We Are
PROJECT THIRD CHAIR

A small, 501(c)(3) nonprofit  built from experience and necessity.​

It all started around the dinner table with our family. Kathy, my mom - who has been fighting stage IV cancer for nearly 5 years had just found out her cancer was multiplying, and quick. Maybe 6 months to live. We were all wrestling with this news, as much as you can after so many years of extreme highs and even more extreme lows fighting this disease. After meeting with her oncologist she was tasked to get a PET scan and be ready to review it 2 weeks from then at her next appointment.

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That night at dinner mom shared how the her day went. She shared that her oncologist ordered a PET scan and she called the hospital and tried to schedule the scan. What she shared next was the spark that brought Project Third Chair to the table. On the call with the hospital, she was told that she couldn't get in for a PET scan for another 4 weeks. She pleaded, she knew there wasn't time. The woman on the phone was impatient, she didn't pause, didn't meet mom with any level of understanding for her urgency. She said (and I quote): "So you want me to overload my staff so YOU can get in early?". Cold, sharp, like mom was asking for something outrageous (like for a miracle so she can live to see the birth of her grandson).

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Mom did what she does best, met the woman with patience, kindness, and understanding despite her treatment. A response she's gotten comfortable with over her 5 years of fighting for her life within a system that no longer see's the person on the other side of a diagnosis. She's had more experiences like this than any of us can count, all handled with grace and strategy so the next patient might experience better. After sharing, mom said something that will stick with me forever: that it breaks her heart thinking she won't be here soon to help other patients advocate for themselves.

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That's when it all clicked. Before Jesus takes her home, we will launch Project Third Chair. For people like her, people who need someone in the room or on the phone. Not a nurse, not a family member who is already fighting along side of them. Someone who won't tolerate anything but kindness and quality care. Who will be an advocate for them when their own voice is already quieted by their fear, overwhelm, and grief. To be there and care in a way that the system isn't.

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We are Project Third Chair—followers of Jesus who show up where the system doesn’t. We are ones who sit with the hurting. We are advocates for the silenced. We are providers of practical care for families facing cancer. We are the hands and feet of Jesus in hospital rooms, scan centers, and homes where grief and hope wrestle daily. We are partners with the healthcare providers to ensure patients receive the best care.

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That's a big mission, but an important one. A mission we can't complete alone, we need your help. Let's link arms and ease the burden of cancer, together.