Construction is well underway for the new Ronald McDonald House in downtown Charleston, and the nonprofit is closing in on its fundraising goal for the project.
Dewayne Dickens, executive director of the Ronald McDonald House in Charleston, said crews have already laid the foundation for the new house, and everything is on track to be finished within budget and on schedule.
"We've poured concrete for the first floor, and the exterior walls are going up," Dickens said. "Besides the snow storm a few weeks ago, we've had relatively good weather for winter, so we're still on pace to complete the build by August of this year."
The new $3.5 million structure will be located on Pennsylvania Avenue, next to the West Virginia Lottery building and within walking distance of CAMC Women and Children's Hospital. The building is set to replace Charleston's current Ronald McDonald House, the smallest and oldest of the three in West Virginia. The new ADA-compliant, 19,000-square-foot house will feature an expanded common room, 14 guest rooms - four more than the previous house - and will have a third-floor shell for storage and future expansion.
Construction began in October and is expected to be completed by the fall of 2016. The need for a new, larger house closer to its partner hospital became clear as demand for RMHC's services grew, Dickens said - the old 10-room house serves nearly 300 families each year, many of whom still struggled to travel the four miles between Women and Children's and the Kanawha City house.
"The new house location is a mere 200 to 300 steps from Women and Children's, so families are going to be able to walk across a parking lot and they'll be at the hospital," he said. "This new house is going to be more efficient and larger, with 14 rooms and expanded common area space - it's going to be much larger, and allow us to provide space for more families."
Dickens said he anticipates the new house will be fully operational and accepting families by September. Dickens hopes to move into the new facility debt-free, and the charity is on track to meet that goal - Ronald McDonald House Charities has raised $3.4 million of its $3.5 million goal through its Building Love, Bridging Hearts fundraising campaign launched in December 2014, and Dickens hopes to reach the full fundraising goal by May.
"Thankfully our expenses have been controlled, and $3.5 million is still the goal we're trying to reach," he said. "The biggest need right now is continued involvement so that we can reach that financial goal. We've gotten so close now to the end - that's the biggest thing. We want to move into this house debt-free."
Major contributors to the project include BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Company, Charleston Area Medical Center, Columbia Pipeline Group and McDonald's of the Tri-State and Southern West Virginia. To donate to the RMHC's capital campaign, visit www.charlestonrmhc.org or www.buildinglovebridginghearts.org.
Reach Lydia Nuzum at
lydia.nuzum@wvgazette.com,
304-348-5189 or follow
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