ROANOKE, Va. – Thousands of families across the country receive support from Ronald McDonald House Charities each year. The houses help relieve the financial burden of families who have a child in the hospital and need to stay nearby.
Ronald McDonald House in Roanoke is just two blocks from Carilion. For Steven and Makayla Lester, living here means not having to pay thousands of dollars for a hotel room or traveling back-and-forth from their West Virginia home to see their newborn sons every day.
The couple from Peterstown West Virginia was due to give birth to their first children, twin boys, on June 3. During monitoring with their doctors, they learned one of their sons was having issues with his umbilical cord and doctors were seeing fluid form around his heart.
"You hear those words and you think you'll never have to be in that situation," says Makayla.
On February 15, at just 24 weeks, Kade and Keaton were born in Roanoke. When they were born, Kade weighed 1 pound 7 ounces and his brother Keaton weighed just 14 ounces.
After four months of treatment and care at Carilion, Kade was released from the hospital in June. He's been living at the Ronald McDonald House with his parents since then.
Keaton has already undergone four surgeries. His most recent came just last night.
Steven and Makayla tell me they don't know what they would have done without the support of the Ronald McDonald House over the last six months.
"It's definitely a lifesaver. I think we would both have lost our minds. We probably would have gone bankrupt trying to afford a place down here to stay or we would have been driving three hours a day back-and-forth to the hospital," says Steven.
Their stay comes as the Ronald McDonald House launches the Adopt-A-Room program to help upgrade the rooms that more families, like the Lesters, will be staying at in the future.
As part of the Adopt-A-Room program, a major grant from the Roanoke Women's Foundation has allowed the Ronald McDonald House to completely renovate four bedrooms already. Now, more changes are in the works for the space, which has become a second home for many families.
When a family moves in here they're never sure how long they'll be staying. While the average stay is about two weeks, some families are only here for one night while others, like Steven and Makayla, have been here for six months.
The Ronald McDonald House has been a second home to the couple since the boys were born. While the family says they've appreciated their stay, the thought of taking the boys back home has become a somewhat emotional subject.
"It's exciting, we can't wait for the day. We do plan on coming back to volunteer and do stuff like that," says Steven. "It kind of gives you a home away from home. Nothing will ever be home. But this is a close second."
With about 700 families like the Lesters staying at the Ronald McDonald House each year, the upgrades are a way to keep these rooms feeling like home for even more families in the future.
Companies or individuals are able to adopt a room through the program, sponsoring minor upkeep or covering the full renovation of a room. An open house at the Ronald McDonald House Thursday night will honor the current donors and explain to those interested in getting involved how they can help.