Imagine a world where every family has what they need to support the best possible health outcomes for their children. Since 1989, Ronald McDonald House® Orange County has helped families with seriously ill or injured children stay close to their care. While we can’t change a diagnosis or take away the challenges of treatment, we can help ease some of the practical and emotional burdens families face along the way.
Today, Ronald McDonald House Orange County welcomes up to 44 families each night, more than doubling the capacity of our original 20-room House. By supporting the whole family, from caregivers to siblings, we help families stay together, feel strengthened, and remain present throughout their child’s care.
That same care extends into two Ronald McDonald House® Family Room programs inside Rady Children’s Hospital Orange County (formerly CHOC) and Rady Children’s Hospital at Mission, giving families a place to rest and recharge directly within their child’s hospital.
Ronald McDonald House Orange County began with a father who understood firsthand the importance of staying close to a hospitalized child. While his nine-year-old son, Patrick, underwent cancer treatment, Ron Van Winkle spent more than three years finding whatever space he could to rest near the hospital. His experience led him to join Dr. Geni Bennetts and a group of parents with a shared vision: families needed better support to stay close and present throughout their child’s care.
That vision became Ronald McDonald House Orange County. Designed from the beginning around the needs of families, the original 20-room House opened its doors in November 1989.
As the needs of families grew, so did the House. In 2019, the “Double the Love, Double the House” capital campaign raised more than $15 million to expand the House from 20 to 44 guest rooms, creating space to support even more families with its grand reopening in 2024.
More than 35 years later, that original vision continues: helping families stay together, supported and close to their child’s care.
Across Ronald McDonald House® Southern California, we are united by a shared commitment to strengthen families, remove barriers, and help children achieve the best possible health outcomes. Our mission, vision, and values guide how we care for families and the communities we serve.
For more than 50 years, our founding and forever partner, McDonald’s, has walked hand in hand with Ronald McDonald House® to help families stay by their child’s side.
Phone 714-639-3600
383 South Batavia Street,
Orange, CA 92868
