The Audacity of The Loft

On October 1, we cut the ribbon on The Loft.

There are moments when a ribbon cutting is exactly what it sounds like—a celebration of a new building, a new program, a new chapter.

The day was much bigger—one day after the conclusion of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, a reminder that cancer doesn’t recognize the boundaries of a calendar. Neither does our commitment to helping those impacted by it heal.

As I walked through The Loft surrounded by families, friends, partners, supporters, and people who have helped imagine this place into existence, I was struck by something one of our parents, Julia Thompson, said in remarks to commemorate the day:

The audacity.

The audacity of Ukandu to believe families affected by childhood cancer deserve something this extraordinary.

The audacity to be bold enough to ask not simply, “What services can we provide?” but, “What might a child need here? What might their sibling need? Their parent? A teenager trying to figure out who they are after cancer changed everything? A caregiver who hasn't had space to exhale in months? A family learning to live with uncertainty, survivorship, recurrence, grief, or loss?”

And then to build a place around the answers.

That is The Loft.

It is a place designed with stubborn attention to what families might need—not only medically or psychologically, but as human beings.

A place to move and play. A place to create. A place to be loud. A place to be quiet. A place to talk with someone who understands. A place to connect with people who don't need the backstory explained. A place for parents and caregivers to find support. A place for siblings whose lives have also been changed by cancer. A place for teenagers and young adults who may not fit neatly into the spaces designed for either children or adults.

And sometimes, just a place to sit by the fire as a family.

The Loft is unique, innovative, and remarkable--a space created specifically around the broader needs of children and families impacted by pediatric cancer. This place represents the benchmark for whole family care outside the hospital. That makes today significant.

Even so, our aim is much higher.

We want to rethink what it means to care for a family affected by childhood cancer. To recognize that treatment may happen in a hospital, but the impact of cancer follows families everywhere. Into their homes. Their schools. Their relationships. Their identities. Their celebrations. Their fears about the future. Their grief for what has changed. And, yes, their capacity for joy.

That is why this work has always been about More Than Medicine.

Today, standing inside The Loft, that idea became something you could actually see and touch.

There is something wonderfully audacious about creating a place this thoughtful, this ambitious, and this unapologetically centered on families. About anticipating needs before someone has to ask. About creating room for serious conversations and ridiculous laughter. About believing that connection, belonging, play, creativity, psychological support, respite, and joy are not extras in the cancer experience.

They matter.

Our goal for The Loft is an extraordinary one. We want it to become a place families can turn to throughout the pediatric cancer journey—and a model for what comprehensive, community-based support can look like beyond the walls of the hospital.

That will take work. We will learn. We will listen. We will undoubtedly discover things we hadn't anticipated. And the families who walk through these doors will continue to shape what this place becomes.

But on October 1, we celebrated the audacity of beginning.

So come see it.

Come walk through The Loft. Look around. Ask questions. Imagine what it might mean for a child, a sibling, a parent, a caregiver, or a family facing one of the hardest experiences imaginable to know that a place like this exists for them.

Come see what happens when a community decides to be a little audacious about what families deserve.

Because our goal is extraordinary.

Our families deserve nothing less.

Please learn more and register to use The Loft and our services by clicking here.