Daily life with Sickle Cell Disease can feel unpredictable and overwhelming. The Healing Tree provides care beyond the clinic—practical, relationship-based support for the parts of life that don’t end when the appointment does.
Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is an inherited blood disorder that affects how red blood cells carry oxygen throughout the body. Healthy red blood cells are round and flexible. In SCD, a change in the gene that produces hemoglobin causes red blood cells to become stiff and sickle-shaped.
Signs often appear in early infancy, and SCD requires lifelong management. While there is no universal cure yet, medical care can help reduce complications and support long-term health.
Understanding the medical side is important—but families also need support for the day-to-day reality of living with SCD.
Sickle Cell Disease affects far more than the body—it shapes the rhythm of school days, work schedules, sleep, and family routines.
Parents aren’t just managing a condition—they’re holding together logistics, emotions, time, and hope. Children are doing their best to stay engaged at school while navigating fatigue and frequent medical visits.
Medical treatment is essential. It addresses symptoms, lab results, medications, and crises. But medical systems are not designed to support daily life between appointments.
At The Healing Tree SCD, care means building lasting relationships, providing tailored support, and empowering you to thrive despite the challenges of sickle cell disease.
These are more than numbers — they're families whose daily lives became more manageable, stable, and supported
All of our programs are designed around families’ answers to one simple question: “What would make your sickle cell journey easier?” The support below reflects what families told us they need most in daily life.
Taking the first step is simple and confidential.
The Healing Tree is your story. Our volunteers, staff, and partners are made up of people whose
families have been nurtured by the community resources we provide. Hear how this work has
changed their lives.
Join us for educational workshops and community support events
The Healing Tree is grounded in listening, trust, and mutual respect. We believe care grows through relationships—between families, clinicians, and community partners—working together to support daily life with Sickle Cell Disease. These values shape how we show up, how we listen, and how we stay connected over time.
Your support is crucial. Whether through volunteering, partnerships, donations, or sharing your journey, your involvement strengthens our ability to serve families managing sickle cell disease. Join us in creating a supportive future for every family.
For Donations: Mail a check addressed to: The Healing Tree SCD
Mailing address: The Healing Tree SCD
719 North Shipley Street
Wilmington, De 19801
The Healing Tree SCD is a community-based nonprofit supporting families managing Sickle Cell Disease across Delaware.
The organization was created following research that identified a consistent gap in care: families needed reliable, practical support between clinic visits—support that falls outside the scope of medical systems.
The Healing Tree addresses this gap through a small team that includes parent navigators—caregivers who are raising children with Sickle Cell Disease themselves. Parent navigators work directly with families over time, building familiarity with each household’s needs and helping coordinate support as challenges arise.
In addition to navigator-led support, we partner with medical providers, schools, food programs, transportation services, and faith and community organizations to deliver resources such as groceries, tutoring, transportation assistance, and safe spaces for family connection. This model allows families to access consistent help while also building relationships with others navigating similar experiences.
For many families, the sickle cell journey is filled with appointments, instructions, medications, and information—but very little time for anyone to truly listen. The average clinic visit lasts about twelve minutes. In that twelve minutes, it’s nearly impossible for patients to be heard, understood, or known.
At The Healing Tree SCD, we believe care is something different.
Treatment is transactional. Care is relational.
Care takes time. It grows through trust, familiarity, and the simple dignity of being seen as a whole person—not a set of symptoms. Our work is built on relationships that continue long after a clinic appointment ends.
We do not do this work alone. Everything we provide—meals, transportation, tutoring, vitamins, safe gathering spaces—comes through a network of partners who stand beside us with unwavering generosity. Faith communities prepare food, offer volunteers, open their doors, sew heating pads, deliver groceries, and sit with families during their hardest moments. These partnerships make it possible for us to meet the specific needs patients themselves told us they have.
As an ordained Presbyterian pastor, my role is not to convert or persuade. It is to accompany. Often that means praying with families when they ask, listening closely to the burdens they carry, or helping them connect their faith with their daily challenges. We honor each person’s beliefs and meet them exactly where they are.
In every program we run and every relationship we build, our focus is simple: to be the care engine that lifts up patients and families managing sickle cell disease.
We are grateful for every partner, donor, volunteer, and family who helps nurture this growing community. Together, we are creating a model of care rooted in compassion, dignity, and the belief that every person deserves the tools they need to reach their full potential.
With gratitude,
Rev. Dr. Patti V. Weikart
Founder & Volunteer Director
The Healing Tree SCD
If your family is managing Sickle Cell Disease and needs support, you’re in the right place.
The Healing Tree is here to walk with you, offering practical help, compassionate guidance, and consistent care that continues beyond clinic visits.
In partnership with organizations throughout the region
