Mission Statement - Our guest families have unique physical, emotional, and financial needs. Our mission is to be sensitive to them all. Our hope is that our guests during their stay will find joy in being with us, find more courage to keep on fighting and develop memories to last a lifetime. Our prayer is that our guest families will forever include us in their lives and one day the children will send us photos of their children.

Our Story - In May 2007, Janua Coeli will proudly open its doors to families whose children are heroically battling the effects of cancer and its treatments. Our intention is to become your host and family for one memorable week. Your stay will be a time to relax, have fun, enjoy the excitement and discover Western North Carolina.

After battling prostate cancer, founder Mike Hunter with his beautiful wife Robin, decided to dedicate the rest of their years to providing a fun and rewarding respite to those who are in need of it most. They wanted to build a place of rest, quiet and love. A place to ride, to walk and run. A place of horses, cows, goats and alpacas... of deer, groundhog, turkeys and beautiful wild birds... maybe even a skunk or two! Enjoy panning for gold and gems, fishing for trout, the storytellers, naturalists and musicians. There's this and more as we take one week out of our busy schedules, forget our challenges and just have fun. That's our story – and we're sticking to it!

Our Home - Surrounded by a hardwood forest, lush green pasture, a half-mile of riverfront and awesome mountain vistas, Janua Coeli is situated on 100 acres in the small town of Rutherfordton, North Carolina. Accommodations for our guests' weeklong stay is an old-time Carolina Cabin. Featuring two bedrooms and two full baths, a 17 foot high stone fireplace, loft, dining room, full kitchen and roomy front and rear porches, this cabin was completely custom built by master craftsmen using hemlock, pine locust and white oak. Nestled in a thicket of pines, you will enjoy the wildlife walking outside your front door.

Our two Tobiano Paint horses, Elizabeth and Bella (mother and daughter) await your arrival, as do our other animals... tame and wild. We have plenty of room to roam, both for adults and children. We hope you will feel our home is your home, so please relax on the porch with a cool glass of iced tea while the kids go and play.

Board of Directors - Our Board of Directors are men and women dedicated to our mission. They also have a passion for children and families with serious medical conditions. They attend regular board meetings, and give us constant direction in how to improve our retreat. We are forever in their debt. There's more information on these fine men and women on our Meet the Board Page.

Click here to download the Janua Coeli Cancer Foundation Participant Application. The Application is in Adobe PDF format and requires a copy of Acrobat Reader to view. Click here to download a free copy of Acrobat Reader 8.0. To request to have a copy(ies) of the application form mailed to you or your medical institution, please call 828-287-8886 or send us an e-mail: januacoeli@bellsouth.net.