Timeline - History of the Foundation
| 1982 | Foundation began as a volunteer effort to help critically ill children while they were undergoing hospital treatments at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and University of Maryland hospitals. | ||
| 1984 | Believe In Tomorrow begins to look at addressing longer term needs of pediatric cancer and cystic fibrosis patients. Works to establish one of the very first teen cancer support groups in the country at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. | ||
| 1986 | Foundation creates formal program to sponsor support groups for teen cancer patients at other hospitals.
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| 1987 | Respite Housing Program expands to three rented ocean front units and one mountain cabin in Virginia.
Local Adventures and In-Hospital Entertainment Programs created to provide on going services to seriously ill children. |
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| 1988 |  Foundation creates Pain Management and Distraction Program through the placement of (distraction and focusing) boxes in critical care hospital clinics.
Foundation also sponsors award winning video *Don't Freeze Me Out, about teen cancer patients and problems they have experienced in their schools. Video distributed to school systems throughout the United States. *Video profiled on Good Morning America. |
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| 1990 | Foundation begins construction of the Children's House at Johns Hopkins, a major four-level hospital residential facility on the grounds of the world famous Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Believe In Tomorrow Programs begin to expand throughout the United States. |
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| 1993 |  The Believe In Tomorrow Children's House at Johns Hopkins opens, providing 1,000 individual overnight accommodations each month to children from throughout the United States and the world. Children's House becomes a model for other hospital residential facilities throughout the country. |
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| 1995-2001 | Strategic national partnerships with SANYO Electronics, Doubletree Hotel, Embassy Suites Hotels, Hampton Inns, DeWalt Tools and Team Amick Motor Sports expand foundation services throughout the entire United States.
Foundation maintains an administrative overhead of less than 10% for each year during this period. Over $0.90 cents of every dollar donated goes directly towards foundation programs. |
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| 1996 |  Believe In Tomorrow opens the Believe In Tomorrow House on Fenwick Island, a permanent pediatric retreat facility. |
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| 1997 | Foundation creates the Dreamsurfer Network®, an Internet support group site for seriously ill children throughout the United States and the world. Dreamsurfer helps end isolation often faced by seriously ill children. | ||
| 1999 | Cystic Fibrosis patients in Australia linked to the Dreamsurfer Network®. | ||
| 2000 |  The Foundation builds the Believe In Tomorrow House By The Sea, a major multi-unit respite facility on the Atlantic Ocean. |
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| 2002 | Believe In Tomorrow restructures programs to focus on the national expansion of Children's Housing, Hands On Adventures, and Pain Management and Distraction®. | ||
| 2005 | Believe In Tomorrow begins construction of the Believe In Tomorrow House at St. Casimir. It is designed as the first hospital housing facility within the United States to focus exclusively on the long-term housing needs of pediatric bone marrow transplant patients and their families.
Believe In Tomorrow teams up with BreakAway Games, LTD and Dr. Lynnda Dahlquist of the University of Maryland Baltimore County to create an immersive virtual reality environment for critically ill children to be implemented in the Pain Management & Technology program. |
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| 2006 | Believe In Tomorrow decides to phase out Pain Management and Distraction Technologies program in order to focus on growth and expansion of Hospital and Respite Housing programs.
Believe In Tomorrow opens the Believe In Tomorrow House on Wisp Mountain, the first pediatric respite house to be built in a mountain setting in the United States. Believe In Tomorrow announces the next respite housing facility location in the mountains outside of Asheville, North Carolina, scheduled to open in 2009. Believe In Tomorrow also announces plans for three additional hospital and respite facilities over the next four years. |
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| 2007 |  Construction began on the Believe In Tomorrow House at Pinnacle Falls and the foundation acquired a bay front townhouse in Ocean City, Md. Both homes are dedicated to the Military Initiative, which prioritizes military families in respite houses. |
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| 2008 |  The Believe In Tomorrow House on the Bay opens its doors to military families. |
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| coming Summer 2009 |  The Believe In Tomorrow House at Pinnacle Falls will open. |
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Foundation also creates the Beach Respite Program, the first pediatric respite housing program in the United States for children with life-threatening illnesses. Program starts with one rented Ocean front condominium in Ocean City, Md. that is made available to families free of charge, throughout their child’s illness, as a place to renew their spirits during treatment.
