As our partner in helping families, health professionals are key to identifying families who may be eligible for Friends of Karen assistance. Here’s our process:

  1. A hospital social worker usually makes the initial referral of a family to ensure that they meet our guidelines. To refer a family, please call (914) 617-4057.
  2. After the initial referral is made, the family must contact us directly to schedule an intake assessment, which is done by phone. The family should call (914) 617-4057 to schedule an intake assessment in English or (914) 617-4045 to schedule an intake assessment in Spanish.
  3. Following the assessment, we send an application to the family, which must be completed and returned before Friends of Karen can provide any services. Once we’ve received the completed application, a member of our social work team will contact the family. 

Please note: Friends of Karen can provide a maximum of $500 for illness-related expenses to families who live outside of our 22-county service area, but whose child is being treated at a hospital within our service area and/or has lived in our service area for less than 12 months prior to the time of their child's diagnosis.  

Would you like a Friends of Karen social worker to visit your facility to discuss our services with you or your staff? Please call (914) 617-4048 with your request.