Ronald McDonald House Charities of CNY plans $1 million renovation project to increase capacity

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central New York (RMHC of CNY) announced Thursday that it is planning a $1 million renovation project of the CNY Ronald McDonald House to create new family suites.

The effort seeks to “meet the evolving needs of families,” RMHC of CNY said.

The local Ronald McDonald House is located at 1100 E. Genesee St. in Syracuse. It serves as a temporary home for families with seriously ill children who travel to the city for medical care.

Construction on the expansion project is expected to begin this fall and will be managed by Zausmer-Frisch Scruton & Aggarwal, which designed and built the CNY Ronald McDonald House in 2011 and 2012.

RMHC of CNY will renovate more than 9,000 square feet of unfinished space on the house’s fourth floor, adding six new family suites to increase the capacity of the home. The project will also enable the nonprofit to “better accommodate” large and multigenerational guest families.

“For more than 40 years, the CNY Ronald McDonald House has been a place of love and support for families facing the unthinkable. While that will never change, we recognize that the needs of our guest families are growing, and so our House must too,” Beth Trunfio, executive director of RMHC of CNY, said in a news release. “We’re excited to build out our fourth floor with new family suites that will enable us to keep even more families comfortable and close when it matters most.”

The CNY Ronald McDonald House says it provides guest families with the “convenience of a comfortable room and warm bed, home-cooked meals and snacks and support and compassion — all at no charge to the families — while keeping them close to Syracuse–area hospitals and medical centers,” per the release

In the first six months of 2023, alone, 415 family members stayed at the CNY Ronald McDonald House for a total of 1,782 nights, the nonprofit said.