Families Finding Joy is a community for Sioux Falls families navigating serious childhood illnesses.
Our Belief
Childhood illnesses should not be a barrier to joy. Families navigating the complexities and isolation of serious childhood illnesses deserve access to community and to the best our local community has to offer.
Our Solution
We host gatherings where parents and children enjoy a free dinner, participate in fun activities, and form friendships with people who truly understand their lives. And we organize free outings that make Sioux Falls activities safe and accessible for families who might not have been able to enjoy them any other way.
Learn more about how we can help your family:
FIND
Being a parent of a child with a rare, genetic, or other lifelong illness can be an isolating experience. That’s why we offer monthly meet-ups for parents, patients, and their siblings. We want to help you connect with families who are traveling the same road, so you can form meaningful friendships with peoples who truly understand your lives.
FIND
We serve dinner for the whole family and provide fun activities for the kids or we arrange an outing to a destination where it may otherwise be difficult to take your immune-compromised child. If you worry about navigating the zoo or movies with medical equipment or while accommodating your child’s needs, we may be the perfect group for you.
FIND
We can help connect you to other local services that help children facing serious medical illnesses. Our community of families and parents can also become a trusted resource, offering their firsthand knowledge of programs, specialists, equipment, and more.
Our Story
Families Finding Joy was created in honor of my son Emmett who was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition at the age of 2 months old. While he was alive we went to four major children’s hospitals in the Midwest - at every one we found that their only community-building organizations were for families of children with cancer. Luckily for us, we were allowed to join one of these groups because Emmett had a bone marrow transplant and chemo even though he did not have cancer. This community was so crucial to us as we navigated his medical condition. It allowed us to find people who understood, have little moments of normal, and experience joy out in the community that we were so often isolated from. When Emmett passed away at the age of 18 months I decided to honor him by starting a program where families like ours, with children like him, could always find a place and find joy. Emmett, through his entire health battle, was pure joy.
If you feel this organization will help your family please apply here.
