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Ronald McDonald House Helps Patients Heal With Touch Of Home

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- People come from all over the world to Baltimore for high quality medical care.

Alex DeMetrick reports sometimes healing also needs a touch of home.

Sometimes getting well means leaving your home in another state, often for weeks or even months at a time. For prolonged treatments and therapies, finding a place outside the hospital to live becomes a challenge.

"We thought we'd have to stay in a hotel. That would have been so isolating, so incredibly expensive and just in terms of the quality of life, it would have been very different. Ronald McDonald House has made an incredible difference in that regard," said Latondra Chandler.

Four-year-old Jadon Chandler is finishing up a month of therapy at Kennedy Krieger to overcome paralysis from a stroke. Ronald McDonald House gives him a chance to play with his sister, who's visiting today with their father from North Carolina.

Jadon and his mom room together.

"It's been a great support system for us and for him. Yeah, he loves this. Basically it's a place to live, a home away from home," his parents said.

But this support system could also use some support.

The Red Shoe Shuffle, named for the famous clown's footwear, is a 5K race and is the major fundraiser for Baltimore's Ronald McDonald House. Runners can still sign up for this year's benefit, set for April 12.

This year's race is being combined with a reunion for families who have called this place home in the past.

"Every parent is going through the same emotions, the same feelings, so they bond very quickly and very tightly and they stay in touch," said Sandy Pagnotti, Ronald McDonald House president.

Mixing memories with medicine in the home away from home.

If you'd like to lace up for the Red Shoe Shuffle, you can register online.

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