Tatum Fettig doesn’t expect and would never want you to understand what she and her husband, Jeff, have gone through since their daughter, Teagan, was diagnosed with brain cancer on Dec. 5, 2016 – the day after her second birthday.

“Nobody wants to be a part of this club,” she said. “It’s the place you do not want to live.”

Furman Associate Professor of Health Sciences Meghan Slining.

But the unchangeable fact was that they were members forever, and Tatum soon realized that being in the club was about the only thing worse than feeling so alone inside. They desperately needed hope and to find people who could comprehend what they were going through, but, because of HIPPA. doctors were unable provide that kind of information, and Tatum was disappointed with the limitations of the support she found on social media.

“Tate and I thought there had to be a way to leverage technology to allow parents to find other parents and connect with them in the way that they want to,” said Meghan Slining, an associate professor of health sciences at Furman and Tatum’s sister. “That’s how this whole idea actually started.”

The idea became reality in August with the launch of Community Heals (CoHeals), the world’s first mobile app designed to connect parents and caregivers who have children with cancer. Unlike traditional social media platforms and other online groups, CoHeals allows users complete control over with whom they interact and how, providing the opportunity for highly specific connections