The city also has approved a $300,000 award to the Boys & Girls Club to help pay for improvements to its property at 1828 W. Stewart St.
The funding comes from the $138 million the city received in federal coronavirus-related rescue funds.
The grant to the Boys & Girls Club will help pay for upgrades to ensure the organization continues to provide safe, accessible and meaningful recreational support services to young people in West Dayton, said LaShea Lofton, Dayton’s deputy city manager.
Ronald McDonald House has seen a significant increase in demand for housing for families as sick children receive pediatric care, Lofton said.
Last year, the organization had to turn away about 63% of the families that sought its services (or 538 families) because it had no space available, she said.
The new facility will help the organization increase its capacity from 14 rooms to as many as 42, said Rita Cyr, chief executive officer with Ronald McDonald House Charities Dayton.
“Dayton has become a destination city for pediatric health care,” she said. “As our health care systems in Dayton continue to grow, our Ronald McDonald House needs to grow along with them.”
She said, “This expansion will allow us to serve an additional 700 families, and that will total over 1,000 families annually.”
The Ronald McDonald House will help families save nearly $4.5 million in lodging, food and transportation, she said.
The organization said it has secured $22.4 million of the $29 million it is seeking to fully fund the project.
The Boys & Girls Club Dayton serves 120 club members, between the ages of 5 and 18, said Crystal Allen, the group’s CEO and president.
However, there are hundreds of other youth in West Dayton who would benefit from the club’s after-school and summer programs, she said.
But the facility’s current condition is a barrier to programming, recruitment and retention, she said.
The current facility, constructed in 1960, also is inefficient and expensive to operate and desperately needs repairs, she said.
The club plans to upgrade its facility over three phases.
The city’s funding will help renovate the gym, including by adding a new floor, bleachers and other systems, Allen said.
About 96% of the club’s members are Black, and the facility is located in a neighborhood that has been devastated by a loss of jobs, population and amenities, says a memo from Monica Jones, Dayton’s acting director of procurement, management and budget.
The area has a lower median income and higher unemployment and poverty than the city overall, the memo states.
About the Author
