About Mira's Movement
Our background
Mira's Movement was founded by Christine and Chris Brouwer in 2008 shortly after the loss of their 4 year-old daughter to treatment for recurrent brain cancer. Mira had been diagnosed at the age of 23 months with anaplastic ependymoma, an aggressive type of cancer, in her brain stem and cervical spine. In over two years in treatment and living with complications of her disease, Mira was treated at four facilities. The Brouwer's started Mira's Movement as a family who had been through a tremendous amount in 2 years, and knowing that more support needed to be offered to families whose children have cancer. Mira's Movement is very simply about families helping families to navigate childhood cancer a little bit better.
What we do
We quickly joined the advocacy community in asking our elected representatives in Washington, DC to increase funding of childhood cancer. In December 2008, we joined in the effort to pass the National Childhood Brain Tumor Prevention Network Act--an effort to learn more about the causes of the childhood cancer that has sadly become the leading killer of children with cancer. With the bill now in its second Congress, we are now the national coordinators of that effort.
In 2009, we began coordinating regional support groups that previously did not exist. And just recently, we launched the Children's Cancer Resource for families being treated in Central New York at the Golisano Children's Hospitals in Syracuse and Rochester. Our program is offered to families of newly diagnosed children in an effort to bring them information and emotional support in a time of shock and confusion, as they begin to make decisions about their child's treatment.
We look forward to continuing to work with the national advocacy community to advance the research for childhood cancer and, regionally, to support families with cancer. In honor of all of the amazing kids who find themselves facing this disease, and the many beautiful angels who have been lost, we hope to make a difference for those children and families that follow us.