The Ride Before Treatment: How a Cancer Survivor Gets Houston Kids to the Hospital

Eli was five when he was diagnosed with lymphoblastic leukemia. His mother was managing his care, his siblings, and repeated 45-minute drives to the hospital. That distance has a way of changing shape during childhood cancer treatment. On a map, it is a line between home and clinic. In a family’s week, it becomes gas, parking, a car that has to start, and somebody available to make the trip again.

Dream Rydes exists for that stretch of road. Dream Rydes Inc was founded in Houston in 2019 by Danielle Johnston. The Galveston-based nonprofit serves Greater Houston and Galveston families with children facing cancer and other chronic or critical illnesses. Johnston knows the problem from both sides. She was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma at 19, then worked as a pediatric oncology nurse practitioner at Texas Children’s Cancer Center, where she saw transportation barriers up close. Her mission is clear: “To ensure no child misses their life-saving therapies due to a lack of transportation.”

For anyone weighing a Houston pediatric cancer charity, this is the sharp answer to a problem that rarely gets the headline. Treatment can be prescribed in an exam room.

Getting there belongs to the family, until the family’s ride plan cracks.

How a Houston pediatric cancer charity tackles transportation

Dream Rydes meets families at the point where a calendar full of appointments collides with a thin transportation margin. Its Transportation Aid Program provides safe, reliable rides to medical appointments and treatment. The organization also operates a customized Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van for trips to appointments, chemotherapy, and physical therapy.

For families making repeated trips, Dream Rydes offers parking chips, gas gift cards, and patient vehicle support for urgent repairs, maintenance, and other car needs.

Eden’s story puts the system in human terms. When her cancer returned at age 10, Dream Rydes helped her reach chemotherapy and radiation treatments. The organization later attended her wedding.

“To ensure no child misses their life-saving therapies due to a lack of transportation.” — Danielle Johnston, founder and CEO

A small organization with a very specific job

Dream Rydes reports that it has delivered more than 600 hospital rides, along with 122 Rydes of a Lifetime and $10,000 in transportation aid. Those joy-focused experiences include moments such as helping Savannah and her parents reach her twin brother’s homecoming game during her final days. They sit alongside the everyday medical rides, because a childhood deserves room for both treatment and family memory.

The organization’s IRS financial information lists $142,000 in revenue, $66,000 in expenses, and $136,000 in assets.

Fuel is the recurring bill beneath every ride

The need remains stubbornly practical. Dream Rydes is seeking monthly donors for its Fuel the Ryde Club, along with volunteers, exotic-car owners willing to share their vehicles for special experiences, and event committee members. Donations also support parking chips, urgent vehicle repairs, routine maintenance, and safety checks.

A monthly gift can sustain fuel assistance.

Families seeking help can use the organization’s Nominate Child form, which requests the patient’s name, hospital or treatment center, doctor’s name, email, and a message. There is also a Book Ride option for transportation requests.

Eli’s mother knew the strain of making that 45-minute drive while keeping the rest of family life moving. Fund the Fuel the Ryde Club to help families travel to and from treatment without added stress.