Peter van Dernoot
Children’s Treehouse Foundation
(303) 322-1202
www.childrenstreehousefdn.org

This story is about how one young boy, Tyler, copes when he learns his mom has cancer. But he represents the anguish that tens of
thousands of children deal with every year when they learn that their parent, grandparent or other loved one has cancer. Fortunately,
there is one national organization whose unique mission is the reduction of that anguish and stress: The Children’s Treehouse
Foundation. Founded in January of 2001 in Denver, Colorado, the Children’s Treehouse Foundation is the nation’s only organization
providing hospital-based, cancer-focused, psychosocial intervention training and programming dedicated to improving the emotional
health of children who have a parent with cancer. The founder, chairman & executive director of the Children’s Treehouse Foundation
is Peter R. van Dernoot, who has previously served on the Boards of Colorado Special Olympics, Junior Achievement, The Denver
Chamber Orchestra and the American Electronics Association, Rocky Mountains. Prior to starting the Foundation, he operated
van Dernoot & Associates, Inc., a public relations firm in Denver for 20 years. In 2005, he received the Human Service Professional
of the Year award from the National Association of Social Workers, Colorado Chapter.

In the United States, approximately 1,479,000 adults (ages 20- 80+), were diagnosed with invasive cancer in 2009, according to the
American Cancer Society. Further, the National Cancer Institute estimates that 24% of those adults have children to the age of 18.
For the children, more than 667,000, this permanently changes the family dynamics, evoking in the children many fears, doubts and
questions about their future and that of their parents.

Healthcare professionals acknowledge an often-overlooked issue: The diagnosis of cancer in a parent has a profound effect on
every member of that family, especially children.

Regrettably, there are few professional programs specifically dedicated to addressing this concern. Therefore, experts in the field
acknowledge that helping children cope with their fears in this situation is a significantly under-served, largely ignored area in
healthcare. Clearly, the entire family is a victim of cancer and, as such, deserves treatment and support in their time of need.
Accordingly, The Children’s Treehouse Foundation works to establish support groups for children with a parent diagnosed with
cancer, believing this should become an essential part of cancer health care.

Our Mission:
To ensure that every child whose parent is diagnosed with
cancer is given the early tools and emotional support to cope.

Our Vision:
A world where preventing the inevitable psychosocial impact on
children whose parents have cancer is taken as seriously as
finding a cure for cancer itself.

Underscoring the need, Dr. Martha Kendall Ryan, a licensed clinical psychologist, says, “Without appropriate counseling, some of
these children may experience longstanding emotional difficulties throughout life that may, in adulthood, mean poor adaptive
functioning in relationships with others.”

Working with cancer hospitals and centers nationally and internationally, we’ve provided them with a structured, easy-to-run,
emotional support program, called CLIMB® - Children’s Lives Include Moments of Bravery.

And the benefits of CLIMB are numerous:
• Kids enrolled in CLIMB learn they are not alone; other kids are facing the same situation.
• The group environment provides a safe environment in which kids can learn about cancer, ask questions of professionals, and
gain reassurances. Concerns such as types of treatment, contagion, and others, are professionally handled.
• The group dynamics allow the kids to express their feelings and release their anxieties within the peer group, in an uplifting,
positive manner, guided by professionals.
• The children learn of “allies,” ---lifelines--- others they can call upon for support as well as meeting members of the oncology
team dedicated to helping their parent.
• The children learn new coping skills to handle their fears,
resulting in heightened levels of self-confidence and self-esteem.
• Through structured activities, the children vent their feelings about their parent’s cancer and how it affects them, while enjoying
playful, learning activities, offering new sources of fun, allowing them to still be a child.
• Conversation between the parent and the child involved in such a support group helps to strengthen trust and communications
between them, reassuring the child of the parent’s ongoing, unconditional love.

It’s a small step for us. But a giant step for each child.