After a year in which the best-laid plans were nearly laid low by the pandemic, the flagship Ronald McDonald House on Manoa’s Judd Hillside has reopened with a flourish with its new family recreation center.

“It is just the best feeling to be able to start off the year and accept families and be able to take care of them,” said Jerri Chong, president of Ronald McDonald House Charities Hawaii. “After such a tough year, we were more than happy to welcome (2021), and start service again to our families, especially being able to offer the family recreation center.”

The facility, along with another nearby home operated by the Ronald McDonald organization, serves families of people 21 and under from around the state who require extended medical treatment on Oahu. The group provides free housing, meals, transportation and other support services. The intent is to relieve families of such financial burdens and allow them to focus on their ailing loved ones.

Its new, 1,000-square-foot recreation center offers something for the entire family — an indoor treehouse setting for youngsters, a teen hangout spot decorated with urban art, computer workstations for older students or parents and a large living room area for a family to watch TV. The space was designed by interior decorator Cathy Lee, a former contributor to the Star-Advertiser’s Home Renovation section.

From start to finish, the creation of the center followed a long and serendipitous road worthy of a fairy tale. Its roots lie in a home concert in 2008 given by Lee’s daughter Nicki, then age 8 and an avid singer, who wanted to raise funds for charity. Lee gave her a list of charities, and Nicki, now a student at Duke University, chose the Ronald McDonald House. “She thought she was going to meet Ronald McDonald at this house,” Lee said. “I didn’t learn until years later that that was the reason for her choice.”

The concert, which included performances by Nicki’s classmates and friends, raised $1,100 for the facility. It also inspired Nicki to start Kidz for a Cause, a nonprofit that raises funds for local charities. Ten years later, the organization returned its focus to the Ronald McDonald House, this time raising $350,000, which was earmarked for renovating its family room.

“We wanted it to go to bringing joy to the children, and their family room was very outdated and rundown and small,” said Lee, who spearheaded the project pro bono.

Chong, however, had bigger plans, especially when she saw the amount raised by Kidz for a Cause. Since its inception in 1987 in a 1920s mansion, the facility had served families of sick children aged 18 and under. But a few years ago, Chong decided to increase the age limit to 21, getting approval from the Ronald McDonald House Charities Mission, the international umbrella organization.

“In Hawaii, there are extended families. Kids go to college and they’re still living at home, they’re still on their parents’ insurance,” Chong said, adding that she was motivated by a mainland student who was injured on Maui and came from a state where McDonald House accepted older patients.

Raising the age limit meant that “having a children’s playroom was not enough,” she said. “We needed areas for the older kids, the older teens, young parents even.”

The organization went big, deciding to build a new addition on a spot where a rarely used lanai stood, with construction starting in February 2020.

Then the pandemic hit. Construction was stopped for eight weeks, but worse was that the organization’s fundraising plans, such as its annual golf tournament and gala, which were intended to raise about another $350,000, ground to a halt. “We started doing virtual,” Chong said. “We did online fundraising and social media.”

Chong said those efforts raised about $200,000, but she gave major credit for minimizing costs to Lee, who not only dropped all of her other projects but rallied those she knew in the construction, furniture, art and design industries to donate to the project. “Everyone said yes,” Lee said, “whether it was giving me wholesale pricing, or whatever they could do, because they saw this was for the community.”

Lee is especially proud that the facility offers space for family members of all ages as well as a place to be together. “It turned out even better than I hoped for,” she said.