Questions Families Ask About Love Bus

No. Every Love Bus service is completely free to qualifying families. There is no insurance requirement, no income threshold, no copay, and no cost of any kind at any point in the process.

Any child diagnosed with cancer before age 21 who lives in or is treated in New England qualifies to apply. Eligibility is not tied to income, insurance status, cancer type, or treatment phase.

Love Bus serves children diagnosed with cancer before age 21. Eligibility does not end at 21 — we continue to work with young adults in their 20s and 30s who were first diagnosed before that age.

Yes. Love Bus supports families through every phase of the journey — active treatment, remission, long-term survivorship, and hospice. Support does not stop when active treatment ends.

Yes. Love Bus serves families across all six New England states — Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine. If your child lives in or is treated anywhere in New England, you qualify to apply.

No. Love Bus's four hospital partner locations — Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, and Hasbro Children's Hospital in Providence — are access points, not eligibility gates. Families at any hospital in New England can access community-funded therapies through Love Bus regardless of where their child receives treatment.

Yes. Eligibility is based on where your child lives or receives treatment in New England. Families who travel from Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, or Maine to receive care in Massachusetts are fully eligible for Love Bus support.

Love Bus funds massage therapy, acupuncture, Reiki, yoga, music therapy, art therapy, therapeutic horseback riding, swimming lessons, dance classes, and karate for qualifying children with cancer. All therapies are delivered by trained, vetted practitioners at no cost to the family.

No. Love Bus has dedicated programs for the child's siblings and for parents and primary caregivers as well. The whole-family model is central to everything we do — because every member of the family is affected and every member deserves support.

Yes. All Love Bus-funded therapies are evidence-informed complements to conventional oncology care — used alongside chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery, never instead of them. Our in-hospital programs are coordinated directly with pediatric care teams at our partner institutions.

Visit our Get Support page to submit an application. The process takes a few minutes and asks for basic information about your child and your family's situation. A real Love Bus staff member — not an automated system — reviews every application and reaches out personally to discuss next steps.

A Love Bus staff member contacts you directly to confirm eligibility, answer any remaining questions, and work with your family to identify which programs and therapies are the right fit. From there, we coordinate the details so you can focus on your family.

Yes. If your child was diagnosed with cancer before age 21 and your family lives in or receives treatment in New England, you are very likely eligible. We encourage families to apply and let our team confirm eligibility — the process is simple and our staff is here to help, not to put up barriers.