Please Note:

Over the past several months, we’ve seen increasing and overwhelming demand for our Travel Respite Program, which had been fully booked through the summer. We are pleased to announce that FPS is now re-opening nominations for a limited number of Travel Respites, beginning July 1st. We will continue to accept nominations for Staycation Respites for qualified patients as well.

Later this year, we will transition our focus on completing construction of the nation’s first Cancer Respite Center adjacent to Woodloch Resort, expected to start vertical construction in 2026. With this Center, FPS will significantly increase its capacity to host future families. Learn more at www.respitetransformed.org. Please call our office at 267.708.0510 with any questions.

If you are currently an FPS Nominator, please visit here to fill out our nomination packet.

How to Become a Nominator

FPS provides adult cancer patients, ages 21 to 55, and their caregivers with a unique Respite Experience. We hope to ease the burdens associated with the psychological, emotional, economic and spiritual trauma that inevitably accompanies a cancer diagnosis. The FPS Travel Respites and Staycation Respites are free for families and provide care-free time between the patient and his/her loved ones.

Only oncology healthcare professionals are permitted to nominate to our Travel Respite and Staycation Respite Programs.   All new nominators must undergo a brief in-service to learn about our mission and guidelines.

To request an in-service, please fill out our inquiry form here.

Our Program team can also provide on-site presentations to Oncology Teams about our mission and guidelines.

If the patient initiates the nomination, we ask that you please confirm that the patient meets our mission and guidelines. Since we are a nonprofit organization, we ask that you nominate individuals you feel meet our mission and program eligibility guidelines.

The guidelines for our Travel Respite program include the following:

1. Patient must be between 21-55 years of age, nominated by a healthcare professional member of the patient’s oncology team, and diagnosed with cancer by an oncologist.
2. Patient must have a cancer diagnosis between Stage I and Stage IV. Nonstaged cancers such as leukemia, myeloma and lymphoma are accepted. At our discretion, priority is given to advanced-stage patients based upon funding and respite destination availability.
3. The patient has been in active treatment within the last six months. Active treatment includes chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, radiation and/or surgery.
4. Patient must reside in DE, PA, NJ, NY, or MD.
5. Patient must be able to travel within 120 days of nomination. The FPS Program Team will decide the date and destination.
6. Patient must have a primary adult caregiver available to travel on respite. Further, only the patient’s immediate children within the home are permitted on respite, if applicable.
7. Patient understands FPS reserves the right to accept or deny the nomination after review by the FPS Program Team. For eligibility, all forms must be completed in their entirety by nominator and patient.

The guidelines for our Staycation Respite program include the following:

1. Patient must be between 21-55 years of age.
2. Patient must have an oncologist diagnosis of advanced-stage cancer (Stages III and IV).
3. Based on current clinical evaluation and disease progression, travel is not recommended.
4. Patient must be nominated by a healthcare professional member of the patient’s oncology team.
5. Patient must be in active treatment within the last six months.  Active treatment includes chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, radiation and/or surgery.
6. Patient must reside in DE, PA, NJ, NY or MD.
7. Patient must have an adult caregiver to participate in the Staycation Respite Experience.
8. Patient must not have been a prior participant in the FPS Respite Program.
9. Patient understands FPS reserves the right to accept or deny the nomination after review by the FPS Program Team. For eligibility, all forms must be completed in their entirety by nominator and patient.

We look forward to collaboratively working with you to improve the lives of families facing cancer! Join us!