Healing Through Nature: Helping Families Fall in Love With Life After Cancer

By Amanda Rodriguez, Institutional Giving Manager, Emilio Nares Foundation

At the Emilio Nares Foundation (ENF), we partner with families of children facing cancer and other life-threatening illnesses by providing comprehensive resources that champion healing and strength. For the families we serve, the end of treatment is rarely the end of the journey.

The Story of Marco

When Marco* was three years old, he was diagnosed with Wilms tumor, a rare kidney cancer. He fought. He rang the bell. Then he relapsed, the same day his baby brother was born. His mother, Sofia* and her husband spent weeks shuttling between the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and their child’s hospital room, trying to hold two worlds together. Marco rang the bell again. And then, in September 2024, he relapsed a third time. Two major surgeries later, Marco is seven years old and lives scan to scan, his family carrying the weight of what might come next. 

ENF has been beside them every step of the way, providing transportation to appointments, critical resources, and eventually, a program where their family can rediscover joy. It was through ENF's Healing Through Nature program that Sofia first experienced what life could feel like outside of hospital walls. For the first time in years, Marco ran and played, and Sofia watched her son be a child again.

"You never fully let go of your problems," she said. "But being in nature helps you breathe and just be."

Healing Through Nature

Launched in 2025 in partnership with the San Diego River Park Foundation and made possible by the Prebys Foundation, Healing Through Nature is the only post-treatment, non-clinical, program serving pediatric cancer families in San Diego County. It offers families a path to healing that medicine alone cannot provide. What began as three pilot cohorts has already demonstrated measurable, lasting impact during one of the most critical and overlooked phases of pediatric cancer recovery. In its first year, the program served 39 participants in San Diego County, many of whom had been completely isolated due to cancer-related trauma. For some, it was the first time their family had returned to outdoor spaces together.

Through guided outdoor excursions, wellness activities, STEM programming, and financial literacy workshops, families rebuild bonds fractured by crisis and rediscover life beyond treatment. Transportation is provided when needed, and the program addresses trauma across the entire family system, children, parents, and siblings, through a holistic mental health approach. Parent and child surveys consistently show reduced anxiety, decreased fear, and improved emotional well-being. Children express excitement about exploring the world again. Parents share that nature-based practices are now part of their daily lives, and for families who had never spoken openly about their cancer journey, this program creates space to heal and plan for the future. Parents are starting small businesses. Planning vacations for the first time. Envisioning brighter futures.

Creating More Pathways to Healing

Now entering its second year, Healing Through Nature is evolving to deepen its reach and impact. The program has been thoughtfully restructured to better serve immunocompromised children, with longer sessions, smaller cohorts, and a new arts and mental health workshop woven into the experience. Families who cannot commit to a full cohort now have access to individual sessions, ensuring no one is left out. And in a meaningful expansion of the program's roots, Kumeyaay indigenous healing practices are being integrated to honor the land and open culturally rooted pathways to healing.

Together, these changes reflect ENF's ongoing commitment to meeting families where they are, and by delivering trauma-informed mental health support in safe, accessible outdoor spaces, Healing Through Nature is proving that recovery, resilience, and renewed hope are possible for every family.

No one should navigate a child's serious illness alone, and ENF is here to make sure they don't have to. If you know a family who could benefit from this program, please share this resource today. Together, we can provide hope, comfort, and essential services when they are needed most. To learn more, partner with us, or support this life-changing work, visit enfhope.org.

*Names have been changed to protect privacy