August 18th, 2022
When a loved one is struggling with mental health, finding the right care can be a long and complicated journey, sometimes leading you far from home. Families from all over the world seek evidence-based treatment at Rogers Behavioral Health and for over a decade, many of these families have called our Ronald McDonald House® “home.”
In 2020, we proudly opened our first Ronald McDonald Family Room®. Located on the Rogers Behavioral Health campus in Oconomowoc, our Family Room is the second in the world to exclusively partner with a mental and behavioral health hospital.
Despite all of the advances made in understanding mental illnesses, negative stigma still exists and can lead to feelings of shame, isolation and unwillingness to seek help. When families visit our Family Room, they are treated with kindness and respect. They are shown hospitality and compassionate care. And, most importantly, they are reminded they are not alone.
At RMHC®, we know that mental health is part of overall health. Our Family Room provides families with a stigma-free environment where they can relax, have fun and focus on the health and well-being of their entire family. I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who supports this important program, including our incredible Family Room volunteers. We are proud to partner with Rogers Behavioral Health and look forward to providing compassionate care to families for many years to come.
Ann Petrie
RMHC President/CEO
• 1 in 6 U.S. adults lives with a mental illness.
• 17.1 million children in the U.S. have a psychiatric disorder.
• More than 23 million Americans struggle with addiction
January 2011
Our Ronald McDonald House in Milwaukee begins providing overnight accommodations to families with children receiving treatment at Rogers Behavioral Health.
2018
Rogers Behavioral Health Foundation begins formally and informally surveying patient families, staff and community members. Findings included:
“It is very isolating to be a parent of a loved one in treatment. I spent many lonely hours at Rogers.”
“Activities for family visits are currently very limited. We tell them to bring a deck of cards or games to play. I wish we were able to offer more than that.”
October 2020 Groundbreaking Ceremony
The Ladish Co. Foundation Center, located on Rogers’ main campus in Oconomowoc, was designed to be a restorative, stigma-free place for Rogers’ families and community members to gather and support one another on the journey to mental health and wellness. Funded in part by generous donors, it houses community meeting spaces, a Spiritual Care Program, Rogers Behavioral Health Foundation, Rogers Research Center and our Ronald McDonald Family Room. Each component of the Ladish Center helps support family members of Rogers patients and provide crucial community resources.
2020-2021 Construction
Construction on the Ladish Co. Foundation Center continued throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
August 16, 2021
RMHC Eastern WI, Rogers Behavioral Health and the Ladish Co. Foundation gather to celebrate the grand opening of the Ladish Co. Foundation Center.
Serving Families
Our Family Room provides a welcoming environment where parents and families visiting a loved one at Rogers can relax and recharge during downtimes on campus. Families may visit the family room with or without their loved one in treatment and no reservations are needed. The Family Room is open seven days a week (9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.). Amenities include:
Guest Family Feedback
“Knowing this resource is available to us is such a bright spot for us! Our family has been going through such a difficult time and this literally brought tears to my eyes. Everyone here is so nice and welcoming and made us all feel so normal! We were blown away at the level of hospitality and kindness. We are so grateful…thank you so much.”
“Even as family to a patient we felt loved and cared for.”
“The Family Room allows me to tell my daughter that I am “here with her” every day which is so important.”
“This was an amazing experience overall, everyone was welcoming, kind, and supportive. I have never experienced such kindness and we are so grateful! We enjoyed connecting with other supportive families, laughing, just hanging out, and feeling supported in the moment during such periods of high stress. Thank you so much, I am going to apply to volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House back home.”
“A lovely and welcoming “home”. We are so grateful to have this location to go to. A relief for our entire family.”
