A Special Wish Foundation
Special Wish · About this organization
What you get
A personalized wish for your child with a life-threatening or terminal illness.
How to start
Complete the online referral with your child's diagnosis and contact details for your family, physician and social worker.
Good to know
- Your child cannot have received a wish from another wish-granting organization.
- Before you plan around a wish, call the foundation to discuss your child's ideas and the review process.
The details, as published
Your child can receive a personalized wish from birth through age 20 if they have a life-threatening or terminal illness and live in Ohio or the Chicago area. Your child cannot have received another organization's wish.
What help you may get
Wishes And Family Experiences
Personalized special wish
The foundation works on your child's special wish so you can share an experience together. Before making plans, tell the foundation what your child hopes for and ask which ideas it can arrange. A previous wish from another wish-granting organization rules out this program.
Amount decided by the program · One Time
Can cover
- A child-selected special wish coordinated after eligibility review
- Eligibility excludes a child who has already received a wish from any other wish-granting organization.
Check the main eligibility rules
Diagnosis
B-ALL is in scope. B-ALL can satisfy the published life-threatening-illness criterion; the official history identifies a child with leukemia as the foundation's first wish recipient.
Age
Age 0 to age 20, measured at application.
- The organization describes this as birth through and including age 20.
Treatment status
No specific treatment status is published.
- The child must never have had a wish granted by another wish-granting organization.
- The referral asks for the child's diagnosis and physician contact details; the later verification process is not published.
Where you live and where your child is treated
Where your family lives
You must live in: Ohio residents.; The Chicago, Illinois service area; exact boundary is not published..
- Child must live in Ohio or the Chicago, Illinois service area.
Where your child is treated
Treatment-location rules are not published clearly; confirm with the program.
How to get started
Does a social worker or care team need to start it? No. A required care-team start is not published; the family can use the available route below.
Who can start: Parent Or Guardian, Patient, Caregiver, Social Worker, Healthcare Team, Community Referrer
- Gather child, parent, diagnosis, physician, social-worker, residence, and referrer information and submit the public referral.
- Review the referral, contact the family or medical contacts as needed, and determine eligibility and next steps.
Ways to apply or ask
- Web Form · Open form or page — Live public referral form.
Documents to prepare
No documents are listed.
- A Special Wish handles later wish coordination after referral and eligibility review; details are not published.
Availability and timing
| Program | Active |
|---|---|
| Applications | Open |
| Funding or space | Not Published |
| Application window | Rolling |
| Last checked | Sep 25, 2026 |
- The referral form was live; no deadline, waitlist, or funding status is published.
- The referral form is live and no deadline is published.
Limitations and things to confirm
- Your child needs to live in Ohio or the Chicago, Illinois service area, so call the foundation to check an address outside the city.
- Your child cannot have received a wish from another wish-granting organization.
- Before making plans, ask the foundation how it reviews your child's wish and what medical confirmation it needs.
- What exact counties or radius define the Chicago service area?
- What wish categories, exclusions, review timing, and medical-verification steps apply after referral?
- GPT Pro run55 (2026-09-25): Which counties or ZIP codes define the Chicago service area? The national referral and Chicago chapter page do not settle the boundary.
- GPT Pro run55 (2026-09-25): What medical confirmation, wish exclusions and review timing apply after a referral?
Official sources
Program details were last verified Sep 25, 2026. Availability can change, so check the official program before applying.
- Refer a Child · checked Aug 27, 2026
- Our Story · checked Aug 27, 2026