Delivering Hope: Uber & PBTF Remove Transport Barriers for Families with Brain Tumors

When a family faces a cancer diagnosis, the simple act of getting to a hospital appointment can become a monumental hurdle. 

No family should have to face cancer alone or be held back by barriers to accessing care. Yet for many families, frequent appointments, therapies, and hospital visits become nearly impossible without dependable, safe transportation.

Transportation should never be the reason a child misses lifesaving care.

The Mission: Access to Care

Recognizing just how urgent this need is, the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation has partnered with Uber to help ensure families can reach the care their children depend on safely, reliably, and without added financial or logistical burdens.

At PBTF, access to care means more than medical treatment, it means removing the real-world obstacles that stand between families and healing. This initiative is about more than a ride; it’s about restoring dignity, protecting access to lifesaving treatment, and honoring our shared commitment to supporting families throughout their entire journey.

The Challenge: Barriers to Treatment

Too often, families are forced to make impossible choices because of transportation barriers. The stakes are high:

• Immune Safety: Children in active treatment face serious risks on crowded public transit due to compromised immune systems.
• Reliability: Missed or delayed appointments can disrupt critical therapy and treatment schedules.
• Financial Strain: Frequent hospital and therapy visits add crushing costs to families already managing overwhelming medical bills.
• Accessibility: Public transportation often isn’t equipped to support children with complex medical and physical needs.

The Solution: Reliable Rides for Relief

Through PBTF’s partnership with Uber, families receive ride vouchers that provide safer, direct transportation to treatment. This simple but powerful support ensures children can reach the care they need, without added worry or burden for their families.

For caregivers and survivors alike, that ride can mean the difference between isolation and connection, anxiety and relief, fear and freedom.

Impact Story: Nico’s Family

Families like Nico’s remind us how essential the Uber ride voucher program is in helping families. Two-year-old Nico was diagnosed with a low-grade glioma in March 2024 and receives care in New York City. For his family, every day brings both challenges and small victories.

“Simple things like leaving the house require careful planning around Nico’s medical needs, immune safety, and accessibility,” his father, Jordan, shares. “We can’t just run errands or take him to a playground.”

Nico’s parents don’t own a car, and public transit poses serious risks for Nico. While friends can sometimes help, it isn’t always an option, making access to essential appointments incredibly challenging without dependable transportation.

That’s why the Uber ride vouchers they receive through the partnership between the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation and Uber have been so vital. “Reliable transportation to medical appointments isn’t a luxury for us—it’s a necessity,” Jordan says. “It lifted a real burden and allowed us to focus on caring for Nico instead of worrying about how we’d get there.”

Because of this support, Nico can more safely attend his physical and occupational therapy sessions. Jordan now spends less time navigating train schedules and worrying about exposure, and more time focused on moments of joy with his son.

By addressing real, everyday challenges, this partnership is removing the logistical hurdles that stand between families and lifesaving care.

This is work that truly changes lives. Join PBTF in ensuring that no family misses a child’s treatment because they don’t have a reliable ride.