Ronald McDonald House® South Central Ontario
Expertise:
- Healthcare
- Social Profit
Services:
- Content
- Design
- Web Development
Who they are
A home away from home when families
need it most.
Ronald McDonald House® South Central Ontario provides comfort, care and community to families with children receiving medical treatment. Its House, Family Rooms and Care Cart programs support families across Hamilton, Niagara, Kitchener-Waterloo and beyond.
Challenge
A national rebrand created an urgent need for change, but a new look alone wouldn’t solve the website’s unclear structure and competing audience needs.
Solution
Rebuild the experience around two clear pathways – getting help and giving help – while bringing the new national identity to life through the chapter’s local story.
Result
A completely redesigned website launched in days rather than months, with clearer calls to action and a flexible platform the RMH SCO team can manage independently.
Starting inside the House.
Before designing the website, we needed to understand the experience behind it. We visited the Hamilton House, toured the facilities and spent time with the team learning how they support families during some of their most difficult moments.
A collaborative working session brought the existing website’s challenges into focus. Important information had no natural place to live, calls to action were unclear and the site wasn’t fully communicating the scale of the organization’s services or impact.
Two audiences. Two clear paths.
The website serves people arriving with very different needs. Some families are urgently looking for support near their child’s hospital. Others want to donate, volunteer, fundraise or become a corporate partner.
We reorganized the experience around two immediate pathways: Get Help and Give Help. From there, clear navigation and audience-specific content help every visitor quickly understand where to go and what to do next.
The content also clarifies that while McDonald’s is the organization’s Founding and Forever Partner, support from individuals, foundations, businesses and the wider community is essential to delivering its mission.
One brand. A distinctly local story.
The new Ronald McDonald House identity was implemented throughout the website, creating alignment with the national organization while preserving the South Central Ontario chapter’s own story.
Custom photography captured during our visit brings visitors closer to the people and spaces behind the mission. Regional service information, family stories and interactive impact data demonstrate how RMH SCO supports families across Hamilton, Niagara, Kitchener-Waterloo and surrounding communities.
Making the impact impossible to miss.
The website gives RMH SCO a flexible platform for communicating an impact that continues to grow. In 2025, the organization:
- Served 10,337 unique families across all programs.
- Welcomed 164,120 Family Room visits.
- Provided 14,404 nights of comfort at its House.
- Helped families avoid more than $5.9 million in out-of-pocket expenses.
The result is more than a website that meets brand standards. It is a clear, living expression of the mission – helping families find support, helping donors understand the need and helping the organization show the full reach of its work.