Our Mission: To provide innovative, arts-in-medicine programs that improve the quality of life of children coping with cancer and other serious illnesses.Beads of Courage, Inc. is an approved public charity under I.R.S. Code Section 501(c)(3), based in Tucson, Arizona.Our History: Jean Gribbon developed the first Beads of Courage program while working on her PhD in Nursing at the University of Arizona College of Nursing. Her inspiration came from her clinical practice, and from her experiences as a camp nurse at one of Paul Newman's Hole in the Wall Gang Camps. With the financial support of her family and friends, Jean developed and piloted the Beads of Courage Program at Phoenix Children's Hospital in February 2003. Since then, Beads of Courage has provided arts-in-medicine programs for over 60,000 children and their families coping with serious illness in more than 250 children's hospitals throughout the world.