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Letter to the editor

McDonald House to grow to meet need

An expansion of All Children's Hospital gives plans urgency.

By STEPHANIE GARRY, Times Staff Writer
Published January 27, 2008

Johntaylor Yauilla's family has been living at the Ronald McDonald House off and on for his entire life. In need of a new heart, he is undergoing treatments to lower his immune system so it will not attack the new organ when it is transplanted. His brother Dustin, 12, and mother Kim both stay at the home while he stays in the hospital nearby.
	[Edmund D. Fountain | Times]

ST. PETERSBURG -For the Yauillas, the Ronald McDonald House near All Children's Hospital has been a second home.

They have stayed there on and off for 16 years, or as long as their son Johntaylor has been alive.

It started the day after he was born with a faulty aorta. Now they wait, hoping it will end with a heart transplant.

"If there wasn't a Ronald McDonald House, you'd go bankrupt," said his father, John Yauilla, who lives in Arcadia, southeast of Sarasota. "I don't know what we'd do."

But not all families can find a spot in the two houses near All Children's Hospital. The demand for rooms is rising. Next year, the hospital's new 240-bed expansion will open, placing an even greater burden on the two St. Petersburg houses.

All Children's is helping by building a shell for a third St. Petersburg house on its new campus, but Ronald McDonald House Charities is scrambling to raise $1-million to furnish the 14-bedroom house.

The new All Children's offers the charity a rare opportunity to serve a different group of families - those who won't leave the bedsides of their dangerously ill children, executive director Janice Davis said. Families won't have to leave the hospital grounds to take a nap and shower.

The new house will run differently from traditional houses, where out-of-town families pay $10 a night and do one chore in exchange for a comfortable place to stay, free meals and entertainment.

During the day, anyone will use the house to rest. Families will reserve rooms on a night-by-night basis. When their children are more stable, they'll move to another Ronald McDonald House.

The new house will bump up the number of such bedrooms in the Tampa Bay area from 66 to 80, making the Ronald McDonald charity here one of the largest in the country, said spokeswoman Alison Barrick.

Houses of solace

The area has three houses, one near Tampa General Hospital and two near All Children's in St. Petersburg.

The first Ronald McDonald House in the nation opened in 1974, after the daughter of Fred Hill, a Philadelphia Eagles tight end, was diagnosed with leukemia.

Her treatment inspired him to find better housing for parents with hospitalized children.

Now there are more than 270 houses worldwide.

Local demand for the houses has been rising over the last few years, much of it coming from the draw of All Children's.

Last year, about 2,300 families stayed in the three area houses. In St. Petersburg, the two houses were 87 percent full, said director Donna Young.

When all the rooms are booked, the charity sends families to local hotels at a discount. But it's not the same as being in the house.

The Yauillas have been at the St. Petersburg house for five months, ever since the doctor heard Johntaylor was unexpectedly falling asleep and said it was time for a transplant.

A second home

Johntaylor's heart is stiff and tired from pumping much harder than a normal heart. At home, he would run out of breath walking from one side of the house to the other.

At All Children's, Johntaylor spends most of his time in a hospital bed. Last month, the doctor allowed him to go out for three hours a time on the weekends.

His family usually stays at the west Ronald McDonald House, where most families are lodged for the long term.

John, his wife Kim, and their son, Dustin, 12, say it's like a second home.

If they're tempted to feel sorry for themselves, they can look around and see someone who has it worse.

John Yauilla said he and his family are grateful for the support.

"You could go on and on about the people who help," Yauilla said. "You don't know how to thank them or repay them."

Stephanie Garry can be reached at sgarry@sptimes.com or 727 892-2374.

FAST FACTS

How you can help

Ronald McDonald House Charities of Tampa Bay is asking for donations to equip the new house. It's also looking for volunteers to register guests and help around the houses. For $10,000, donors can furnish a bedroom and have it named after them. So far, nine have been sponsored and five remain. The dining room and entrance are also available for $25,000 each. If you're interested in sponsoring a room, call Janice Davis at (813) 258-6430 ext. 1. If you'd like to volunteer, call coordinator Lise Fields at (727) 767-7679.

[Last modified January 26, 2008, 23:37:36]