When her oldest son Zander was born at 28 weeks, mom Neelam remembers feeling like the ground dropped out from under her: “My focus went straight to my baby’s survival, but almost immediately the practical panic set in too. How can we stay close? How do we keep our family together while everything feels like it’s falling apart? It was overwhelming in a way you can’t really prepare for.”
In the middle of so much uncertainty, she learned about the Ronald McDonald House Family Room, where in the middle of medical chaos, she immediately felt cared for and better prepared to stay by her son’s side through every moment and every milestone. “It gave us stability when everything else felt uncertain. Having a safe place to sleep, eat, and breathe meant we could put our energy where it belonged—at the hospital, advocating for our child, and supporting one another.”
Zander was in the NICU for 3 months, and Neelam will never forget the feeling of care she felt in the Ronald McDonald House Family Room, both from staff and volunteers, and from other families who truly understood what they were going through.
When the Khans welcomed their second son Eizen, he also needed a stay in the NICU – but this time the Khans knew they had a place to stay at the Ronald McDonald House Family Room, just steps from his bedside and where Zander could stay with them.
Since her stays at the Family Room, Neelam has been determined to pass along the care that she was given, by sharing her and also running a NICU workshop to support families like hers. “Staying involved feels deeply personal,” she says. “It’s our way of giving back to a place that gave us so much when we needed it most.”
That is the full circle your support creates. A frightened family becomes a family that comes home, and then a family that helps the next one through. Because for every milestone a baby reaches, a family reaches one too.
