Marco might look like your average sixteen year-old kid – tall & lanky, t-shirt from one of his favorite bands peeking out from underneath his button-trimmed jacket, and chains drooping below his left pants pocket that signal perhaps a touch more edge than mom would like. His hair, long and chestnut brown, hangs over his right eye, seemingly obscuring his vision. This, however, is not the case.

Marco’s vision is not veiled by his hair, but rather his genes. Legally blind and with very little hearing, Marco and his family are all too familiar with overcoming medical obstacles. His little brother, Isaiah, fights respiratory and neurological illnesses that need expert attention. You might think these were the toughest problems they had to deal with, but they’re not.

You see, for Marco, cochlear implants are available and on the horizon. Isaiah’s ailments are demanding but treatable. All of this is available to them through Tucson’s first-rate hospitals and clinics. The boys, though, live in Yuma, two hundred and fifty miles away.

Isaiah and Marco love playing together, and a half-day road trip can be a lot of fun…once, maybe twice. Two in the same day is exhausting. Almost two dozen in less than eighteen months is punishing to their spirits and to mom Cynthia’s family budget.

This is where the Ronald McDonald House steps in. The Ronald McDonald House is a place for families to stay close to each other. Marco can eat a hearty, home-cooked meal so he’s strong for his next doctor’s visit. Isaiah can hop on the free WiFi to catch up on his homework. Cynthia can get a great night’s sleep so she is refreshed for the next day’s long drive home.

To date, Marco and his tight-knit little family have stayed at the Ronald McDonald House for more than 40 nights and enjoyed more than 100 delicious meals from our volunteer Chef for a Day program.  Here they have a place to be a family and their stay here makes the trips to Tucson more of an adventure and less of a chore.