RMHC continues tradition Expanded facility continues tradition of helping families in time of need
About this publication History of RMHC of Eastern Keeping families close Montana 3 How you can help RMHC’s new addition 5
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General Manager Dave Worstell Advertising Director Ryan Brosseau Advertising Manager Arcadea Scott Special Sections Coordinators Teresa Cox, Mo Lucas, Mandy Schilling
Humble beginnings
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hroughout her career, Dr. Audrey Evans noticed that families had nowhere to stay while their kids were being treated, and she was determined to change that by creating a home away from home, free of charge. This is where the Ronald McDonald House program started. In 1974, Audrey and Jimmy Murray, the former general manager of the Philadelphia Eagles, co-founded the Ronald McDonald House Charities to provide lodging, resources, and care to children and families in need.
Since opening, the Ronald McDonald House Charities span more than 63 countries, have 360 locations, and have helped over 7 million families.” Dr. Evans says, “If I go to a [Ronald] McDonald House, somebody takes care not only of a child who is staying there, but takes care of the whole family…” and thanks to her, the RMHC network continues to do that for families all over the world and right here in Billings, MT with the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Eastern Montana.
Congratulations to the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Eastern Montana &
Thank You
Montana for your support!
Travis Dimond
(406) 927-8724 Travis@floberg.com
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A member of the franchise system of BHH Affiliates, LLC
RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES EASTERN MONTANA
RMHC vision, core values Ronald McDonald House Charities of Eastern Montana (The House) helps families with sick children stay together, and close to the medical care their child needs at Billings’ medical corridor. RMHC programs not only provide access to quality healthcare, they enable family-centered care ensuring families are fully supported and actively involved in their children’s care. The House offers the comfort of home – inviting bedrooms, bright community spaces and play areas, daily home-cooked meals, as well as fully stocked kitchen. It also provides an invaluable network of support through interactions with other families, staff and volunteers.
OUR VISION We believe that when you change a child’s life, you change a family’s, which can change a community, and ultimately the world. We rely on our strong relationships with the medical community to provide access to healthcare. We rely on strategic alliances with organizations that have the knowledge and infrastructure to extend our reach. We rely on you – our donors, volunteers, staff and friends.
OUR CORE VALUES Focusing on the critical needs of children. Celebrating the diversity of the programs we offer and the staff, volunteers and donors who make them possible. Staying true to our heritage of responsible stewardship. Operating with accountability and transparency.
A HISTORY OF THE RMHC OF EASTERN MONTANA Saint Vincent Healthcare donates a 1922 Craftsman style home at N. 31st Street to become First Ronald McDonald House in Montana.
1982
RMH Billings opens its doors offering 9 rooms to families of sick children.
1979
RMH Billings receives 10,000 shares of McDonald’s Common Stock from Joan B. Kroc to establish a permanent endowment.
1993
2000
The Ronald McDonald Family Room at St. Vincent Healthcare opens on the Pediatric Floor. The room includes a quiet sitting area, a business area, a washer and dryer and a bedroom with bath for families needing to stay in the hospital to care for their child.
RMH Billings adds new wing tripling the size of the house. The wing includes a new kitchen, 5 new bedrooms, two of which are handicapped accessible, a living room, a play area, computer room, teen room, meeting room and office space for staff.
2007
2009
Four new bedrooms with private baths are added to RMH Billings. The remodel of the House was made possible due to the generous gift by the Fortin Foundation.
2018
Original House demolished
2016
New Addition Opens with 11 new bedrooms.
Congratulations Ronald McDonald House St. Vincent Healthcare would like to congratulate the Ronald McDonald House of Billings on completion of their beautiful new facility. We wish you many more years of continued success providing a place for families to call home while their child is hospitalized.
RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES EASTERN MONTANA
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Connie Grammens celebrates 33 years with RMHC in November
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n November of 2018, Connie Grammens will have been working at Ronald McDonald House of Billings for thirty-three years! Connie started as House Manager and eventually moved to her current position of Executive Director. Connie moved to Billings after she graduated from college at MSU, accepting a retail buying position at Cole’s Department Store. At the time, she was community vice president of Junior League and was working with RMHC on a leadership conference. In the process, she found out they were looking
for a House Manager and decided to apply. She was hired in November of 1985, only three years after The House was established in Billings. Connie is Executive Director for Ronald McDonald House Charities of Eastern Montana. Because of their small staff, Connie finds herself doing House Manager duties still ... and she says her jobs range from finding someone to help fix a broken toilet, to consoling a family, to making construction decisions, to hosting donors and fundraisers. “It’s exciting because I never really know what
each day will bring!” she said. RMHC also has a part time development director that they have added in the last ten years. Connie basically IS the Ronald McDonald House of Billings, and because of Connie, The House thrives! When asked what her biggest challenge is at The House she said, “It takes a whole community effort to keep our organization afloat. We rely heavily on our community for funding and volunteering and we are grateful for all their support.” When asked her what has made her stay at
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RMHC for 33 years, her reply came quickly, “The families that you get to know and help. And being a part of sharing with them as they go through different trials and tribulations. Celebrating the joyful days when families get to go home. The Ronald McDonald House of Billings is one big family; everybody supports one another. It’s been fun to watch it grow over the years, and see the major changes in Billings’ medical community, and that they have taken such an advanced role in rural Montana and Wyoming.” Connie Grammens
Photo courtesy Jana Graham Photography
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RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES EASTERN MONTANA
PO Box 1203 ‐ Billings, MT 59103 ‐ (406) 252‐0510
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RMHC’S BIG, NEW
ADDITION A Bigger House with a HUGE Heart
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ou’ve probably seen that the Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) of Eastern Montana’s new addition is complete and is now open and fully operational. There were numerous reasons why Ronald McDonald House Charities’ “original house” had to be replaced, it was fraught with problems including: three unusable guest rooms; only one bathroom that was operational; damage from several floods that our basement is prone to; the old section of the house was not compliant with ADA standards and finally the structure itself was very energy inefficient to heat, cool and maintain.
It is important to note that the ONLY part of the house that was removed is the original small house on the corner of 30th and 12th. The Mary Alice Fortin Annex will remain in full use and is completely operational. As you can see by the photos, the house grew to meet the needs of our families. The influx of demand for the Ronald McDonald House has come from population growth in Eastern Montana, Northern Wyoming and North and South Dakota. In addition, both Billings’ hospitals have made great strides to grow their capacity to care for critically ill infants and children. All of this demanded more guest rooms and living quarters for RMHC families
Photo courtesy Jana Graham Photography
Michael & Sherril Burke
RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES EASTERN MONTANA
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whose proximity to their critically ill children is paramount. Because of a $1 million pledge by The Harnish Foundation in honor of A.J. “Bud” Hickey, the RMHC Building Hope 2 Capital Campaign’s beginning was made possible. Bud was a founding board member when the Ronald McDonald House of Billings first opened its red doors on September 1, 1982. RMHC Building Hope 2 Capital Campaign included a rebuild of the old house to blend with the new annex to make it one cohesive building. There are 11 additional guest rooms with private bathroom facilities, an additional kitchen, a children’s play area and additional laundry space. The addition is completely ADA compliant including a new elevator for those guests who need it. The new expansion of the Ronald McDonald House of Billings is as pretty
as a picture on the outside, but it’s still what’s on the INSIDE that counts! Inside the house is where families feel welcomed by the comforts of home, while experiencing the trauma of having a sick child in care at the Billings’ medical corridor. It’s on the inside of the house, where the familiar smell of home-cooked meals, freshly-made beds, and faces of people who understand greet them as they return from a long day at the hospital. It’s on the inside that a community of families going through the same thing can bond. It’s on the inside where families don’t have to worry about the little things like a stocked refrigerator, toiletries, or a place to rest, because their minds are on the bigger things like the health and well-being of their children. Thank you beyond measure for your support of this campaign! We invite you in a for a tour of the new addition anytime! Photo courtesy Jana Graham Photography
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RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES EASTERN MONTANA
SPENCER FREDERICK Stockman Bank Downtown Branch Manager
CONNIE GRAMMENS RMH Executive Director
CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR EXPANSION! We appreciate your service to our communities for 36 years and being a home away from home for families in need.
Montana’s Brand of Banking stockmanbank.com
Member FDIC | Equal Housing Lender ender
August 2018
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Keeping families close: Forest’s story
F
orest’s story began on November 22nd of 2016 at Children’s Hospital Colorado in Denver. My girlfriend Gladys and I had traveled from Bozeman to Denver in the 36th week of pregnancy due to diagnosed heart defects in utero and were able to get a room at the Ronald McDonald House in Aurora, Colorado within two days. We didn’t know it at the time, but this would be our home away from home for almost eight months while Forest received the care he needed. Born with CHARGE Syndrome, a result of a rare genetic mutation, Forest faced a multitude of challenges from the beginning. He was born with a cleft lip and palate, multiple heart defects, and some hearing loss in both ears. He had open heart surgery at seven days old to repair the heart defects but still continued to struggle to breathe on his own. From December to February he was intubated until a second heart surgery fixed a residual heart defect that was affecting his lungs. Following that surgery, he was able to be extubated and started doing
really well on supplemental oxygen. However, from March to May he had three separate events that required CPR to recover. The third time involved a full cardiac and respiratory arrest, and Forest needed seven minutes of CPR to bounce back. Following this event, Forest’s doctors suggested that he get a tracheostomy and be put on a ventilator. He got his trach in early May, and we started learning how to care for him and his new equipment. In mid-June we got approved for a transfer to St. Vincent Healthcare in Billings so that we could be closer to our home in Bozeman. However, living out of a hospital room still wasn’t very feasible. We quickly got a room at the Ronald McDonald House across the street from the hospital and have been there since June. Forest is currently doing great, and we’re ready to go home, but we have to line up home nursing before that can happen. In the meantime, the Ronald McDonald House remains our home away from home, and we couldn’t be more thankful. Between the Aurora House and the
House here in Billings, we have been provided with a place to rest our (often weary) heads at night, a kitchen to cook meals, laundry facilities, and a proper shower. We say it all the time to ourselves and to friends and family, and it is the absolute truth – we don’t know what we would have done without the Ronald McDonald House. We really don’t. Our only other options would be to live out of Forest’s hospital room or to rent a hotel room. The hotel wouldn’t have been financially feasible, and living out of his hospital room would have been just short of impossible. We will forever be indebted to the Ronald McDonald House organization and the amazing staff and volunteers. Gladys, Forest, and I are walking testimonies for the amazing work that Ronald McDonald House does and the impact it can have on somebody’s life. We have now been away from home for over a year, and we still don’t know when we will be able to go home to Bozeman, but for now we couldn’t be happier with our home away from home. — Casey Kanode
PLEASE JOIN US FOR OUR
THANK YOU
Sunday, Sept. 9th
Ronald McDonald House
11am - 2pm Ronald Mcdonald House RefResHMents, tReats & touRs
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For choosing us to be a part of your project. 1144 N 30th Street Billings, MT
RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES EASTERN MONTANA
1402 Central Ave • Billings, Montana 59102
FOOD ITEMS
Juice boxes Healthy snacks Granola bars Flour Sugar Cake mixes Canned frosting Microwave popcorn Manwich Chicken/Beef Broth Salt and pepper Ramen noodles Mac & cheese Baking supplies Pasta Dry Creamers
RMHC of Eastern Montana
WISH LIST
CLEANING SUPPLIES
Disinfecting wipes Soft Scrub Laundry detergent Scrubbing Bubbles Swiffer wet cloth refills Dryer sheets Ziploc bags (any size) Kitchen trash bags Dishwasher/dish soap There are countless ways your generosity helps. DONATE TODAY!
RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES EASTERN MONTANA
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HOW YOU CAN HELP Support our families by attending an upcoming event
BIRTHDAY PARTY — September 9, 2018, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. Join us for Tours, Treats and Refreshments for the 36th Birthday of RMHC of Eastern Montana
ART AND WINE — September 14, 2018 at Camelot Ranch Join us for a night of art, auctions and wine with all donations going to RMHC of Eastern MT! This is the major annual fundraiser for RMHC of Billings and helps with operating costs to keep The House going for families with children receiving treatment at a Billings medical facility. Tickets still available. Call Patty Connelly at 406-839-8514.
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Share-a-Night offers different levels of monthly giving
$100 $250 $500 PROVIDES 1 NIGHT LODGING
PROVIDES 3 NIGHTS LODGING
PROVIDES 5 NIGHTS LODGING
RMHC of Eastern Montana Board of Directors 2018 Andy Gott, President Quinn Donovan, Secretary/Treasurer Vicki Coffee Brad Anderson
RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES EASTERN MONTANA
Travis Dimond Joanne Dodd Karen Frank Spencer Frederick Nick Hart
James Gainan Dan Merry Megan Model Pat Newbury Steve Nitz
Joel Nieskens Duncan Peete Kathy Pierce Alison Rentz, M.D. Sammy Twito
MEET THE BOARD Andy Gott, President, RMHC of Eastern Montana Board of Directors
uinn Donovan, Treasurer, Q RMHC of Eastern Montana Board of Directors
Andy has been married to his wife, Marni for 14 years. Together they have four kids: Ryan (11), Leila (almost 9), Skyler (almost 3), and Oliver, (almost 1). 2018 is Andy’s first year as President of RMHC of Eastern Montana Board of Directors. In addition to this, Andy is a Commercial Loan Manager at First Interstate Bank. He heads a team of commercial bankers that serve businesses and helps them get the capital they need to operate effectively and to grow. When Andy was asked why he chose to be the President of the Board for RMHC, he said, “I am honored to apply my management and leadership skills in this capacity. Having young kids and understanding how quickly medical issues can arise, I see RMHC as a great platform to serve families when they need help the most by providing a safe and stable home away from home.”
Quinn has owned First Montana Title for 13 years. He graduated from MSUB in 2002 with a BS in Public Relations & Marketing. He has lived in Billings ever since and has been on the RMHC Board for 8 years, serving as president for 4 years and is currently the treasurer. Quinn got involved with RMHC because family is the most important thing in life and helping families in need makes volunteering for the RMHC an easy choice. Quinn also donates his service as an auctioneer at several fundraising events, including the RMHC Corks & Canvas annual event to be held this year on September 14th.
Congratulations Ronald McDonald House Larsen Decorators Inc 943 Poly Drive • 406-245-4606 The place to improve the world is first in one’s own heart and head and hands, and then work outward from there.
Congratulations Ronald McDonald House
We are proud to be involved with this project.
– Robert M. Pirsig
Congratulations Ronald McDonald House of Eastern Montana
Karen Frank Senior V.P. 406-698-0152
Specializing in Commercial Construction 2915 Hannon Rd. | 406-245-6100 RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES EASTERN MONTANA
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