Coaches Help Children Move Past Illnesses

When Zander Lurie’s father, Art Lurie, was diagnosed with cancer in 1990, he was saddened to find so many young children suffering from the same disease beside him in his hospital ward.

“My dad found strength in the children,” Lurie said. “So when he passed away after a six-year battle, I had a moment of clarity. I had to start something in his name and honor the kids he grew to love and care about in the hospital.”

With that, the seeds for CoachArt were sown. If he ever got the money, Lurie promised himself, he would establish a program to pair chronically ill children with sports and arts instructors to help boost their spirits and self-esteem to better deal with their disease.

“My dad was a cardiac surgeon in Reno,” said Lurie, 31. “I grew up a lucky kid who had private lessons and mentoring relationships. Who else could better profit from lessons that provide self-esteem than kids who have lost their hair through cancer treatment, have body image problems, parents stressed over bills, ostracized siblings and no money?”

Lurie, now an investment banker for JP Morgan Chase, eventually became wealthy enough to make his vision a reality with the help of friends and family. His only problem was how to bring the sick children together with instructors willing to volunteer.

Privacy issues at hospitals made it impossible to solicit the youngsters and their parents. And cold-calling sports and art coaches seemed daunting.

But Lurie was inspired by one of his early clients -- EBay.

“We created an [online] bulletin board to be that entity that matched chronically ill children with coaches willing to donate their time,” Lurie said from his office in San Francisco.

By 2001, Lurie had established his nonprofit status, designed a website (www.coachart.org) and logo and begun recruiting coaches. Thanks to a donation by Google, CoachArt is one of a handful of organizations that appears on the right-hand side of the computer screen if a web surfer types “volunteer” into their search engine.

“Most people pay a lot of money to be there,” said Lurie. “That was a major boon for us.”

Through persistence and sound plans, Lurie and his partner, Leah Bernthal, were able to persuade Childrens Hospital in Los Angeles that their intentions were good. Without the hospital’s support, none of the children would have been referred to CoachArt.

Since then, more than 1,000 children age 6 to 18 suffering from illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, asthma and sickle-cell anemia have enjoyed the benefits of tennis, yoga, painting, dance, trips to baseball games, river rafting and even screenwriting. One youngster asked if he could take cooking lessons.

If a child needs to rent golf clubs or requires oil paints for an art class, CoachArt provides it. The program also pays for taxi services. Although CoachArt is geared toward low-income children in a region stretching from the San Fernando Valley to Riverside, administrators said they have never turned a family away.

“They self-select,” Lurie said. “We’re not constrained with the lessons, so I say, bring it on.”

All the same services are offered to siblings of the sick children, who are often neglected with so much focus on a brother or sister.

“A sibling has to deal with the guilt of not having the disease,” said Amanda Carter, CoachArt’s executive director. “There’s a lot set up for the kids who are ill and nothing for their siblings.”

The goal is twofold, Lurie said: Coaches visit the hospital to generate hope in children still battling their diseases. And children who have overcome illnesses enough to return home visit coaches to try and assimilate into regular life again, perhaps after missing years of school and social activity. That’s why there is never mention of a child’s disease at any of the lessons.

Such was the case recently in Valley Glen, where 15-year-old Diana Reyes was stroking a fine paintbrush and learning about color schemes. Wearing stylish suede sneakers and a leopard-print belt, there was no hint that she was battling a chronic illness.”It’s cool here. I get to get away for a while and do something,” Reyes said.

The soft-spoken Sylmar High School student has shown a flair for art in the months she has attended “Pastimes for a Lifetime,” a program run by pianist and artist Linda Wehrli, who has volunteered for CoachArt for nearly two years.

“Diana really opened up since she got here,” said Wehrli. “She laughs at my jokes now. She has the right attitude.”

Wehrli said she volunteered because she believes art has the ability to heal.

“It eliminates introversion,” she said. “They want to learn very much. They’re here because they want to be here, not because their mommy wants them to.”

Many coaches find they develop strong bonds with the children. A ceramics instructor and a jewelry instructor each had the misfortune of attending the funeral of one of their charges.

“Coaches have dramatic, eye-opening experiences,” Lurie said.

The coaches’ backgrounds are all screened. Those who qualify are asked to sign up for 10 weeks for each child. Lurie hopes to expand across the nation.

“My grandiose goal is to be like Starbucks,” he said.

“Expand to every city where there is demand.”