When little Carmen Miller stopped eating and became lethargic, tests revealed a large brain tumor. Her treatment required her to stay 10 minutes from Akron Children’s Hospital for three months.

“Because Carmen is considered a transplant, she has to be here,” explained her mother Colleen. “We live an hour away. We learned about the Ronald McDonald House when we were staying there the first several weeks after her surgery. If it wasn’t here, I don’t know what we would have done.”

Carmen’s parents would have slept in their car to be with her. They were determined that she’d never be alone through treatment. Luckily, the House had room for them and became their second home.

“We have so many firsts here,” said her dad Charlie. “Her first time using the potty was here. Going up and down steps. Over half her vocabulary has been learned here because we spent so much time here.”

For so many families like the Millers, The House is the only affordable housing. “We don’t know what we’d do without this place,” said Charlie. “There are really no other options for us. They helped us take care of our daughter, so they’re family as far as I’m concerned.”

Ways you can help:

• Become a volunteer
• Recruit a restaurant
• Pull tab program