Philadelphia-area nonprofit is creating a retreat center for families to escape the stress of cancer
For Pete's Sake, a Montgomery County cancer charity, is partnering with Woodloch Resort in the Poconos to open a facility dedicated to families coping with late-stage cancer.
When Marci Schankweiler’s husband was sick with cancer, a brief Caribbean getaway did wonders to help them reconnect, relax, and escape the daily stress of a deadly diagnosis.
“We had a chance to be Marci and Pete again — instead of Marci, Pete and cancer,” she wrote on the organization’s website.
Now she is helping recreate the experience for other families living with late-stage cancer. Schankweiler’s nonprofit organization, For Pete’s Sake Cancer Respite Foundation, has partnered with the Woodloch Resort in the Poconos to open a respite center where families can spend a few nights away together to take a break from scans, tests, and doctor’s appointments.
The project recently received a $3.5 million grant through Pennsylvania’s Redevelopment Capital Assistance Program, bringing the project’s total funding to $15 million.
Construction on the new facility, located next to Woodloch’s existing Hawley hotel, is expected to begin next spring, with plans to open in 2026.
“In a journey that’s fraught with challenges from the minute you wake up to the minute you go to bed, being able to pause and be together is so important,” Schankweiler said.
She created For Pete’s Sake after her husband, Pete, died of testicular cancer at age 30 in 1999. The organization provides free trips to patient families who are nominated by their oncology team.
Planning and paying for a vacation can be overwhelming for families coping with constant medical appointments and bills. Schankweiler said the organization’s goal is to provide families a break that they may otherwise not be able to take.
Up until now, For Pete’s Sake has put up families in rented hotel rooms for a few days away. The new respite center will be a dedicated space for the organization’s work, and enable them to host 64 families a month, up from 10.
The new facility will have art and music rooms, a yoga studio, a chapel, and a swimming pool. Meals are provided, and families are encouraged to get to know each other.