About the Fund
Mission Statement
Goals & Objectives
Need
Board of Directors

About the Fund

In 2000, Chris Blum lost his three-year fight with cancer at the age of 33. Chris had a rare form of cancer, Ewing's Sarcoma, which usually attacks children. He received treatment in nationally renowned pediatric centers, both in Washington D.C. and Arizona.

While at the pediatric care centers, Chris had his wife Lori, and his family by his side. Given they had been blessed with family, and the means to financially survive their three year battle with cancer, Chris and Lori saw so many other families that were not so fortunate. They saw daily, other families who were consumed with trying to work to pay the bills, but also spend every moment possible with their critically ill child. They struggled to make house payments, car payments, even buy groceries for their families.

Chris and Lori realized how fortunate they were. After Chris' death, Lori knew the best way to honor Chris, their joint struggles with cancer and those families they saw sacrifice so much was to establish a fund to help less fortunate families. That is where we need your help.

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Mission Statement
To provide resources to families of critically ill children in Arizona that will help meet fundamental financial needs, essential to the family’s well being.  These families typically do not qualify for any governmental assistance, nor do they have the financial means to handle the additional burdens brought on during a child’s critical illness.

Through dedicated partnerships with social service departments, affiliated with acute care facilities, the Christopher’s Cure Hardship Fund provides financial support to those families with demonstrated needs.

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Goals and Objectives

The Christopher’s Cure Hardship Fund is dedicated to:

• Allowing families to spend more quality time, sometimes the only time remaining with a critically ill child.
• Helping families meet basic financial obligations such as housing, utility bills, childcare and transportation needs.
• Helping families worry less about meeting financial obligations and focus on caring for the needs of their critically ill child.

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Need

There are little to no resources for families of critically ill children, who fall into what we refer to as the “notch group”.  Public and governmental assistance is most often available to low-income families.  Families that enjoy a higher standard of living can often deal with a period of time when one or both parents can leave work to care for a child.  What happens when both parent’s work and cannot afford a loss of income?  How do those families cope with hospital stays, numerous (often emergent) doctor visits, medication/dosing schedules, visits to out-of-state facilities that are recognized as centers of excellence for certain diseases and spend the significant amount of time needed to appropriately care for a sick child?  If a parent has to choose to quit work, while forsaking all other obligations to care for a critically ill child, most would.  The Christopher’s Cure Hardship Fund aims to alleviate the burdens associated with that decision.  To allow parents to focus on what is really important…caring for their sick child during the most challenging time of that child’s
young life.

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Christopher's Cure Hardship Fund
Officers and Board of Directors

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