It Started With Two Children. It's For Every Child.
That is exactly where The Strong and Brave Foundation begins, in the moment the world falls out from under a family’s feet, when the words “your child has cancer” echo through a hospital hallway and nothing is ever quite the same again.
We know that moment. We have lived it. And it is that lived experience, that unimaginable, transformative, heart-breaking, love-driven experience, that fuels everything we do.
The Children Who Inspire Us Every Day
Cole Alexander Slaiding
Cole was four years old when he was diagnosed with an aggressive Sarcoma just weeks before Christmas in 2022. Six short weeks later, on January 30, 2023, he was gone.
In between, and in the years before, Cole lived with the kind of wholehearted joy that most of us spend a lifetime chasing. He was never far from his mother’s side. He loved running, playing, and stopping to smell the flowers in her garden. That image, a small boy, pausing in the middle of everything to really, truly notice a flower, says everything about who Cole was and what he left behind.
When Cole got sick, his community rallied in ways his family will carry with them forever. That outpouring of love, the meals, the gifts, the support from near and far, became the seed of this foundation. Cole showed us what it looks like to be fully present. We carry that with us in every family we support.
Briana Harper Dolomite
She rang every bell. She raced down hospital hallways with her doctors. She held signs celebrating every small victory, and she never, not once, lost the sparkle that made her so uniquely, beautifully her. On June 29, 2024, at just nine years old, Briana earned her angel wings, surrounded by her family and unconditional love.
Briana was compassion, humor, resilience, and kindness all at once. She found joy in the world even when the world was impossibly hard. Following her lead, we commit every day to doing the same — and to building Briana’s House in her lasting honor.