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Robin Byrd shows a photo of her with her mother in Fort Worth, Aug. 29, 2025. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America)<\/p>\nRobin Byrd remembers the moment the doctor told her that her cancer was back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Byrd, 65, was first diagnosed with lung cancer in 2018. After rigorous rounds of chemotherapy, the Fort Worth resident thought she had finished her journey with the disease. That all changed two years ago when she found out the cancer had reappeared, this time in her other lung.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Byrd had to make a decision whether to undergo chemotherapy again or forgo the treatment \u2014 ultimately accepting her condition as terminal. Having experienced the regimen to get rid of the cancer the first time, she didn\u2019t want to do it again. She chose the latter option.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While receiving hospice care at her home in West Meadowbrook, Byrd had one wish: to see her mom before the disease progressed too far for a visit. A task easier said than done.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She lived about a half-hour away from her mother\u2019s nursing home in Keller. However, Byrd uses a wheelchair and does not have transportation or the means to rent a van big enough for her wheelchair and oxygen tank.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When Byrd shared her request with one of the hospice nurses, they connected her to Project 4031. The Fort Worth faith-based nonprofit aims to provide peace and comfort to terminally ill children, adults and their families facing end-of-life challenges by easing financial burdens and fulfilling last wishes. Over the summer, volunteers with the nonprofit transported Byrd to see her mother, making a dream come true.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were so happy. She just cried,\u201d Byrd said about the visit with her mother. \u201cShe told me how much she missed me, and we sat down and ate a meal together.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Robin Byrd shows a photo of her with her mother in Fort Worth, Aug. 29, 2025. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America)<\/p>\n
The nonprofit was founded by Fort Worth couple Kristina and Josh Robertson. Josh grew up in a home of health care providers. As a high school student, he lived on-site at a small assisted living facility his parents operated. Such experiences led him to start a hospice-focused medical equipment business after college.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The couple\u2019s date nights sometimes included delivering medical equipment to people in need, often facing terminal illnesses. The Robertsons would meet families and hear about the challenges they were experiencing, offering to pray with anyone who was comfortable with that.\u00a0<\/p>\n
These moments sparked an ongoing conversation between Kristina and Josh on how the two could make a difference for those facing the end of life along with the loved ones caring for them. In 2011, the two officially launched Project 4031<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The name Project 4031 derives from the Bible verse Isaiah 40:31, which references how those who \u201chope in the Lord\u201d will renew their strength and overcome difficulties and challenges through God.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope that we\u2019re planting the seeds, and that the Holy Spirit and the Lord will take it from there,\u201d Kristina Robertson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Byrd is one of many who have received assistance from Project 4031. The nonprofit partners with hospitals and hospice companies to help patients across North Texas who are facing their last six months of life. In 2024, Project 4031 reported serving 229 people.\u00a0<\/p>\n Its Funding for Families program budgets about $800 per patient to help with basic needs such as food, utilities and rent. The financial assistance is a one-time service to help such families in a moment of crisis. In some instances, the nonprofit is able to offer a second opportunity, depending on the situation, program director Nicole Herlin said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Fulfilling Dreams program helps with humble requests: a trip to the aquarium, an outing to a special place, or a visit to see a loved one, as in Byrd\u2019s case.\u00a0<\/p>\n Project 4031 has a volunteer-based program called Wings, where people create what nonprofit leaders call \u201clove offerings,\u201d such as cookies or floral arrangements, and deliver them to local patients and their families. Some volunteers train for the Share the Care group, where individuals offer companionship to hospice patients.\u00a0<\/p>\n Society at large is not comfortable talking about death, Herlin said. That can make navigating a terminal illness an isolating experience for patients and their caregivers, she added. The resources the nonprofit offers are intended to acknowledge and honor the dignity of someone facing the end of life, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cLife is still sacred at the end. And there can be a lot of beauty in that as well. A lot of opportunities for families to come together,\u201d Herlin said. \u201cBy keeping the lights on, by keeping the electricity, you know, the air conditioning running right, by keeping people housed, by keeping people fed \u2014 it allows those beautiful moments to happen without the stress of the financial burden.\u201d<\/p>\n Before Project 4031 volunteers picked up Byrd, she made sure to make her mom\u2019s favorite dishes: a family chicken stew recipe, cornbread and strawberry jello pie.\u00a0<\/p>\n The mother-daughter duo sat together and broke bread, sharing memories of the past. Byrd doesn\u2019t know if she would have been able to see her mother without the help.<\/p>\n \u201cJust making her happy is what made me happy,\u201d Byrd said. \u201cI love her.\u201d<\/p>\n Marissa Greene is a Report for America corps member, covering faith for the Fort Worth Report. You can contact her at marissa.greene@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n Fort Worth Report is certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative<\/a> for adhering to standards for ethical journalism.<\/p>\n Republish This Story<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0829-Project4031-04.jpg\")
A note with a Bible verse sits on Robin Byrd\u2019s nightstand in Fort Worth on Aug. 29, 2025. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America)<\/p>\n
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