Jefferson Woman Makes Families Feel at Home During Challenging Times

Daily maintenance of two homes, and up to six families, means yet another rewarding day for Velvet Jeratowski. A full house means that she and the Ronald McDonald House are providing a much needed "home away from home" for families facing challenges.

The Jefferson, SD woman spends her days as the Daily House Operations Manager at the Ronald McDonald House in Sioux City, one of the only 3 houses in Iowa.

A wife and mother to three girls, this former Woodbury County Sheriff's Deputy has put her days of investigating child physical and sexual abuse cases to the side to take a more proactive approach to helping children, with her position at the Ronald McDonald House.

A graduate of Morningside College, Jeratowski is using her double major in Criminal Justice and Sociology with a minor in Psychology to its fullest. Her 12 years of deputy training has also been a blessing during her career transition.

"I had to be ready to handle any situation, and that meant, grief, happiness, horrific accidents, whatever the situation was. At the Ronald McDonald house that's what you're faced with," Jeratowski explained of the house's variety of clients, including the parents, siblings and family members of children receiving medical treatments in the Siouxland area.

"The family member that you're faced with could be going through any kind of a situation, and so you have to be ready to handle any kind of situation that they are going through. And I knew that instead of being on a reactive, I look at this more as being a proactive type of job. It's really nice being on that side," Jeratowski explained.

The Ronald McDonald House in Sioux City is a non-profit organization that runs solely on donations, fundraising efforts and kind hearted volunteers. The house is a home away from home to families who have a child receiving medical care in the area.

Jeratowski reassures the child clients when they arrive at the house with a little clarity about their situation. She tells them,"When you guys are sick. Our worlds are upside down and we can't think or see straight. This place is a place where parents came come and try to get their focus again."

However, the Ronald McDonald House offers much more to its guests than a warm bed and full kitchen pantry. The staff and volunteers offer an environment where everyone understands the challenges faced by families of children going through medical treatments for physical and mental illnesses, coping with the birth of a premature baby or even going through rehabilitative treatments following an accident.

"Once you walk through those doors, you're all on a level playing field," Jeratowski reminds guests. "And the playing field is, you all have sick kids. And, so that's the amazing thing that happens to people. All of a sudden everything outside those doors melts away and they realize the thing they have in common."

The Sioux City house offers 5 bedrooms, a large kitchen to prepare family meals, a play room for younger children, several family and living room settings and a large yard for playing.

The Ronald McDonald House is open to children under the age of 21 and their families while the child is undergoing medical treatments. They may also use the facility when the child is grown if the medical condition originated when they were a child.

Since the facility isn't federally funded, they rely on the generosity of the people in our community through donations, attendance at fundraisers and volunteerism.

"We rely heavily on our volunteers. We have 34+ volunteers that actually come and have actual shifts each week," Jeratowski commented. However, they are always looking for youth and adult volunteers. Church groups, scouts, school groups and businesses are among those reaching out to help, and they are always ready to welcome another helping hand.

Perhaps their best known fundraiser, the collection of pop tabs, yielded $2737 in 2007, one pop tab at a time.

A group of retired teachers faithfully helps with the infamous Ronald McDonald House pop tab collections by gathering the tabs from local schools and organizations.

Dakota Valley was the winner of the pop tab club in 2007.

"They are extremely aggressive in donating their pop tabs to the house. So we are very, very proud of them," Jeratowski noted.

The Ronald McDonald House Charities also hosts two annual fundraisers to support the house; the Terra Golf Classic and the Denim to Diamonds live and silent auctions.

"When you make a donation, you know you're doing something good. You know you're doing the right thing. I wanted to validate the "right thing" and that was letting them meet a family that had actually stayed here 21 days, " Jeratowski explained of a speech made at the 2007 Denim to Diamonds event by a family who stayed at the house.

"We have a very giving community. Whether it's pop tabs being saved by grade schoolers or someone giving us something off our wish list. It's a very giving community. I have to give the community more credit, because they know what's going on and that is a great thing."

The new "WOW!" program at the house is also making the home a success in the eyes of its clients. Local businesses can donate gift certificates for movies, sporting events or even visits to a salon to be awarded to the family members of the child undergoing medical treatment. Often the family members and siblings of the ill child are forgotten, and this is just one way the staff at the Ronald McDonald House makes sure they have a good experience while they are away from their home environment.

"You got to have a peripheral on everything that is going on with everybody that's involved," Jeratowski explained. "Don't let anybody slip though the cracks. It's just not necessary. It's just not an option here."

The Ronald McDonald House also gives back to the community with scholarship and grant programs.

"I look at it as a bigger picture of us giving back with what we're given, and so that's an opportunity to continue to help kids outside the realm of these four walls," Jeratowski shared.

Ronald McDonald House Charities awards $1000 college scholarships to applicants who participate in community service, perform well academically and show a financial need. Last May, 15 high school seniors were awarded the scholarship.

The RMHC also participates in a grant program to further child based needs groups in the Siouxland area.

"Community organizations that are child focused can request a grant from us that will be matched by our corporate office," Jeratowski explained.

Jeratowski's knowledge of the Ronald McDonald House was learned early on when she was pregnant with her daughter, Hailey.

"My best friend's daughter, who is 2 months older than my daughter, was born with retinal blasphoma in both of her eyes, and she was treated, she is now cancer free. It was a horrific situation to go through, but we have had a good outcome. But, in going through that experience with them, they stayed at the Ronald McDonald House in Iowa City. I know what that house did for them. When they were staying there, I remember thinking what a wonderful thing for my friend."

When Jeratowski isn't taking care of her temporary families at the Ronald McDonald house, she keeps busy at her new rural Jefferson home.

She and her husband Mark built a home in Jefferson and moved to the area in November 2007 with their three girls.

Hailey, the youngest, attends Dakota Valley Middle School and was the major reason the family relocated from Sioux City to rural South Dakota.

"We had long term plans of Hailey going to Dakota Valley. That was really important for us to have her go to the Dakota Valley Middle School."

A desire for smaller class sizes, previous exposure to the school system and an attraction to the curriculum led the Jeratowski's to the Dakota Valley community. And how do they like it? "It's better than I thought it would be."

The Jeratowski's also have two grown daughters who are away attending college. Kelsey, 20, is a sophomore at the University of Northern Iowa while Lindsey, 21, is a senior studying Business and Marketing at the University of South Dakota.

The family enjoys outdoor activities including spending time at Adams Nature Preserve, walking, biking and watching their youngest daughter swim, play basketball and soccer.

***This article was originally published in the Dakota Dunes/North Sioux City Times by Sedgwick Publishing on April 9, 2008.***