Trinidad is home to Sheldon Ramsingh and Sally Teesdale.
It is home for their son, Zachary, too, but their baby boy with big brown eyes and flowing black hair won’t be celebrating his first birthday Thursday in his native country.
Zachary recently had open-heart surgery, the second such surgery of his young life.
He’s a champ. He was discharged three days later and bounced back even better than doctors or his parents anticipated.
He still has several follow-ups in the coming weeks, meaning the family won’t be heading back to Trinidad just yet.
In the meantime, they’re in a place Teesdale calls a “home away from home — just better.”
The temporary “home” is the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Jacksonville, a 30-room facility in the shadow of Downtown’s hospitals that provides comfort and care for families of critically and chronically ill or injured children.
Teesdale remembers walking into the San Marco facility Sept. 7 and feeling a sense of astonishment and relief. The facility was so clean and well-furnished, the staff and volunteers so nice and accommodating.
“All of this is for us?” she recalled thinking. “It was really, really, awesome.”
Prior to their arrival, though, there was a chance there wasn’t going to be room for the family. Raising funds for their lodging would have been an expensive endeavor. They would have done it, but thankfully it didn’t come to that.
Close to five years ago, the nonprofit had a wait-list for families seeking to use its services while going through their challenging ordeals.
Ronald McDonald House officials hope that list drops or disappears altogether.
The organization today is unveiling the fruits of a $12.5 million capital expansion that will add 23 rooms for a total of 53, and an expansive rooftop garden that overlooks Downtown and provides other amenities.
The project also meant overhauling the dining and kitchen areas where families often share stories and a hot meal each night, revamping conference areas and adding more play and learning areas for children.
The project was envisioned five years ago but construction began in January 2015.
Since then, pounding hammers and whirring drills interspersed with giggles of playing children or families conversing with one another about their situations, their children and their lives in general.
Or even making friends, like Ramsingh and Teesdale did with a couple from Tallahassee with whom they exchanged numbers and emails, along with visits later.
“The families have gotten used to it and have been just amazing,” said Diane Boyle, Ronald McDonald House executive director.
Boyle said some families come to stay for two to three days at a time. Others two to three weeks or longer depending on the need.
The construction has been a distraction in a time when distractions can be a welcome sight or sound.
Those sounds of construction continued Tuesday afternoon as contractors and staff were putting on the finishing touches of the improvements in anticipation of today’s opening.
It wasn’t always easy. The project at one point was set back about five months when the expansion being built above the adjoining retention pond met some watery challenges.
The pond was drained and it turns out fish lived there and needed to be part of a catch-and-release program.
When it was finally drained and the digging began, the construction inadvertently tapped a spring that pumped a million gallons of water a day.
Despite the slight setbacks, the project turned out fantastic, said Boyle.
The work isn’t complete just yet, though.
After the house’s current residents are moved to their new digs, a $1 million renovation of the older rooms starts. It’s expected to take about three months and will match the décor of the newest wing.
When completed, it will provide even more families like Zachary’s that needed home away from home — “the perfect place to be under these circumstances,” said Teesdale.
“It has made our situation so much easier,” said Ramsingh.
That’s been the house’s mission the entire time.
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