Anna Schindler Foundation gives hope and a place to stay for families who have a child getting cancer treatment in Spokane

When a child is diagnosed with cancer, Polly Schindler says, “the whole family is diagnosed.”

Polly and Joe Schindler, from Post Falls, know firsthand . Their 6-year-old daughter, Anna, was diagnosed with hepatoblastoma, a form of liver cancer, in 2010.

Anna received long, intensive treatment at Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital in Spokane. She died three days after her seventh birthday.

After Anna’s passing, the Schindlers had a strong desire to help families who are going through the challenge of finding housing when their child is sick and receiving cancer treatment. Many live hours from Spokane.

Often families stay in nearby motels or short-term rentals. Other options, like the Ronald McDonald house, can be full or may be a concern for families who have a child who is immunocompromised.

The Schindlers formed the Anna Schindler Foundation with a vision to build homes close to Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital for families to stay – regardless of how many people or for how long – free of charge.

“We drove around looking for lots (to build on) for years,” Polly Schindler said.

In 2015, they found the right lots that were large enough to allow for growth. They also received a check from an anonymous donor to help purchase the property.

In 2017, Phase 1 of Anna’s Homes was completed. Since that time, 40 families have stayed at these single-family respite homes, the only one of their kind in Spokane.

The foundation, directed by Joe Schindler, the president, and Polly Schindler, the vice president, is now building the next phase of Anna’s Homes.

It will consist of four additional individual family townhomes next to the original two townhomes, 2326 E. 28th Ave.

Many businesses from Spokane and the surrounding area are coming together to build these houses. Some of these business owners have their own stories of having children with cancer.

“It’s the community that is building these homes, businesses and individuals who are passionate about helping families with children with cancer or have gone through it themselves,” said Kathryn Steele, operations officer with the Anna Schindler Foundation.

Steele herself experienced what families go through when her son was diagnosed with cancer and endured treatment at Sacred Heart. He died when he was 9 months old.

“Polly is very passionate about providing a family connection,” Steele said. “It’s so important to the families that they are working with someone who has gone through it.”

The Harner family from Moscow, Idaho, was the first family to stay at Anna’s Homes.

Cat Harner’s son Thomas was born at the end of 2016 and was diagnosed with leukemia days after. From there, the family spent hundreds of days either in the hospital, in nearby hotels, in an apartment and in a few rentals.

“Anywhere that would allow us to stay close by as a family,” Harner said.

At the time, Harner’s children were 2, 4 and 6 years old.

“Staying in a hotel for weeks at a time was expensive and with three small children, to say it was cramped and chaotic was an understatement,” she said. “There was no normalcy. I felt like we couldn’t catch our breath.”

She learned about Anna’s Homes in the hospital while Thomas was getting treatment.

“From the moment I crossed the threshold at Anna’s Home, I felt like I was actually home,” Harner said. “My children had their own beds with their own rooms. Thomas had room to play and roam, and I could do our laundry,” Harner said. “If grandparents came, they had their own place to stay, in addition to the master bedroom, which could house Tommy’s crib and all his medical equipment. I could adequately mother my children again. I could cook dinner for my kids. I could snuggle on the couch. It was clean. It was put together with so much love and care.”

Polly Schindler said she designed the homes with an eye toward what a family with a sick child needed. Examples included direct sight lines from the kitchen to the bedroom, enough space for rollaway beds, doorways that are wide enough for wheelchairs and outlets that are at the same height as a wheelchair.

Polly Schindler and her husband, who have eight children, say their work is a labor of love.

Along their journey, something unexpected happened. Polly Schindler explained that they adopted one of their children after spending time with him at the same hospital where Anna was getting treatment. He had the same type of liver cancer as Anna and was in foster care. Today, that same boy is getting ready to graduate high school.

“From tragedy comes goodness,” she said.

Every year Harner raises money for the foundation by organizing local Childhood Cancer 5K Runs in September and a Turkey Trot 5K Run on Thanksgiving with proceeds supporting the Anna Schindler Foundation.

“I will never stop trying to give back or advocating, as it serves as a connection to Tommy that I am desperate to keep,” she said.

She continued, “The expansion of these homes will be life -changing for these other families. To have somewhere to unpack, to put presents under a Christmas tree, to live under the same roof and go through a daily routine – it’s what most take for granted and what we missed the most as a family. Anna’s Homes gave back one of the most precious things you desperately need throughout this long journey: hope.”