Lighthouse Family Retreat, a faith-based non-profit organization, is dedicated to strengthening families facing the tremendous challenge of childhood cancer. By offering restorative retreats and valuable resources, Lighthouse helps these families, along with their support networks, find both hope in God and practical assistance to sustain them through their journey.

Each year in the United States, over 15,000 families receive the unimaginable news that their child has been diagnosed with cancer. In addition to the physical and emotional toll of treatment, these families face countless other challenges: parents may become virtual strangers, seeing each other only in hospital parking lots between shifts by their child’s bedside. The financial strain of medical bills can be overwhelming, especially when one parent must leave their job to focus full-time on caregiving. Siblings often feel lonely, missing the usual attention from their parents. Meanwhile, friends and neighbors are eager to help but may struggle with knowing how to best support the family.

Lighthouse Family Retreat exists to ease these burdens. Through their retreats, families find a chance to reconnect and experience relief from the constant “fight or flight” stress of their situation. One family expressed it beautifully: “When you have a child going through cancer, you’re always in survival mode. Coming to a Lighthouse retreat felt like stepping into a different universe. It reconnected us as a family.”

Lighthouse also empowers those who want to support these families. The Carson family, long-time volunteers, shared how their involvement with Lighthouse has enriched their own family’s life over the past 17 years. Inspired by their experiences, their daughter Caitlyn became an oncology nurse and joined the Lighthouse summer staff, while their son Cody served as a family partner and later joined the staff as well. In addition, friendships have been formed not only with the families they are helping, but also with the families that are serving. 

To learn more about Lighthouse Family Retreat and its mission, visit Lighthousefamilyretreat.org.