What We Do
Our Guiding Philosophy is to stand as allies to the institutions and their medical and nursing staff that help children with cancer or other serious illnesses. We believe families are often uncertain how to support their child’s empowerment. Caught between their personal experiences with a suffering child, opinions from well-intentioned medical professionals responsible for following prescribed regimens, families can often feel paralyzed. To that end, we seek to provide information and fund programs that help parents to regain their place as partners and deep listeners to their child. In keeping with Killian’s vision, we believe children should be given the opportunity to be active participants in their own wellness.
Funding Priorities
The Killian Mansfield Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals. Invited applicants are encouraged to submit a letter of inquiry or to discuss their request with staff before submitting an application. We are interested in hearing about your work in Integrative Healthcare and Pediatric Oncology. Please contact us at info@killianmansfield.org.
Policy on nondiscrimination
The Killian Mansfield Foundation will not award grant support to organizations that, in their constitution, bylaws, or practices, discriminate against a person or group on the basis of age, race, national origin, ethnicity, gender, disability, sexual orientation, political affiliation, or religious belief. Grantees may target services to a particular population of children when they require specialized programs to meet health needs specific to that population.
We pursue our mission through direct service to these key constituencies:
Institutions
We fund model programs and initiatives that advance integrative health care for children with cancer and other serious illnesses. We prioritize programs that demonstrate a commitment to providing comprehensive integrative therapies to these children and their families at no cost, in convenient settings, and systematically in concert with conventional procedures, treatments and medicines
We collaborate with organizations pursuing similar missions in scientifically rigorous and responsible manners
We promote best practices in the field of integrative health care on the Killian Mansfield Foundation website, and welcome stories of success that might serve as inspiration for other institutions. Please share news of your work with us at info@kiillianmansfield.org
We support emerging pediatric integrative health care programs
Families
We gather and provide information about nutrition and complementary and alternative therapies, with particular emphasis on diet, supplements and therapies generally accepted as safe and effective for children with cancer
As part of treating the whole child, the Killian Mansfield Foundation partners with integrative health programs that provide treatments and nutritional counseling for parents and caregivers along with their children.
Children
We raise awareness about the essential role nutrition holds in healing and improving quality of life for patients with cancer and other serious illnesses. The nutritional needs and challenges associated with pediatric patients are distinct. We believe that eliminating toxins in food, homes and medical facilities is equally critical to patient care. We think there is a correlation between children who participate in and learn about the sources and preparation of their own food and those who make healthier nutritional choices. To that end, we actively seek partnerships with farm-to-table, food preparation, nutritional counseling and similar programs and initiatives that actively involve children.
Much of what is known about safe and effective complementary and alternative medicine is inferred from adult patients for use with children. We partner with committed and informed integrative therapies practitioners who specialize in treating children and/or advancing the field of integrative health care for children.
The Grumpy Fish Award will be presented each year to Integrative Health innovators who provide free services or programs to children with cancer or other serious illnesses.
We fund peer-to-peer initiatives where children with serious illness can provide one another information and support about practices that help them regain health or improve quality of life.
