“Our initial plan was to come here and rent a place to stay or stay with a friend, but we knew we wouldn’t have been able to stay like that for a long period of time,” remembers Thanh. With expensive housing in Vancouver, they pictured long commutes to and from the hospital, in an unfamiliar city. She hadn’t heard about Ronald McDonald House before, so it came as a surprise and an incredible relief when hospital staff told her there was a place that they could stay just steps from the hospital.

Once they checked in to the House, Thanh’s favourite place instantly became the kitchen, where she could cook all of Brandon’s favourite Vietnamese dishes and bring a taste of home to the hospital every day.

And more than just taking care of Brandon, “Mama Thanh” as she is known around the House, soon began taking care of all the other families and even the staff. Her soups have become legendary around the House, and a source of connection and cultural exchange for everyone she meets in the kitchen.

She also welcomes the chance to speak her first language, Vietnamese, with some staff members at the House.

When she sees a new family struggling with a new diagnosis and newly uprooted from their home, she is there to lend a hand since she knows exactly how it feels: “Sometimes, when I see a new mother in the House, I offer to show them around as I know how difficult it is initially to understand where everything is.” And when a parent with young children is overwhelmed and needs a hand to get things done, she is happy to jump in and babysit the little ones.

Since she is in Vancouver by herself, she feels like she gets back as much as she gives through the community that stays at the House. “I love the House,” she says. “It is a place that I feel safe and can call my home because I am alone here with my son. I am away from family but because of the families that stay at the House, I do not feel lonely. I get happiness from helping them out. It’s just my way of saying thank you and showing some support!”