PHILADELPHIA -- Ronda Burns walked through a familiar front door of her home on Medary Avenue in North Philadelphia, but she might as well have been entering a new universe.
Ronda, an 8-year-old who was diagnosed with leukemia in February 2023, and her family were chosen for a home makeover by Building Hope for Kids, a partnership that includes Flyers Charities, St. Christopher's Hospital for Children and Michael's Way, an area nonprofit that supports the lives of children dealing with pediatric cancer.
Construction began in January, and on Wednesday, Ronda and her mother, Joyce Burns, got their first look at the two-story row home, which had been completely rebuilt from the frame out, to include two bedrooms, a playroom for Ronda, a living room, kitchen, dining room, bathrooms and a backyard that includes a covered dining area.
"We're incredibly grateful to Michael's Way, St. Christopher's and Flyers Charities for their hard work to make our dream house a reality," Joyce Burns said. "Cancer affects millions of Americans in different ways, and we feel blessed that in this difficult time, our home can be a place of comfort and community."
Chris McElwee, the founder of Michael's Way and president of Fastrack Construction oversaw the project.
"We did the construction in six weeks, and then the decorating is two weeks," he said. "We just started in January, so from there to March, it's pretty amazing. It was stripped to the studs. There was a lot of different issues. There was some mold in house and things like that. So now it's a nice, clean, safe environment that they had to come home to. Everything's replaced, all the finishes."
The wives of Philadelphia Flyers players, coaches and staff members played major roles in the design of the home.
That included Alex Sanheim and Karly Konecny, the wives of Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim and forward Travis Konecny, who handled the most important part of the project -- designing Ronda's bedroom and playroom.
"Her wishes for her room was purple," Alex said. "So we had this super fun purple wallpaper. And basically everything in there is purple down to the hangers. We tried to keep it like really girly, but yet something that she can grow into."
The playroom didn't exist prior to the Building Hope project, but that also came with a purple hue.