Making Headway provides funding for support services and quality of life improvements for parents and children at the New York University Medical Center (NYUMC), as well as the Hassenfeld Children’s Center, which is the day hospital where children come for treatments.  The following services are currently being provided:

A Child Life Specialist:  works at the NYUMC in-patient and Hassenfeld day hospital playrooms to provide play activities for children recovering from surgery or undergoing chemotherapy treatments.  For those children who cannot leave their rooms, he visits them to read them stories or play games.

A Nurse:  works at the Hassenfeld day hospital to administer chemotherapy treatments for children with brain and spinal cord tumors as well as blood cancers.

A Clinical Research Associate:  administers the clinical research trials for pediatric neuro-oncology patients.  She has successfully transferred over 100 patients from another hospital to NYU, has opened seven new protocols and enrolled over 20 patients in new clinical trials.  This program is poised to expand dramatically at NYU, including long-range cooperative group and institutional clinical research activities.

A Senior Psychologist: provides psychological services to Hassenfeld patients, including neuropsychological testing, comprehensive assessments of abilities and needs, crisis interventions and support groups.

A Clown: to entertain children at the NYUMC in-patient and Hassenfeld day hospital while they are recovering from surgery or undergoing chemotherapy treatments.

Nutritional Snacks:  at the Hassenfeld day hospital playroom, different fruits, cookies, cheese, drinks and other healthy snacks are provided, as children become hungry waiting for treatments and doctors’ visits.

Brain Tumor Bank: support of a full time technician to be available in the operating room to ensure that pediatric and adult brain tumor tissue can be collected and properly stored, and then used for research purposes. The Bank has spawned and fostered invaluable basic and applied research projects in brain tumor biology, not only at NYU, but throughout the US and abroad as well

A primary focus of Making Headway’s efforts is to continue the high level of support once the hospital stay has ended, and families are left to cope by themselves, trying to return to a more “normal” life. Under its Ongoing Care Program, Making Headway provides a diverse variety of free-of-charge support services, to help families and patients develop the resources they need to deal with challenges they face in their child’s post-operation and recovery phase.

Support Groups: in New York City and northern New Jersey, for parents, surviving children and siblings.  After leaving the supportive hospital environment, many families experience a sense of isolation. Well meaning family members and friends can’t understand the trauma the family has faced, or the life adjustments that accompany a return to “normal life”. In fact, for many families, normal life will never be the same as it was prior to the child’s diagnosis. Support groups provide the opportunity for families to meet with others who can understand the changes and challenges inherent in this phase. Stress management skills, socialization, behavioral issues, balancing work and family, caring for well siblings, and working with the schools are among the issues addressed in group meetings.

Individual Psychological Counseling:  An illness in the family can be a very private process at times. It can be difficult to share the experience because so few people understand what it means. Some people have a hard time finding the language to articulate their concerns or feelings; others need help understanding or working through difficult and painful feelings. A child’s illness can lead to family or marital stress at times as roles are shifted, expanded, and stretched. Short term individual counseling can provide an opportunity for children or parents to find ways to cope with what they have experienced, and with what they continue to experience.  The expertise of our therapists is to help set reasonable goals and support each member of the family to move forward.  Sessions are offered by phone and/or in their offices for each member of the family. 

Educational Remediation Counseling: One of the most serious problems facing the survivor of a brain or spinal cord tumor is the difficulty of returning to school. Most children experience learning disabilities as a result of their surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatments.  It is distressing for a child who has been through so much medically to return to school with a new set of challenges. Making Headway offers the services of 2 Educational Consultants to assist parents and children in identifying ways to address the difficulties the children experience when returning to school, and advocating at the school to ensure the children receive the extra help they need.

Periodic Bereavement Groups: for parents who have lost children, and assistance with funeral expenses for families who cannot afford it.

Annual Family Events:  Family Fun Day, held in the Manley’s garden, includes gymnastics, a petting zoo, games, a show, and an early evening barbecue.  Close to 400 people attend each year. In late summer, a Yacht Cruise around Lower Manhattan for 130 children and family members.  In January, we offer children and their family members free-of charge tickets to a New York City Event, such as a musical, a light opera, a museum visit or other entertaining events.