Hope and Healing Pediatric Cancer Support

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Executive Summary

Hope and Healing Pediatric Cancer Support is a nonprofit in Texas that walks alongside families of children with cancer from diagnosis through treatment and, when necessary, through the loss of a child. Family navigators connect each family to financial help for non-medical costs, sibling support groups give healthy brothers and sisters a place to process fear and grief, and peer support groups help parents survive the hardest year of their lives.

A childhood cancer diagnosis does not just happen to the child. It happens to every person in the house. The hospital covers the medical side, but the gas money, the missed rent, the terrified ten-year-old who stopped sleeping because her little brother has leukemia - those are not covered. With this grant we will pay our family navigators and build up the direct assistance pool that pays non-medical costs for families in active treatment. We do not promise any medical outcome, and we are not a substitute for medical care.

What we are asking for. Our program has a Year 1 budget of about $285,000. We are asking for $68,000 from a children's health fund to pay part of our family navigator salaries and replenish the direct assistance pool. The rest of the budget comes from other grants, sponsors and donors listed in the funding section. Every dollar amount in this plan is an estimate and none of it is a promise of any result for the people we serve.

Company Description

Hope and Healing Pediatric Cancer Support is a nonprofit organization recognized under section 501(c)(3) of the tax code, governed by a volunteer board that includes two parents who lost children to cancer and one pediatric oncology nurse. The board meets monthly, approves the budget and oversees the executive director. A new organization without its own determination letter can use a fiscal sponsor, explained in the funding section.

What we believe. Every family deserves support that matches the scale of what they are going through. Children with cancer need their parents present and not in crisis about the power bill.

What we do:
- Family navigation. Within 48 hours of a referral from a hospital social worker, a navigator calls the family, assesses non-medical needs and begins the assistance process.
- Direct financial assistance. Up to $1,500 per family per year paid directly to vendors - gas cards, grocery store gift cards, utility companies and lodging. We never give cash.
- Sibling support. Monthly evening gatherings for healthy siblings ages 5 to 17, facilitated by a social worker.
- Parent peer support groups. Monthly groups for parents of children in active treatment and for bereaved parents, facilitated by a licensed counselor.
- Bereavement follow-up. Check-in calls at 3, 6 and 12 months after the death of a child, and a warm handoff to grief counseling if the family wants it.

What we do not do. We do not provide medical advice, clinical therapy or case management for the child's treatment. We do not give cash to participants. We are not a crisis line; we call 988 for anyone in crisis and 911 in an emergency.

Who we serve. Families of children diagnosed with cancer in Harris County and surrounding counties, regardless of insurance status.

Our board has at least five members, including at least one person who has used our services or lives in the community we serve, and only a minority of board members may be related to each other or paid by the organization.

We keep a written conflict of interest policy, a whistleblower policy and a record retention policy, and the board reviews them every year.

Problem & Opportunity

The financial and emotional toll of pediatric cancer on a family is severe.

1. Non-medical costs. Gas to the hospital, parking, food during all-day clinic days, childcare for healthy siblings and utility bills that pile up when one parent stops working can add $15,000 to $25,000 over a two-year treatment course.
2. Siblings. Research consistently shows healthy siblings of children with cancer experience anxiety, behavioral changes and academic decline. Programs designed for them are rare.
3. Bereaved parents. After a child dies, the support network that surrounded the family during treatment often disappears. Formal bereavement follow-up is nearly absent from the support ecosystem in most cities.
4. Capacity gap. Hospital social workers carry large caseloads and cannot cover non-medical costs or run sibling programs.

Why it matters now. Approximately 400 new pediatric cancer diagnoses are made in the Houston metro area each year. Harris County has a large uninsured and underinsured population, and many families in treatment are simultaneously managing a medical crisis and a financial one.

How we know the need is real. We reviewed referral data from hospital social workers at two Houston pediatric oncology programs, surveyed 35 families in active treatment and talked with pediatric oncology nurses and social workers. Families identified gas and grocery costs as the most pressing non-medical needs, and siblings were the population that parents felt most guilty about. The detailed notes are in the appendix.

We update these facts every year using hospital referral data, partner reports and conversations with families, and we change the program when the facts change.

Products & Services

What the funded project will do. With this grant we will pay part of the family navigator salaries and replenish the direct assistance pool.

How a family moves through the program:
1. Referral. A hospital social worker refers the family within the first two weeks of diagnosis. Families can also self-refer.
2. Navigator contact. A family navigator calls within 48 hours, listens and assesses what non-medical costs the family is facing.
3. Assistance. Requests for gas cards, grocery cards, utility payments or lodging are reviewed and paid directly to the vendor within five business days.
4. Sibling program. Families with children ages 5 to 17 are invited to the monthly sibling evening.
5. Parent group. Parents are connected to the monthly peer group that matches their stage: active treatment or bereavement.
6. Bereavement follow-up. If a child dies, the navigator schedules check-in calls and offers a warm referral to grief counseling.

What the grant pays for. This request covers a portion of navigator salaries and the direct assistance pool.

What we do not promise. We do not promise that financial assistance will be available for every request; the pool is limited. We track families served, assistance distributed, sibling program attendance, parent group attendance and bereaved families reached, and we report those numbers honestly.

Safety. All payments go directly to vendors, not to participants. Navigator notes are confidential and shared only with written permission. We call 911 in an emergency and refer anyone in crisis to 988.

We start small, check what works and grow only when we can do the work well. We review caseload and assistance pool levels every quarter and change the plan if demand outpaces resources.

Market Analysis

Who benefits from this project are families of children with cancer in the Houston metro area.

Who we serve. Families of children ages 0 to 18 diagnosed with any form of cancer, including parents, siblings and in some cases grandparents who are the primary caregiver.

How many people we plan to serve. In Year 1 we plan to open navigation cases for about 120 families, enroll about 80 siblings in the monthly program and support about 60 parents through peer groups. By Year 5 we plan to serve about 240 families a year. We chose those numbers from the capacity of two navigators and the size of the direct assistance pool.

Where we serve. Harris County and the surrounding Houston metro, primarily through referrals from Texas Children's Hospital, Memorial Hermann Children's and Houston Methodist pediatric oncology.

Who else benefits. Siblings who have support do better in school. Parents who have peer support are more consistent in bringing children to treatment appointments.

We choose how many people to serve from the number of staff and dollars we really have, not from the size of the need. If we reach fewer families than planned, we will report it and explain why.

Competitive Landscape

Other organizations in our area.

1. National pediatric cancer organizations. Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation and St. Baldrick's Foundation fund research and some family support nationally but have limited direct local presence in Houston.
2. Ronald McDonald House. Provides lodging for families traveling long distances. Does not serve local families or cover the daily non-medical costs we address.
3. Hospital social work. Provides referrals and limited financial screening. Caseloads prevent staff from running sibling programs or providing extended bereavement follow-up.
4. General grief organizations. Serve bereaved families broadly but are not specific to childhood cancer loss.

What makes us different. We focus exclusively on pediatric cancer families, we serve the siblings no one else designs programming for and we continue contact after a child dies, when most support disappears. We work alongside hospital social work teams as a referral partner, not a replacement.

How we avoid duplication. We meet with social work leadership at our three hospital partners each quarter to coordinate referrals and avoid overlap.

Marketing & Sales Strategy

How we will reach families once the project is funded.

Hospital partners. Formal referral agreements with social work leadership at three Houston pediatric oncology programs are the primary channel. A navigator is listed as a resource in the program's family handbook.

Word of mouth. Pediatric oncology is a small world. Parents in active treatment talk to each other in waiting rooms. With permission, we share brief family stories.

Digital outreach. A simple website with how to ask for help and clinic dates. We do not share photos of children without explicit written consent.

Community. An annual Gold Gala (gold is the childhood cancer awareness color) during September's Childhood Cancer Awareness Month raises funds and community awareness.

Measuring outreach. We ask every family how they heard about us and adjust if hospital referrals slow.

Operations Plan

How the project will be carried out.

Timeline for Year 1. Months 1 and 2: finalize referral agreements with hospital social work teams, hire the second navigator if not yet in place, stock the assistance pool. Months 3 to 12: open cases, distribute assistance, run monthly sibling evenings and parent groups.

Space. Staff work from a small office and meet families at the hospital, at the community center and by phone.

Partners. Three hospital social work programs, a community center that hosts sibling evenings, a licensed counselor who facilitates parent groups on contract and Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation as a potential funder. Each has or will have a written agreement.

Money controls. The direct assistance pool is held in a separate bank account. Two people approve every vendor payment. A log of each payment is kept with the family's case file.

Records and reporting. We track families opened, assistance distributed, sibling attendance, parent group attendance and bereaved families reached, and report to funders each quarter.

Training. Navigators receive training in pediatric cancer basics, trauma-informed practice and our assistance payment procedures.

Management & Organization

The executive director leads the organization, manages the hospital partnerships and oversees the direct assistance pool. Family navigators carry caseloads, process assistance requests and run sibling and parent programs with contracted clinical support.

The team. Pay figures include payroll taxes and workers' compensation insurance. The numbers in parentheses are how many people we plan to have in Years 1 through 5. A number with a half, such as 2.5, means a hire phased in during the year or one part-time person.
- Executive Director: 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 (Years 1 to 5), about $68,000 a year.
- Family Navigator: 2, 2, 3, 3, 3 (Years 1 to 5), about $48,000 a year each.
- Program Associate (added as the budget grows): 0, 0, 0, 0.5, 0.5 (Years 1 to 5), about $38,000 a year each, hired as new grant money arrives.
- Contracted counselor for parent groups: part-time contract, about $18,000 a year.

Governance and money controls. A volunteer board of directors oversees the budget and the executive director. Two people review every payment, the board reviews financial statements monthly, an outside accountant prepares the yearly tax return and every grant is tracked in its own budget line.

Feedback and complaints. Any family can give feedback by phone, in writing or in person. We reply within five business days and report themes to the board quarterly. No family loses services for speaking up.

Milestones Narrative

Goals for each of the first five years. These are goals, not promises.
- Before the grant starts: finalize hospital referral agreements, confirm the direct assistance pool balance and schedule the first sibling evening.
- Year 1: serve about 120 families, distribute about $48,000 in direct assistance, run 12 sibling evenings and 12 parent group sessions. Budget about $285,000.
- Year 2: add a third navigator when caseload averages 45 active families per navigator. Budget about $330,000.
- Year 3: launch a bereavement support group that meets separately from the active treatment parent group. Budget about $368,000.
- Year 4: expand referral agreements to two additional hospital systems. Budget about $410,000.
- Year 5: serve about 240 families a year and publish a plain results report. Budget about $448,000.

How we will measure results: families opened, assistance distributed per family, sibling program attendance, parent group attendance, bereaved families with at least three check-in contacts and funder satisfaction. We report to funders quarterly and say honestly when a goal was missed and what we changed.

Funding Request

What we are asking for, and how the money will be used. Our request: $68,000 from a children's health fund for part of family navigator salaries and direct assistance pool replenishment, for January through December 2027.

The request is spread across these budget lines:
- Personnel: Family Navigator salaries (part), $50,000.
- Other: Direct assistance pool replenishment, $18,000 (other funds add $30,000 to reach the full $48,000 planned pool).

Other money in the program. This request is about 28% of Year 1 grant income. Other grants and the income lines below pay for everything it does not cover.

Year 1 budget: about $285,000, planned to balance with a small surplus (about $7,900 after the yearly wear on equipment). Year 1 money coming in: Grant Revenue $243,000; Individual Donations and Gold Gala $42,000. Year 1 costs: executive director $68,000; family navigator $96,000; contracted counselor $16,700; direct assistance pool $44,600; sibling program supplies and venue $11,200; gold Gala event costs $16,700; administration and insurance $14,900; office and reporting $8,400.

One-time startup costs. Startup costs of $14,200 are paid once from startup money, not from the yearly budget: $3,200 for laptops and a secure case management database, $2,800 for sibling program supplies and a storage area, $2,400 for banners, flyers and a website, $2,600 for staff training in pediatric cancer family support and trauma-informed practice, $1,800 for legal setup and policy review, and $1,400 for opening office supplies.

How we got our startup number. The Funding Need Calculator in this plan adds the startup costs ($14,200), the cash the program uses before it balances (about $2,900) and a cash cushion of about $69,100, which is about 3 months of Year 1 costs. In all, that comes to $86,500. We start with $20,000 of our own savings and $67,000 in startup support from a local hospital foundation and our board, $87,000 in all, which covers that amount.

The next five years. Our budget grows from about $285,000 in Year 1 to about $448,000 in Year 5. Grant revenue is planned at $243,000, $238,000, $268,000, $298,000 and $290,000 in Years 1 to 5. Other income grows as sponsors and donors join. The program plans to end each year with a surplus, about $7,900, $38,500, $10,800, $11,800 and $22,600 in Years 1 to 5, which we put into savings. Some years are larger because new grant money arrives before the added staff are hired. The lowest year-end cash in the plan is about $80,900.

After the grant. The Gold Gala grows into the primary individual donor event. Hospital foundations become recurring funders as outcome data strengthens.

Risks and how we will handle them:
- Assistance pool may be depleted faster than funded. We set a per-family annual cap and maintain a waiting list if the pool is empty.
- A navigator may leave. Cross-training and documented procedures allow the other navigator to cover cases temporarily.
- A major grant may end. We build individual donors and the Gold Gala each year so grants become a smaller share over time.
- A bereavement case may require crisis support. We maintain a warm referral list of grief therapists and call 988 or 911 when needed.

If you are just starting. A new organization can begin through a fiscal sponsor: an established nonprofit that receives grants for you and passes them to your program, usually for a fee of around 5% to 10% of the grant. Starting with one navigator and a small assistance pool and tracking results carefully makes larger grants easier to win.

Appendix Notes

Documents to attach before you send this proposal:

- Your IRS determination letter showing 501(c)(3) status, or your fiscal sponsor agreement.
- Your board list and board minutes approving the application.
- Your most recent budget and financial statements.
- A list of other funders and what each has given or been asked to give.
- Referral agreements with hospital social work programs.
- Direct assistance pool payment policy and sample vendor payment receipt.
- Contracted counselor agreement.
- Letters of support from hospital partners and families.
If you don't have any of this yet, no worries - let's continue.

The assumptions behind our numbers (change them in the Financials section to match your own):
- Grant Revenue: $243,000 in Year 1, planned to reach $290,000 in Year 5.
- Individual Donations (Gold Gala and year-round): $42,000 in Year 1, growing to $158,000 in Year 5 as the event matures.
- Staff pay is shown in the management section and includes payroll taxes and workers' compensation.
- Direct assistance pool: $48,000 in Year 1 (this grant request $18,000 plus other funds $30,000). Pool grows as families served grows.
- Every dollar amount is an estimate. Replace them with your organization's real numbers.

Plain words used in this proposal:
- Grant: money given for a specific purpose that does not have to be paid back, as long as it is spent as promised.
- Request: the part of the budget we are asking this funder to pay for.
- Direct assistance pool: a reserved fund of money used only to pay non-medical costs for families. All payments go to vendors, not to families.
- Surplus: money left over after a year's costs. A small surplus is healthy because it builds savings.
- Startup costs: one-time costs paid before the program runs at full speed.
- Fiscal sponsor: an established nonprofit that receives grants for a new group and passes the money to its program, usually for a fee.
- 501(c)(3): the tax status that lets a nonprofit receive tax-deductible gifts and many grants.

How to read the numbers. Every income and cost figure is a plan, not a result. Income rises as the Gold Gala and donor base grow. Costs rise a little each year as the program grows. Each year's budget is planned to balance with a small surplus. Startup costs are shown separately because they are paid once. If a real number turns out different, we will update the plan and tell our funders why.

Startup Costs