First diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1982, Deb proves to be a strong fighter, who gives it all to her family and her community.

First diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1982, Deb proves to be a strong fighter, who gives it all to her family and her community.

Meet the Culbertson Family… a Jamie’s Hope Angel Tree Family: After a two-year battle and removing most of her ovaries, she was told she was “cancer-free.” Then, a week after adopting a newborn daughter, she was told she only had one month to live. With this horrifying diagnosis, her husband, Mike flew her to Houston’s MD Anderson from Oak Harbour, WA, where she received another diagnosis of being “cancer-free.” During her long bout with ovarian cancer, she created a program called Fast Trax for Windfern HS in Houston, TX. She has helped hundreds of students graduate and even more so she inspired the, to make life changes for so many people. She also received a PHD in under 4 years and has started working for Texas A&M CC. She works tirelessly to provide for her family and help others. She had month visits to MD Anderson for years stacking up 10 grand each visit. She lives in continuous pain daily, while remaining one of the kindest, most humble person. She is battling with an incurable cancer that has now spread to her blood. The Culbertson family consists of Debbie (57), Mike (husband) and granddaughter (8). Join us Thursday, Dec. 4th from 6-9pm as we raise funds to help struggling Houston area families who are battling cancer. Event details and donation options here:...
5-yr-old Tristran, sick from birth and continuously mis-diagnosed fights for his life.

5-yr-old Tristran, sick from birth and continuously mis-diagnosed fights for his life.

Meet the Woodard Family… a Jamie’s Hope Angel Tree Family: Tristran was a happy baby, but from birth he was always sick and had trouble eating and holding food down. This went on for two years always perplexing everyone. One day he held a high fever and was continuously crying so his parents took him to the doctor, who told them that he had an ear infection and sent them home with antibiotics. The fever and crying continued, so they took him to the ER. Again, they were told that it had a cold and sent home. Their son continued to get worse and the pain was so severe that you couldn’t touch him without great pain. He couldn’t sit, walk or anything. They took him back to the ER and insisted that someone find out what was truly wrong with him. After some x-rays, they were told that their son had pneumonia. Tristran’s parents further insisted that they find out what is causing it. After doing bloodwork, the results came in. Tristran had only about one pint of blood left in his body. They immediately did two blood and platelet transfusions. It was at this time that the Woodard family learned the devastating news, their son most likely had Leukemia. The family relocated to Cleveland, TX after dealing with financial woes, which led to an eviction from their home. They wanted to be closer to family, but they were having medical issues of their own. Tristran was in and out of the hospital repeatedly with varying illnesses during his “maintenance phase”, which surprised his doctors. This continued for...
Brittany Bock

Brittany Bock

Special thanks to Dash player, Brittany Bock for not only donating items for the Jamie’s Hope Angel Tree Mission Project but also for coming out to support at the happy hour tomorrow! We look forward to meeting her! #DashOn JOIN US! Tickets available online (www.JamiesHope.org/AngelTree) through 3pm tomorrow. If available, tickets will be available at the...
Angel Tree 2014 Fundraising Goal Exceeded!

Angel Tree 2014 Fundraising Goal Exceeded!

We are so excited to announce that we exceeded our goal last night at the Jamie’s Hope Annual Angel Tree Mission Happy Hour (Click HERE for photos)!! Thank you to everyone who came out and supported the Angel Tree program last night along with those who weren’t able to make it but still donated! Pictures will be up soon!! Special thanks to our host, The Capital Grille – Houston City Centre for such amazing service, food and drinks! Timothy Bedore of Tubular Solutions, Inc. for being such a huge help and supporter! Brittany Bock from the Houston Dash for donating auction items and joining us last night Our amazing photographers Hung L. Truong Photography and Earchphoto for capturing the evening and last but certainly not least, the awesome JH volunteers who helped make all this happen… Nancy Jamison Smith, Lisa Ramer, Darla Guyton, Kevin Ramer, Audra Nagle & Gilbert Torres ♥ Here is a slideshow from 2013 Angel Tree Mission Happy Hour and Present Delivery, as well as and intro to this year’s Angel Tree Families. We hope you enjoy! CLICK HERE TO VIEW 2013...
Struggling during the Holidays with cancer  ❄️ The Reason Angel Tree Started ❄️

Struggling during the Holidays with cancer ❄️ The Reason Angel Tree Started ❄️

Going through cancer treatment for me has been a great struggle to keep up with everyday duties and especially during the holidays. Every single day I wake up thinking how am I going to get through the day and get stuff done (sick, low energy, or just don’t feel good) whereas before cancer I woke up everyday with energy thinking what am I going accomplish or get done. The first year I was I on treatment for my 4th cancer relapse (targeted therapy and chemotherapy-2012) I experienced a new struggle that I had never encountered with my previous cancer treatments. We had our daughter, family that we always hosted which I did almost all the shopping for (25-40 people) and the Christmas lunch. I love shopping (so it’s fun and not work, lol) but it was a lot when I was healthy with normal energy, so when the holidays arrived I didn’t know how I was going to get through it. Thank god I have a support system and we could afford to pay for help as well when needed!!!!!! Many families that go through cancer may lose part of a salary or all of it when they can’t work and on top of losing income cancer is EXPENSIVE!!! I have always said… I don’t know how families with lower to middle incomes get through this due to all the added costs of cancer. One day I am going to add a list of all the expenses that cancer can add to a person or families. Ex. Prior to this cancer relapse I cooked and cleaned ALOT more, since...
19-yr-old, Madison, mother of a 2-yr-old son, puts up her fists and takes cancer head on!

19-yr-old, Madison, mother of a 2-yr-old son, puts up her fists and takes cancer head on!

Meet the Forner Family… a Jamie’s Hope Angel Tree Family: A young stay-at-home mom of a 2-yr-old son is surprised to learn that she has Ewing Sarcoma. The family struggles with a lot of late ER trips, surgeries, vomiting non-stop, a chemo bag 24/7 for two weeks at a time. With her biological parents out of the picture, she is being cared for by her in-laws. Her sister, Ashley, has been there every step of the way. She also has her mother-in-law who works lovingly by giving Madison shots in her stomach and draining the fluid out of her lung. Her in-laws love her unconditionally and are devoted to her recovery and treatment. Madison is grateful that she is showing some signs of improvement. Her tumors are shrinking, though she still has a long journey ahead. The Forner Family consists of Madison (19), Austin (20), Travis (2) and Laura (Mother-in-law).  Join us Thursday, Dec. 4th from 6-9pm as we raise funds to help struggling Houston area families who are battling cancer. Event details and donation options here:...
22-month-old Nolan, just beginning his life, suddenly battling a very rare case of cancer…

22-month-old Nolan, just beginning his life, suddenly battling a very rare case of cancer…

Meet the Day Family… a Jamie’s Hope Angel Tree Family: Misty and Greg, are true Texas born high-school sweethearts. They met at age 16, became fast friends, started dating a year later, attended college together and married a couple of years after graduating. They both worked hard in school and in their careers to set the foundation for the family they planned to build together. In 2009, they welcomed their first son, Carson, to the world and in 2012 they were blessed with their second miracle, Nolan. In August of 2013, they bought a brand new home and moved to Cross Creek Ranch in Fulshear, TX so that their boys could attend great schools. However they remain active members at Sugar Creek Baptist Church, which they have attended since 2009. They could be seen most weekends playing outside with their friends, with big friendly smiles and waves to those who passed by. On April 10th, their plans came to a halt as Greg and Misty received the news that every parent fears; their sweet 22-month old son, Nolan, was diagnosed with Cancer (Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma). His case is extremely rare for children his age. Thus, he was put through rigorous testing prior to the diagnosis – including a lymph node biopsy, two CT scans, a bone marrow aspiration, three spinal taps, a PET scan, antibiotics and various blood tests. They were overwhelmed and exhausted! Their lives have been turned completely upside-down! This has caught them emotionally and financially off-guard. Although they have medical insurance, it does not cover the entirety of the costs that they will incur in the 2+...
Single mom, Michelle, was diagnosed with Melanoma in August of 2012; a battle she continues to fight.

Single mom, Michelle, was diagnosed with Melanoma in August of 2012; a battle she continues to fight.

Meet the Swaim Family… A Jamie’s Hope Angel Tree Family Michelle currently resides with her aunt and uncle in Willis TX. She is staying with family so that she can be closer to MD Anderson treatment facilities. She is unable to work at the present time due to the fact that she would lose what little benefits she is able to obtain for her medical expenses. She has had three surgeries to remove lymph nodes under her arm, neck, and head. She has little range of motion with her right arm and awaiting physical therapy. Her chemo started April of 2014, with radiation treatments from Nov 2012- Dec 2012. Her next visit is scheduled for the first week of December- where more scans will be taken. She currently is taking chemo pills and hoping that the spot that has appeared on her lung will be gone. She still has a cyst under her arm that will need to be removed but nothing has been scheduled so far. She has two children, a son and a daughter. Her son resides in San Antonio. Her daughter is a teen who has struggled to deal with her mother’s diagnosis and constant care.  Join us Thursday, Dec. 4th from 6-9pm as we raise funds to help struggling Houston area families who are battling cancer. Event details and donation options here:...
14-yr-old Estela, diagnosed in 2012 with a blood fungus (Leukemia) is in and out of the hospital with a very weak immune system…

14-yr-old Estela, diagnosed in 2012 with a blood fungus (Leukemia) is in and out of the hospital with a very weak immune system…

Meet the Gomez Family… a Jamie’s Hope Angel Tree Family Estela was first diagnosed in 2012 with Leukemia. When she received her 1st chemo treatment, she had a reaction and got fungus in her blood. She became so ill that she was admitted to ICU for about a month. She was then readmitted for a full six months. This has been really challenging for the family with only one parent, her father, Genaro, working. He works in construction and has been in and out of work. Their family lives far from the hospital and have to travel back and forth a lot for routine treatments, including doing daily chemotherapy via pills and monthly intravenous Chemotherapy.  She is being treated at Texas Children’s and has to go there every 2 weeks to check her count. Their family struggles, but still maintain a hopeful outlook. They are a family of six, including mom, Gloria, father, Genaro, Isabel (15), Estela (14), Gloria (7) and Raphael (3). Join us Thursday, Dec. 4th from 6-9pm as we raise funds to help struggling Houston area families who are battling cancer. Event details and donation options here:...
5-year-old Alex had always been a very happy, sweet and crazily active little boy… that was until he was no longer able to walk and now battling for his life.

5-year-old Alex had always been a very happy, sweet and crazily active little boy… that was until he was no longer able to walk and now battling for his life.

Meet the Mendoza Family… a Jamie’s Hope Angel Tree Family: On March 26th of this year, Alex began complaining of pain in his legs. At first they thought it was due to him jumping off of his brother, Christian’s, bunk bed. They took him into orthopedics thinking he had an injury and found he was perfectly fine… at least that’s what the orthopedic said. They went home and called his pediatrician. Two weeks later, Alex couldn’t even walk. His legs continuously got worse and bruises began to appear. His pediatrician told them to come back in and 3 days later, they were told that Alex had Acute Lymphoid Leukemia (Philadelphia positive). Due to a blood based fungal infection, he and his family had to stay in the hospital for 6 straight months. On top of this, just one month after Alex’s diagnosis, their home was burglarized and everything was stolen. All of their electronics (TVs, X-box, tablets, and more) along with the kids’ games; the only entertainment they had with Alex due to his limited physical abilities. 5 months later they were finally able to go home and have been in and out of the hospital since. Since his diagnosis their lives have changed forever. Their sweet boy has had to undergo painful after painful procedure and it breaks their hearts as parents to see him cry and having to hold him so that he can get pokes and medicine. Alex is truly inspiring to them. Despite all he’s been through, he still always smiles and plays and loves people. They are very proud of him. Although they are...