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“When I think I’m having a bad day, I just take a stroll
around work,”
said Marty Ozer, executive director of Ronald
McDonald House Charities
®
Northern Nevada.
“I’m quickly
reminded that I’ve have never had a bad day in my life
compared to what our guests are dealing with.”
The Reno Ronald McDonald House
®
houses families who live
more than 30 miles outside of Reno and Sparks, asking only
a $10 donation per night. But they’ve never turned a family
away for an inability to pay. As Marty states, that’s where
donors come in.
“Local hotels are affordable for a handful of nights, but many
of our families are here for weeks,”
said Marty.
“Paying for
a room for such a long period becomes a second financial
mountain to climb, on top of the almost-certain medical bills
to follow.”
Though the Fosters were in a daze for the first few days, they
quickly realized the power of staying in a quiet environment
so close to their daughter’s room.
“It would have been terrible if we were not close to Jillian,”
said Christy.
“She needed to know how much everyone loves
her and wants her to pull through this. We didn’t know how
she would cope with this tragedy. The fact that we could
just take a quick shower, grab clothes and go back directly
to Jillian’s room in the PICU meant the world to us. We had
to be available whenever the doctors and nurses needed to
communicate with us. We needed to be with Jillian to make
sure she knew we’d face this as a family.”
A New Experience:
The Receiving End of Charity
Jillian’s traumatic accident turned the Foster’s entire world
upside down. Big questions were posed to Christy and
Robert and difficult decisions needed to be made. With Jillian
experiencing a constant rotation of medical professionals,
friends and supporters who trekked from Davis, the moments
that Robert and Christy had to themselves were heavy with
emotion.
“There were so many times Robert and I went to our room
at the House and just sobbed together,”
she said.
“We
would fall asleep crying about the reality of our new family
situation, but we at least had complete privacy to talk about
everything and reflect on how we were going to deal with
our new situation. We had to get our emotions out so we
could remain more positive for her. Neither of us could eat for
days but when we were finally ready, there was a homemade
meal ready for us. I was able to do laundry as we didn’t have
enough change of clothes. It seemed like everything we
needed was right there in the house. We could just focus on
getting back to our Jillian.”
While they stayed at the House, the Fosters were able to take
advantage of the community’s generosity in many ways. They
ate meals prepared by volunteers of the Chef Program, where
civic groups, companies, and families come in to the House
to cook so guests can eliminate one more question from their
list of worries: where will the next meal come from? They
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