Chronicle 2019

By Lexi Ensor 2013

O ne of the worst things that can happen to a parent is to learn that their child is sick and needs to be hospitalized. Every day, as executive director of Ronald McDonald House Charities Canada, Kate Horton sees the heartbreak, hope and healing of parents living this reality. For her, the roots of longevity are in a supportive community and a strong foundation of shared values like gratitude, persistence and balance. Ronald McDonald House Charities provide families with “a home away from home” while their sick children are being treated at hospitals. Sixty-five per cent of Canadians live outside a city with a children’s hospital and have to travel to receive care and specialized treatment. This means that families often have to leave their communities, jobs and support systems when they need them most. “No family ever expects to need a Ronald McDonald House,” Kate explains. “I’m grateful to be a part of an organization that is there to support families during their difficult and unexpected journeys.” Collectively, the 31 Ronald McDonald Houses and Family Rooms across Canada support more than 25,000 families with sick children each year, keeping them close to one another and close to the care they need. As she considers the future of the organization, Kate finds it both inspiring and daunting to know that a family in need arrives on a Ronald McDonald House Charities doorstep across Canada every 20 minutes. “Thanks to medical advances, more children are healing, but that means more treatments over longer periods, requiring more support,” she explains. “We are challenged to keep pace with demand and to serve

more families.” Kate’s involvement with the charity is a daily lesson in the gift of family – a reminder Kate holds dear thanks to her sister Rachel Horton 1999 and her loving parents, caring husband and two young daughters. Thinking back to her time at Havergal, Kate is grateful to have had the opportunity to learn from and be coached by teachers who were passionate about teaching and their students. “Staff at Havergal taught the art of listening,” she says. “They created a learning environment that was both challenging and supportive.” As a member of the basketball, softball and rowing teams, Kate learned discipline, teamwork, goal-setting and how to make a long-term commitment. She has carried these lessons with her through a career that has involved leadership roles in both the corporate and non-profit sectors. Kate credits her experience at Havergal with many foundational lessons that she continues to apply throughout her career. “Havergal helped give me an appreciation for the importance of community, which gives the strength to persist through life’s unexpected challenges and the confidence to take risks, to try new things and to stretch beyond what you may have initially thought possible. In many ways, those seeds were planted for me at Havergal, and I continue to draw from them every day. Each of us has an opportunity to lead. Everyone can make a difference, and we are always stronger together.”

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