When Kerri Steele’s husband was diagnosed with terminal cancer, she was at home with three young children—just two, four, and six—trying to navigate his care, her own grief, and the impossible task of helping her kids understand what was happening. What she quickly realized was that their words and their behaviour didn’t always line up. They couldn’t fully express what they were feeling, but they were absorbing everything—the fear, the tension, the shift in their world. And it highlighted something we don’t talk about enough: young kids don’t always have the language to tell us when something feels scary or unsafe, but they feel it deeply.
On this episode, Kerri shares how that experience led her to create Little Hearts of Hope—a Christian nonprofit supporting children in homes impacted by cancer. With no background in social work, she followed a clear pull to build what didn’t exist: free, home-delivered “hope packages” centered around emotions like anger, sadness, loneliness, and embarrassment, giving kids a way to play through and process what they’re living in real time. We talk about parenting through crisis, communicating hard realities to young children, and what it looks like to build something meaningful out of loss—especially when you’ve lived the gap you’re trying to fill.
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