was a tremendous opportunity for GETTYS to shine on a healthcare project that helps thousands of families each year,” said Chris McDonough, design director at GETTYS. “We utilized our team's design strength, ability to work with a budget and collaborative process to excel at this unique project. Most importantly, with our hospitality background we wanted to focus on achieving the 'home away from home' experience for these families.”

Always located in close proximity to area hospitals, Ronald McDonald Houses® help to keep families of hospitalized children together at one of the most difficult times in their lives — when their child is fighting for their life in the hospital. The new 100,000-square-foot House, built just blocks from the new Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, stands 14 stories tall and will provide care and comfort to 86 families each and every night.

The $30 million House is financed largely due to the generous support of individuals, charitable organizations and corporate partners. To date, RMHC-CNI has raised more than 81 percent of the project cost and is nearing their fundraising goal that will allow the charity to keep more families of hospitalized children together than ever before.

“Although this project was an enormous financial undertaking, we knew we needed to also relocate the House to continue to accommodate the needs of our families when Children's Memorial Hospital made the decision to move,” said Doug Porter, CEO of RMHC-CNI. “We are so grateful to the many organizations and individuals who have been so generous to make this House a reality. Celebrating this milestone of being able to provide more than 31,000 family nights this year alone would not have been possible without all of our partners' support.”

“Given the nature of this nonprofit and the incredible work they do, designing the House with the comfort of these families in mind remained our top priority,” added McDonough. “From the interior design of each communal space and guest rooms to the green roof deck space with multiple areas for families to enjoy, keeping hospitality as the focal point of this process was essential.”

More about GETTYS:
GETTYS is an award-winning, creative and innovative team of business-minded hospitality experts headquartered in Chicago with offices in Bangkok, Beirut, Cairo, Dubai, Hong Kong, Jeddah, Miami, New York and Irvine, Calif. Since 1988, GETTYS has specialized in creating value through interior design, procurement, branding and development services from project conception to completion. For more information and a sampling of GETTYS' extensive portfolio, please visit www.gettys.com. Join GETTYS on Facebook and Twitter at www.facebook.com/gettysworldwide and www.twitter.com/gettysworldwide, respectively.

About Ronald McDonald House Charities® of Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana (RMHC®-CNI):

The mission of Ronald McDonald House Charities® of Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana (RMHC®-CNI) is to improve the health, well-being and education of children through four core programs:

• Four Ronald McDonald Houses® provide a 'home away from home' to keep families close while their children are being treated at a nearby hospital.
• Ronald McDonald Family Room® provides hope and hospitality right in the heart of Edward Hospital.
• Ronald McDonald Care Mobile®, in partnership with Advocate Hope Children's Hospital, provides essential health services to children in underserved areas in a mobile environment.
• Scholarship Program provides $4,000/year renewable scholarships to academically outstanding, community-minded and economically challenged young people.

For more information visit www.RonaldHouseChicago.org.