The Ronald McDonald House of Gainesville has eight staff members who run the house that operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Eight staff members for a house that never closes.
In the month of October, more rooms were full in the Ronald McDonald House than in the previous October, and staff members said they believe volunteers from community and UF organizations helped make that possible.
The Ronald McDonald House provides a temporary home for family members of children receiving treatment at Shands at UF.
In October 2011, 88 percent of the house was occupied, and the annual average occupancy rate for the house is 93 percent. This October, the occupancy was at 95 percent, said executive director Melissa Tyrone.
She said the occupancy rate for each month is calculated by dividing the amount of rooms occupied by the amount of rooms available. There are 31 rooms in the house.
“One of the main things that makes our occupancy so high is that we’re able to turn rooms over quickly,” Tyrone said.
There are five to 10 families always on the waiting list in a busy month like October, she said, and the goal is to shorten the time it takes to clean rooms to a couple of hours. There is only one full-time housekeeper and one part-time housekeeper.
“We rely heavily on volunteers to do our light housekeeping,” said volunteer coordinator Dorie Faulkner.
One day last month, she said, there were four rooms that opened up at the same time. If there hadn’t been volunteers at the house that day to help clean up, the house would have been forced to turn people away.
Judy Bates coordinates the visiting chef program that schedules organizations to cook dinner for families staying in the house. A group-cooked dinner was provided every night last month, Faulkner said, and sorority sisters from the UF chapter of Alpha Delta Pi did twice.
“It means so much to families to be able to come home to a home-cooked meal,” she said.
The families usually eat the meals and go right back to the hospital.
“If it weren’t for that program, they’d probably be living off vending machines,” Faulkner said.
In addition, October was dedicated to repainting and redecorating the house for its 30th anniversary and preparing it for the next 30 years, Tyrone said. The anniversary was July 8, but she said she talks about the history of the house at every event.
“We’re really celebrating the occasion throughout this year,” she said. “We’re giving ourselves a facelift for the 30th year.”
Some new furniture, including a couch delivered a few weeks ago, will help the house maintain its homey atmosphere, Tyrone said.
The UF Department of Recreational Sports brought about 30 people to do deep cleaning and help wash window screens.
“They were tremendous,” Faulkner said. “They really spruced the place up.”
A garden club decorated the indoor patio with a fall theme, and Faulkner said they transformed the space from an “ugly” place into a “serene” one.
Rotary Club of Gainesville members landscaped the west side of the house, completing their serenity garden and pond project. The Florida Youth ChalleNGe Academy in Starke came to the house Oct. 13 to plant and help finish the Rotary project, which Faulkner said she thought cost about $40,000.
Other groups that volunteered during the busy month included UF’s Sigma Beta Rho Fraternity and the American Society of Interior Designers.
Faulkner said the Gainesville location is one of the older houses in the country, and she said the anniversary attracts community projects and exposure.
“It’s a very, very big deal,” she said.
Faulkner said the proximity to UF is especially helpful for recruiting volunteers.
“We have the fortunate problem of having too many volunteers,” she said. “We have one of the happiest issues a nonprofit organization could have.”
UF volunteers helped renovate the Ronald McDonald House, 1600 SW 14th St., for its 30th anniversary. Occupancy was at 95 percent this October.
