Our original House on Spruce Street

When an unlikely partnership was formed in Philadelphia in 1974 between an NFL team, a children’s hospital, and a restaurant chain, none of its members could have imagined that their dream of a home away from home for families of seriously ill children would grow to become an international phenomenon. They simply wanted to create a place where parents of sick children could be with others who understood each others’ situations and could provide emotional support.

The seeds of the partnership were planted when Kim Hill, the 3-year old daughter of Philadelphia Eagles tight end Fred Hill, was diagnosed with leukemia. Hill and his wife camped out on hospital chairs and benches, ate food from vending machines and did all they could to keep Kim from seeing their sadness, exhaustion and frustration.

All around, the Hills saw other parents doing exactly the same thing. They learned that many of the families had traveled great distances to bring their children to the medical facility, but the high cost of hotel rooms was prohibitive. They continued to think, “There has to be a better way.”

Hill rallied the support of his teammates to raise funds to help other families experiencing the same emotional and financial traumas as his own. Through the Philadelphia Eagles’ General Manager, Jim Murray, the team offered its support to Dr. Audrey Evans, head of the pediatric oncology unit at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. It was Dr. Evans’ dream for a house that could serve as a temporary residence for families of children being treated at her hospital that led to the first Ronald McDonald House - a seven bedroom house on Spruce Street. That House grew to its current incarnation:  a 44 bedroom House on Chestnut Street that currently serves over 2,100 families each year.  

Now, there are over 276 Ronald McDonald Houses throughout the world based on the model of our House in Philadelphia.  In January of 2008, the Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House opened our second House at Front and Erie to serve families at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children and Shriners Hospital, and we continue to grow the services that we provide our families.