Financial Support
Childhood cancer is expensive. Costs such as hospital parking, meals away from home, and travel to and from appointments are immediate, ongoing and can really add up. Time away from work, caring for your child, can make even everyday household expenses overwhelming. Childcan is here to help. If your child has been diagnosed or is receiving treatment at Children’s Hospital, London Health Sciences Centre or Windsor Regional Hospital’s Paediatric Oncology Satellite Clinic, and you would like to access any of these supports, please contact our office at 519-685-3500 or info@childcan.com. Our family support team is here for you.
Childcan Care Package
Soon after receiving a childhood cancer diagnosis, a family will be referred to Childcan by Children’s Hospital or the Paediatric Oncology Satellite Clinic. This allows support to begin right away. A member of our family support team will be in touch with the family as soon as possible to discuss the supports Childcan can provide. In addition, a package of information and resources is given to each newly diagnosed family. The packages include:
A detailed explanation of all programs and support services offered by Childcan;
A Children’s Hospital parking pass to cover parking costs for the entire time their child is on active treatment;
A special hand-made quilt donated by quilters from our region;
Gas, restaurant, or other gift cards to help with immediate costs of treatment; and
Information about other available support resources.
Families can also self-refer, but please note that the services we provide are for families who have been diagnosed and/or are being treated at Children’s Hospital, LHSC and/or Windsor’s satellite clinic. Unfortunately, with current funding and resources, we cannot support families from other regions.
Max’s Passes Parking Program
In addition to the Children’s Hospital parking pass provided in the Childcan Care Package, our Parking Program provides:
Parking tokens for the satellite clinics at Windsor Regional Hospital and Kitchener’s Grand River Hospital for those receiving treatment at either location; and
Parking reimbursement for families travelling from the region to Toronto’s SickKids Hospital for treatment unavailable locally.
We are extremely grateful to all involved with Miracle Max’s Minions for their support of our Max’s Passes parking passes.
Family Meal Voucher Program
This program provides two meal vouchers per day, per family, while their child is an inpatient at Children’s Hospital, LHSC, or at the Windsor Regional Hospital satellite clinic, alleviating one more treatment-related expense.
At both centres, the hospital meal vouchers are available from our family support staff.
Thank you to Preferred Insurance, who ensure that every family is covered through this meal program.
Family Financial Assistance Program
This program helps with urgent and everyday financial needs made untenable by the costs associated with treatment or long-term care. Direct financial support is available for each family to assist with expenses such as:
Assistive devices;
Medication;
Rent and mortgage payments;
Utility bills;
Grocery costs;
Travel costs; or
Whatever expenses are most burdensome for the family.
Bills and expenses can be submitted through our family support staff, with each family being able to access up to $1,750 in direct financial support. For the purposes of this program, a relapse is treated as a new diagnosis, meaning the family can access a further $1,750 in financial support.
Where possible, we are striving to make payments electronically. If cheques are still required, please anticipate a 2-3 week turnaround, and potential mailing delays.
Treatment-Related Travel Program
Many of the families we support travel significant distances to get their children the treatment they need. For qualifying families, we help to offset the accompanying expenses with a gas reimbursement program and support with hotel costs. The intention of our gas reimbursement program is to assist families for whom the Canadian Cancer Society’s medical transportation program is not applicable.
Through our travel program, we have negotiated very favourable rates at a couple of London accommodations. We further assist by offsetting a portion of the discounted cost. This program is available for families who don’t qualify to stay at London’s Ronald McDonald House — for example, those who are coming for an early morning outpatient appointment. We also provide support for our families who receive treatment at SickKids by offsetting a portion of hotel or Toronto’s Ronald McDonald House stays while they are there for their child’s care. Support from the Government of Canada’s Emergency Support Fund and Community Foundations of Canada has enabled us to increase the assistance we can provide to families whose children require treatment at Toronto’s SickKids.
Post-Secondary Bursaries
Childhood cancer survivors who are attending post-secondary education are eligible for a one-time bursary of $1,000. An annual application process opens in April, with successful recipients announced in mid-summer and bursaries awarded before the beginning of the fall semester.
The application period for bursaries will open in April.
Funeral Costs
When the worst imaginable outcome is the unfortunate reality, Childcan provides support with funeral costs, usually directly to the funeral home, to help our families cover these expenses and ensure financial circumstances are not a barrier to the family’s preferred way of honouring their child.