20 Years of Making Memories at the Alexandra Ellis Caring Cabin
As summer days turn cooler and school is back in session, we’re taking a moment to celebrate the milestone of two decades of joy, connection, and family memories at one very special place on the Oregon Coast: the Alexandra Ellis Caring Cabin. For 20 years, this beautiful retreat in Pacific City has offered children facing serious illness and their families something that can be hard to find during treatment: time and space to simply be together.
Nestled among 24 acres of coastal woods and overlooking a serene private lake, the Caring Cabin was created as a place where families could step away from appointments, treatments, and the intensity of hospital life. At no cost to families, JoyRx Nature provides a five-day retreat where children and their loved ones can relax, explore, play, reconnect, and make memories together.
Children’s Cancer Association first welcomed families to pilot the program in April, 2006; and formally opened the doors for this JoyRx Nature program in October of that year. Twenty years later, this special place continues to be cherished by families and the community of supporters who maintain it.
20 Years. Over 7,400 Family Members.
Since the Caring Cabin opened, approximately 7,400 family members have spent time within its walls and across its 24 acres.
There have been boat rides on the lake, basketball games in the rec room, walks along the trail, quiet moments in the meditation pavilion, trips to the beach, board games around the table, and countless evenings gathered around the fireplace.
There have also been harder moments.
Families have come at the beginning of treatment, in the middle of long and difficult journeys, or as a place to say goodbye as a child neared the end of life. Some families have celebrated the last dose of chemo or the end of treatment. Others have had space and time there to memorialize and honor a child that tragically died.
Through it all, the Caring Cabin has remained what it was designed to be: a place where families can step outside the world of illness for a little while and simply be a family with their full joy, their full grief, and the full support of Children’s Cancer Association.
As Caring Cabin site manager and CCA co-founder Cliff Ellis has said, the dream began with his own family’s experience when his daughter, Alexandra, was undergoing treatment. His family had been able to get away from the hospital and experience what it felt like to “come together as a normal family.” They wanted to create that same opportunity for other families. When Alexandra Ellis died of cancer in 1995, Children’s Cancer Association was formed, along with the dream for what this place could be for families.
A Dream Built by a Community
Creating the Caring Cabin was itself a remarkable act of community.
The idea had been part of Children’s Cancer Association’s vision since its founding in 1995. After searching for an existing home that could meet the needs of families facing serious illness, the organization ultimately decided to build something entirely new.
Paul and Tasca Gulick donated the 24-acre Pacific City property where the Cabin now stands.
Then came the design.
CCA worked closely with architect Bob Thompson of TVA Architects, who became involved early in the planning process. Together, the team designed the Cabin around what families actually needed: bedrooms that could accommodate a child requiring care, open gathering spaces, a recreation room designed specifically for kids, and a separate meditation pavilion offering a quiet place to retreat.
The result was an unusual collection of interconnected pavilions designed to blur the boundary between indoors and out. Glass walls bring views of the lake and surrounding forest into the living spaces, while natural materials and environmentally sensitive finishes were selected with families’ health and comfort in mind.
More than $1.2 million in donations, materials, and energy went into creating the project, according to TVA Architects.
And it truly took a village to get it built.
CCA’s original “Get It Built” team included Cliff and Regina Ellis, Clare Hamill, John Heili, Jim Petsche, Jim Robinson, Bob Thompson, and others who helped bring the vision from dream to reality.
After years of planning and roughly three years of construction, the Alexandra Ellis Caring Cabin opened in 2006.
Twenty years later, we’re still grateful for every person who helped turn that first vision into a place families continue to describe as extraordinary.
A Place Families Remember
Above: from left to right: Noemi, Fances and Ava’s families at the Alexandra Ellis Caring CabinThe best measure of the Caring Cabin’s impact isn't the number of families served. It’s what those families say after they leave.
One family wrote about their stay after their son Jet completed leukemia treatment:
“The cabin, the story of Alexandra Ellis and how the caring cabin came to be, the lake, the path, the rocks, the windows — all came together like a big hug.”
They described watching their teenager laugh, play basketball, row a boat, and fall asleep in a new quilt as “huge steps” for their family.
Another family shared simply:
“It allowed us to unwind and not worry about all the other stressors that are embedded in our daily lives.”
They described having a week without an agenda or the responsibilities that typically shape their days.
And a parent of Jace, who stayed at the Cabin with his sister, remembered it this way:
“The caring cabin was such a safe, special get away.”
For their family, the Cabin provided an “epic stress-free trip” and memories they said they would hold in their hearts forever.
That is the heart of JoyRx Nature.
An Army of Joy Makers
A place like the Caring Cabin doesn’t stay beautiful, welcoming, and ready for the next family without a tremendous amount of care. That care comes from the Children’s Cancer Association staff, the social workers and child life specialists who connect families with the program, and from so many supporters and volunteers.
That care also comes from an incredibly special member of the team, Teresa Mahannah, who has helped deep clean the Cabin in-between family visits, ensuring families arrive in a welcoming place that is safe for immuno-compromised children, and ready for comfort and connection.
But Teresa and the team at CCA can’t do it alone! Over the past 20 years, nearly 600 volunteers have donated their time to help keep the Cabin ready for families.
They have done visible work, like landscaping, clearing trails, chopping firewood, and preparing the grounds. Corporate groups continue to gather at the Cabin each summer to help care for the property so that families can arrive to a peaceful, welcoming space.
They have also done quieter work.
The Tuesday Stitchers have lovingly created handmade quilts for children and their siblings who visit the Cabin. Professional partners have donated their expertise to maintain and refresh the property. And countless volunteers have helped stock, organize, clean, repair, and care for the little details that make a five-day family retreat feel special.
In 2025 alone, JoyRx recognized the extraordinary volunteerism behind a refresh of the Cabin’s meditation pavilion, made possible through donated design services from Design With Refinement, as well as the creation of Cliff Ellis Nature Trail, which was made possible with volunteerism and support from Board Member Ryan Beckley, Bros & Hoes Landscaping, Coastway Construction, and many generous partners.
And the tradition continues. Today, volunteers still help with everything from weeding and clearing paths to preparing the Cabin for the next family.
20 Years Later, the Dream Lives On
Today, the path leading from the Caring Cabin to the lake is lined with hundreds of memory stones, each carrying the name and visit date of a child who has stayed there.
For families arriving for the first time, those stones can offer an unexpected message: you are not alone.
As Cliff Ellis has described it, families see the stones and recognize that other children and families have walked this same path before them.
That may be the most beautiful part of the Caring Cabin’s 20-year story.
A dream that began with one family’s experience has become a place of joy for hundreds of families. An extraordinary donation of a piece of land became a refuge. A building became a memory-maker. And the generosity of a community became something that continues to welcome families, year after year.
As we observe September and Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, we’re celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Alexandra Ellis Caring Cabin by remembering what happens when a community comes together to make room for joy.
For 20 years, the Cabin has been there — surrounded by trees, beside the lake, just a short drive from the ocean — waiting to welcome the next family.
And for 20 years, because of friends like you, it remains a home for joy and healing.
Gratitude for the People Who Made It Possible
When families arrive at cabin, they step into a beautiful walk way with a water feature and monument of gratitude. It reads:
The Children’s Cancer Association is honored to pay tribute to the generous donors and dedicated community leaders who made this magical retreat home possible.
Clare Hamill and Ann Pyne
The Family of Jack Malcom Carey
Entercom Communications
Paul and Tasca Gulick
The Hogan Family
M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust
Marie Lamfrom Charitable Foundation
Maybelle Clark MacDonald Fund
Meyer Memorial Trust
Tim & Kristen Phillips
Juan Young Trust
Andy Lytle
Don & Alicia Morissette
The Family of Molly Thompson
TVA Architects Inc.
Cascade Building Components
Larry Brown Inc.
Julie Mancini
Bob Maloney
The Ellis/Zingarelli/Rathburn Fund
ABHT Structural Engineers
Amato Johnson Design
Ann Parsons Memorial Foundation
William K. Blount
Brian Henninger Foundation
Tom, Julie & Courtney Clarke
Shelley & Craig Dewey
Don Morrisette Homes
Finish Line Youth Foundation
Historic Motor Sports Association
Del & Sandra Hayes
Jacob’s Heating and Air Conditioning
Ken Leahy
Scott Lewis & Laura Rose-Lewis
LRS Architects
Macy’s
Mattress World
Neil Kelly Designers/Remodelers
Pacific Lock and Load
Parr Lumber
Peter W. Stott Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation
PolyFoam Solutions
Robert Oquist
Malia & Jeff Owens
Samuel S. Johnson Foundation
Standard TV and Appliance
Stimson Lumber Company
The Collins Foundation
The Flying Dutchman Foundation
The Jackson Foundation
The JELD-WEN Foundation
The UPS Foundation, Inc.
Joseph E. Weston
Walsh Construction
Western Pacific
Action USA Inc.
Chris and Mike Aveni
Chown Hardware
Gaylord & Judy Davis
Katy Durant & Gordon Sondland
Ericksen Foundation
Exterior Wood
GI Joe’s Foundation
Craig Hartzman & Jim John
Home Builders Association of Oregon
Carla Johnson
Lakeside Lumber
LDC Design Group, Inc.
L. R. Watson Trust
Thomas A. Lee
Will McDonald
Mud Pie
Laura Jane Musser Fund
Curtis Leeper
Pené Owens
Mark, Kathy, Megan & Jen Parker
Eugene Purtell, Jr.
John E Pyne
Jim Robison
Seaport
Stockamp & Associates
The Steven and Ellen Jackson Foundation
The Stimson-Miller Foundation
Pat and Susan Terrell
TruGreen
Robert & Marcia Walsh
Community Leaders:
Clare Hamill, Jim Robison, Jim Petsche, Rick Lesniak, Randy Middleton, Terry Boyd, Terri Ann Magnuson, Kurt Ostermiller, Regina Ellis, Cliff Ellis, Rene Zingarelli, Jessica Jarratt, Bob Thompson, John Heili
We know this list is not the entire list of supporters – we are proud that support for JoyRx Nature continues to grow and that every single year our donors make it possible to keep the doors of this beautiful place open and ready for families. The Cabin was created through an extraordinary combination of land, philanthropy, donated materials, professional expertise, volunteer labor, and countless acts of generosity. You can learn more or share your support today.