The Henrik Lundqvist Foundation is excited to announce a two-year, $80,000 USD commitment to its community partner, Ronald McDonald House Gothenburg (RMH).
RMH is located near Queen Silvia Children’s Hospital (DSBUS), Scandinavia’s largest and most comprehensive children’s hospital. RMH provides accommodations to families with seriously ill children receiving treatment at DSBUS when the family does not live nearby. At the House, families stay in a home-like, safe environment over a few days, weeks, months or longer. Thanks to RMH, the families can maintain a somewhat normal everyday life in the midst of the chaos, anxiety and stress that follows when a child gets seriously ill. Families are able to cook their own meals, take care of laundry, sleep in a private room and also meet other parents and siblings in the same situation.
Accommodations at RMH are free of charge with necessary operating costs such as heating, electricity, maintenance, etc. covered by donations. Each year, approximately 700 families stay in RMH Gothenburg’s 29 rooms and there is nearly always a line of families hoping for an opportunity to stay. Unfortunately, RMH Gothenburg is often forced to dismiss families due to lack of capacity (the number of nights families have had to wait over the past four years has ranged from 555 to 860).
To give more families the opportunity to stay close to their sick child, RMH Gothenburg is planning an expansion to add 13 rooms in a brand new house adjacent to the existing one. The new rooms will allow RMH to help approximately 250 more families every year. The Henrik Lundqvist Foundation’s $80,000 USD grant will fund the construction of a family room and a living room in the new RMH Gothenburg House. Construction is set to begin in August 2016.
RMH Gothenburg believes that in a healthy environment, sick children and their families feel better and recover faster. HLF is excited to help RMH build another ”home away from home” where children and adults can be filled with the resources, energy and opportunity to feel supported through a very difficult time in their lives.
