About Me.

Hi, my name is Dana Anderson-Helstrom and my proudest accomplishment is being the mom of Tucker, Kayci and Siera. Career-wise, I was a school psychologist, special education teacher and coach for over twenty years. That is where I honed my skills of working with kids and parents who were facing challenges. In 2015 I was confronted with my most horrific challenge: Tucker’s diagnosis of bone cancer. I led my 9 year old son, daughters, their friends, and the entire community through Tucker’s battle with one philosophy: there’s nothing we can’t do. Tucker and I made quite an impact on those following our story. That inspired me to start a nonprofit to continue Tucker’s legacy of helping children, and to create Dana Cares, to branch my career onto a new way to help parents and families facing challenges.

I have written a book about the battle Tucker and I waged against osteosarcoma called There’s Nothing We Can’t Do. I hope you read it and get inspired to face your challenges by focusing on what can be done, adjusting your plans based on the new information, being determined to overcome it, and building a support system around you. My book will inspire you to define your values, fight for your kids and get clear on what matters most, no matter the circumstances.

Let Me Help.

Team Tucker: Play Laugh Love is the nonprofit that extends Tucker’s legacy of helping everyone Play more, Laugh more and feel Loved. This is what Tucker did every day of his short 9 ½ years of life. He made strangers his friends instantly, made everyone near him laugh daily, and comforted anyone he saw who appeared troubled. Tucker’s VIP program helps any child facing a life threatening disease by bring their team by their side. Please, if you or anyone you know has a child battling for their life, complete this very short VIP application and let Team Tucker help.

Dana Cares is the business I have created so that I can support parents, no matter what challenge they are facing. As a special educator and school psychologist for over two decades, and a parent of a child with learning and attention problems along with a child who battled cancer, I know how hard it is to face the bad news, the difficulties, the paperwork, and the sheer pain of watching your child struggle and suffer. Please contact me to share, vent, or ask advice. I desperately want to help and support you.

Inspirational Speaker.

In my efforts to help parents and families, I also do speaking engagements to share my story AND to listen to those of the audience. I can provide knowledge, resources and support instantly to all of those in attendance. Whether the challenges are medical, educational, psychological or familial, I have the career and personal experience to encourage, motivate and educate all attendees. My mission is to use my vast and, at times, very painful experiences to make others’ lives better. That is what Tucker would want. Please contact me to arrange a speaking engagement about any of the following themes:

• Parenting a child with a life-threatening disease
• Parenting a child with educational and/or behavioral challenges
• Parenting a child with mental health challenges
• Grief
• Facing challenges with determination and recognition it could be worse
• Death of a child