New support system in NJ is designed for parents of kids with cancer

💛 Parents of children with cancer now have special support

💛 Peer mentors at Hopeful Hearts are available to help them through the tough times

💛 Each mentor had a child who went through cancer, too

CHESTER — If you’re a parent in New Jersey whose child is suffering from cancer, and you could use someone to talk to, help is here.

For more than 40 years, Cancer Hope Network, a non-profit organization has been providing personalized, one-on-one peer mentorship support to adult cancer patients and their caregivers.

Now, they’ve expanded that support.

In June, it launched “Hopeful Hearts: Parents Supporting Parents,” a peer mentor program in Chester, New Jersey, specifically designed to help support parents whose children are dealing with cancer and currently undergoing treatment.

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Why the need for Hopeful Hearts?

“This Hopeful Hearts program fills a void for parents who are in need of support while their children are going through cancer,” said Beth Blakey, executive director and chief operating officer at Cancer Hope Network.

How is this program unique?

While some hospitals in New Jersey offer such parental support programs, others do not, she said.

So, what sets Hopeful Hearts program apart from others is that they provide parental support regardless of the hospital where a child is being treated.

According to results published in JAMA Network Open, parents of children with cancer are 31.3% more likely to visit a clinician for a mental health-related concern including anxiety and depression than parents of kids without cancer.

Another unique aspect of Hopeful Hearts revolves around the peer mentors themselves.

“Every mentor in our program is a parent whose own child has gone through a cancer experience and is at least one year out of active treatment. So, they’re able to offer first-hand experience and a unique understanding of what it’s like to parent a child who is going through cancer and what it looks like in terms of post-treatment survivorship for a child who’s gone through cancer,” Blakey said.

There is no one who better understands the situation than someone who has walked in those same shoes, she added.

What do the peer mentors do?

They are there to be an empathetic ear, and to provide support, advice, and resources to parents of children with cancer, Blakey explained.

“What did that feel like? What did that look like for them? Be that listening ear. Someone who understands,” she said.

What’s so beautiful and unique about this kind of support is that the peer mentors are trained by Cancer Hope Network to provide the support in a way that is safe for the support-seeker, but also for that mentor who is there for somebody else.

Think about it, Blakey said. They’re taking the years of their life that were the most difficult, and they’re choosing to give back in the most powerful way by talking about their journey over and over again, and helping a parent in a similar situation better navigate as to what’s to come. But, at the same time, they are reliving their own trauma.

“So, we want to make sure that they’re prepared to be there for somebody else in a way that has the appropriate boundaries and the support of our programs’ team in case they need the extra support themselves,” Blakey said.

Need a mentor or want to become one?

If you’re a parent in New Jersey whose child is going through cancer, and you’re looking for a peer mentor, visit the website.

If you’re a parent whose child has gone through cancer and you’re interested in becoming a peer mentor to help someone else navigate this very difficult time, you can go to the same link.

The process involves an interview and training.

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