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A local organization is making sure families battling cancer are getting the help they need physically but also financially.
The Tom Coughlin Jay Fund is holding a panel discussion on the services they provide to help families budget their finances during their battle with cancer.
The Jay Fund is one of the only local organizations providing short-term financial assistance and long-term financial coaching and support.
An average of around 100 Jacksonville families have a child diagnosed with cancer annually.
Monday night’s event is a discussion put on by The Tom Couglin Jay Fund and it’s focused on managing the financial challenges of childhood cancer.
The Jay Fund says that 84 percent of families with a child with cancer will experience some level of financial hardship.
This event and service is all about making sure families get the help they need physically and financially.
That includes paying mortgages or utility bills along with giving families the knowledge and tools they need to come out on the other side of childhood cancer financially intact.
Families will hear from a financial coach as well as from families that have gone through the same coaching.
“The bills don’t start coming right away but when they do start coming it’s just overwhelming and it would be really easy in the midst of dealing with the illness to just collapse financially but with the tools it allowed us to really get a grip,” said Heidi Brown, whose daughter is fighting cancer.
About 20 families were expected to be in attendance Monday night.