ACTIVITY CENTER is a safe, educational, and interactive environment for patients and their families while the children wait for test results or while seeing their physician. To help our families feel at home, we offer a waiting area, library, and internet services as well as a play area with activities such as arts and crafts, videos, and computer games. We are staffed with a family case manager with a degree in social psychology. Experienced in early childhood development, she helps the children and their family members cope with their treatment through techniques that include therapeutic play, creative art therapies, and self expression activities. Our program is also structured to provide therapeutic services to help reduce the stress and strain on the family and the marriage. On-site supervision also allows parents the opportunity to run errands or go outside the hospital environment to have some respite time.
ESPERANZA PROGRAM provides training and support workshops to caregivers with a special focus on stress reducing techniques, communication techniques, and educational workshops focusing on childhood cancer, nutrition, exercise, finances, anger management and parenting skills. These workshops are offered in English and Spanish. The workshops provide critically needed emotional and psychological assistance to help the families during time of overwhelming stresses and concerns.
REMEMBER ALWAYS is a one-day seminar providing information to individuals who have lost a child to a catastrophic illness such as cancer. For many parents, life after the child’s death is unbearable; thus we explore different programs and activities that help families live beyond the death of their child.
SCHOOL RE-ENTRY CONFERENCE informs teachers, school nurses, principals, counselors, and the community at large about the difficulties that may arise from misunderstanding the physical, academic, and emotional repercussions or side effects of childhood cancer. Many of our children must pursue an education on their own and when the joyous occasion arises to be readmitted into the public school system, not everyone is prepared to deal with it. Our focus is to reunite and effectively integrate the child back into the system through an educational opportunity of understanding for the institution.
GRIEF SUPPORT GROUP provides individuals with the opportunity to share their struggle with others who have lost a loved one due to cancer. (Offered last Friday of every month)
STRENGTHENING MARRIAGES Couples learn effective relationship techniques that strengthen the communication, commitment, and love needed to maintain a marriage. (Held the third Wednesday of every month)
REFLECTION OF IDEAS Men learn how to express themselves and become a source of strength for other men experiencing the same feelings. (Held the second Tuesday of every month)
FAMILY MONTHLY MEETINGS Guest speakers are invited to address the parents and caregivers on current issues, treatments, developments and medical advancements in childhood cancer. (Held every first Tuesday of every month)
P.S. I LOVE YOU MORE Helps parents learn how to apply positive discipline and abuse-prevention techniques to their parenting styles. (Held every Thursday)
