More News

For parents who have to face a child's cancer diagnosis, Lynn Hardesty is an unexpected but welcome advocate.

The University Park resident is a clinical social worker at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and for 20 years she has been helping child cancer patients and their families solve the daily and long-term problems that arise as they fight against cancer.

Hardesty, 61, was one of two honorees Saturday at the 2009 Festival of Heroes benefit event, the culmination of a week of fundraising that brought in more than $250,000 to help expand cancer programs at the hospital.

Hardesty has been a clinical social worker at the hospital for 20 years, where she helps children get as comfortable and at-ease as possible while in the hospital for cancer treatment. Hardesty and her staff also work with families as they face the cancer diagnosis, juggle work and handle other family responsibilities.

Hardesty said she embarked upon social work to help people and be an advocate for them. While she was in graduate school for social work at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, she interned at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, her first exposure to social work in a medical setting. She then took a job at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.

Hardesty said although the job can be emotionally taxing, she often feels inspired by the strength and dedication of patients, their families and health care workers.

"Because it is children that are ill, we see parents and families rallying around those children, we see communities rallying around those children," Hardesty said. "I've often felt you see the best of people around here. And it's not only from the kids, it's from everybody."

Hardesty manages the hospital's patient support program, whose staff includes social workers, clinical psychologists and art therapists. Together, they follow patients from their first day in the hospital to years after their last treatment.

This is the festival's third year, and organizers normally honor a child and an adult. There is no formal nomination process, but rather the festival committee convenes and decides a group they want to honor and then chooses a representative from the group.

Allison Portnoy, of the District, is on the festival committee and said this year they wanted to honor an adult who was an "unsung hero," someone who works behind-the-scenes to improve children's and families' lives. The child honoree was cancer survivor Kate Kieman, 16, of Chevy Chase.

Hardesty said she was speechless when she found out about the honor.

"You do something that you love and that feels like reward enough, and then somebody who is in a position to understand what it is you try to do everyday says, ‘We really want to thank you.' It's kind of overwhelming," she said.

Aside from the recognition of the award, both honorees were given a Tiffany's jewelry necklace with a bear charm that represents Children's National Medical Center.

Portnoy also recalled how Hardesty helped her son, William, when he came to the hospital three years ago with bone cancer. Her staff would always bring him video games, books he liked and even developed an award-system to encourage him to do his physical therapy. He is now cancer-free, she said.

Portnoy added that having people like Hardesty to help care for her son was completely unexpected when she first came to the hospital.

"You walk in there and you're in a fog. You're dealing with doctors. Your mind is on the medical terms," Portnoy said. "You're thinking of treatment and medicine, so it's nice that someone else is thinking of how to make your child happy while he's there."

Portnoy said Hardesty is representative of a group of clinical social workers who are constantly thinking of how to improve children's quality of life and support families in difficult times.

"They're not on the frontline of your treatment, but they're on the frontline of your life in the hospital," Portnoy said. "If the kids are positive, it makes life a lot easier in terms of getting better and getting out of there."