Welcome home

When 14-year-old Kelley Conrey died in 1981, her parents asked family and friends to make financial donations to the Medical University of South Carolina's Health Sciences Foundation in her memory.

The foundation was helping families of hospitalized children to meet their food and shelter needs during stressful extended stays.

Maureen McDaniel, Kelley's mother, says she was fortunate to live in the Charleston area because she could go home to shower and check on her younger children during those times her daughter's chemotherapy sessions required that she be an inpatient. But she recalls it wasn't like that for everybody.

"Some families were literally sleeping in chairs and on the floors of semi-private rooms," recalls McDaniel. "They had no place to go. Some of them were from far distances and could not afford a hotel room. They had the cafeteria, but some of them didn't have the cash to eat there. I used to invite some of them home."

That was before Charleston had a Ronald McDonald House, which provides a place to stay for families of critically ill children. The house, which celebrates its 25th anniversary Sept. 10, has served more than 10,000 families.

The seriousness of a child's illness is the most important consideration in determining if a family gets a room. The cost is $10 per night for the first week and $5 per night afterward. The late Edward Henning, a McDonald's franchisee, told MUSC that it was possible to build a Ronald McDonald House here, McDaniel says. The money donated in Kelley's memory was shifted to a foundation established to build the house.

McDaniel, a nurse at MUSC for eight years, served as treasurer on the founding board of directors and has continued to speak about the house and raise funds for it, she says.

Others on that board were Frank Brumley, chairman; Horace F. Curry, president; Charles Ailstock; Dr. Charles Darby; Joseph Griffith; Henning; and Emory Main.

When McDaniel turned 40, friends threw her a birthday party at McDonald's on Sam Rittenberg, and all her presents were toys that went to the house.

When she retired after 16 years as an admissions manager at MUSC, colleagues gave money to the house instead of a gift to her. And when her husband threw her a 65th birthday party last year, guests donated money to the house in lieu of gifts.

Home away from home

When McDaniel visits the house, she always notices how relaxed the families look. They share donated meals, but most importantly, they share what they are going through with each other.

"Diseases and illnesses are different, but the emotional pain and despair felt by the parents are the same. I am so proud of this house. My other children also look on this house with pride knowing their sister had something to do with this."

In 2002, Debbie Nardi's grandsons, Richard and Vincent, were ill. Richard was able to leave the MUSC hospital after five days, but Vincent was there for nearly four weeks, three of those weeks in intensive care.

The family is from Little River.

Nardi and her daughter- in-law, Angie, the boys' mother, found a home at the Ronald McDonald House in more ways than one, the grandmother says. While it would have been impossible to share the mental and physical stress or bond with parents of other sick children at a hotel, it was welcomed by both the parents and staff at the Ronald McDonald House. Yet if anyone wanted to remain private, they were left alone.

The boys' father, Tim, and grandfather, Dick, were required to spend weekdays working in Little River, and that made the support from other families staying at the house even more significant.

In addition, they were at the house over Easter weekend and thought they wouldn't have a holiday meal, Nardi says. They were surprised and happy when Sticky Fingers provided them with dinner.

Three generations of the Nardis have returned to the Ronald McDonald House twice to cook Thanksgiving dinner for families there. They also have returned for one of the house's family reunions.

Over the years

Barbara Bond, executive director, has been with the Charleston Ronald McDonald House for 24 of its 25 years.

The basic mission is the same, she says. The house is there to serve families of sick children, but some things have changed.

"We have more staff and, most importantly, we have doubled in size. We can serve 25 families a night. There are 365 nights in a year. And we are almost always full."

That's because a new wing of the house opened in 2006, adding 13 bedrooms to the 12 bedrooms already there. The new section features a children's playroom, television room, meeting and laundry rooms, snack area and a mother's meditation garden.

Before the addition, the house had to turn away 12 to 20 families each night, Bond says. Now, they usually turn away five or six families. But some nights, they serve every family that needs a place to stay.

"The best thing about working here are the 'thank- yous,' " Bond says. "They come from the heart. People never forget the kindness they've received here at the house. They also belong to everyone else, but I get them."

Reach Wevonneda Minis at 937-5705 or wminis@postandcourier.com.