For many families, a congenital heart disease diagnosis arrives without warning and without a roadmap. The appointments stack up. The medical terminology feels foreign. And beneath it all runs a quiet, persistent feeling that no one around you truly understands what you’re going through.
The founders of A Cure for Cora know that feeling well. What began as their own personal journey after their daughter Cora was born with CHD quickly became something larger: a mission to make sure other families never have to walk that road alone.
From Heart Parents to Advocates
Founded in 2024, A Cure for Cora grew out of a firsthand reckoning with how little most people know about congenital heart disease until it becomes part of their daily lives. Going from unawareness to advocacy, the founders learned how truly prevalent CHD is and how much it needs. That realization didn’t lead to resignation. It led to action.
The Power of Showing Up
One of the most unexpected parts of this journey has been discovering the depth of the CHD community. From the moment of a diagnosis, isolation can set in quickly. But that loneliness didn’t last. The founders found a wave of community support they could never have anticipated. Since starting A Cure for Cora, they’ve made it their mission to extend that same sense of belonging to families who don’t yet know it exists.
Why HeartWorks
When A Cure for Cora began looking for research partners worthy of their community’s trust, HeartWorks stood out immediately. It wasn’t just the science or the credentials that inspired confidence. It was the people. Hearing the passion behind the cause was enough to put full trust in a team committed to moving mountains to cure CHD. For the founders, research is never abstract. It’s about Cora and every child like her. A cure for one is a cure for all.
Bikes & Brews: Community in Motion
Each year, that mission comes to life through Bikes & Brews, a gathering of families, riders, local businesses, and supporters united around a shared purpose. Since its inaugural event in 2024, Bikes & Brews has raised more than 5,000 for HeartWorks and CHD research. HeartWorks joins the celebration each year with the Feed the Cure food truck, bringing the broader mission directly into the heart of the community.
This year’s event takes place on Saturday, June 27 at 10:00 AM at Jacobson Plaza in downtown Sioux Falls. Riders and walkers will set off together before gathering for a post-event celebration at Severance Brewing Company, with a raffle featuring prizes from local businesses throughout the day. Parking is limited at the plaza; attendees are encouraged to park along Phillips Avenue.
To register or donate, visit givebutter.com/ridetocureCHD.
Looking Ahead
A Cure for Cora is about more than fundraising. The organization provides books to pediatric cardiology patients, funds medical alert car seat tags to help first responders, and supports clinic improvements for CHD families. Behind all of it is a simple belief: no family should feel alone, and progress is possible when a community decides to move together.
“We hope families that may have otherwise felt alone and unsupported know there is an entire nation of CHD families and patients that have their back.”
A Message from HeartWorks
Research moves at the speed of resources. Movements move at the speed of people. A Cure for Cora has become both.
What began as one family’s response to a CHD diagnosis has grown into a community of families, friends, businesses, and advocates who refuse to accept that the status quo is good enough for children born with congenital heart disease.
Progress in congenital heart disease has never come from scientists or institutions alone. It has always been driven by families who demanded more answers, more innovation, and more hope. Through Bikes & Brews and their growing list of community initiatives, A Cure for Cora is helping push that work forward. The funds raised support research and innovation, and equally important, they bring visibility to a condition that affects 1 in 100 children and remains one of the most underfunded major childhood diseases.
Together, we are building something bigger than a fundraiser, bigger than an event, and bigger than any one organization. We are building momentum for a future where children born with congenital heart disease have more options, stronger hearts, and better outcomes.
To the entire A Cure for Cora community: thank you for believing that the future can be different.
We are committed to finding a cure for Cora
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is congenital heart disease (CHD)?
Congenital heart disease (CHD) is a structural abnormality of the heart that is present at birth. It is the most common type of birth defect, affecting approximately 1 in 100 children born in the United States each year. CHD can range from simple defects that resolve on their own to complex conditions that require multiple surgeries and lifelong medical care.
How common is congenital heart disease?
CHD affects nearly 40,000 babies born in the United States each year, making it the most common birth defect in the country. Despite its prevalence, CHD remains one of the most underfunded major childhood diseases, which is why organizations like A Cure for Cora and HeartWorks are working to change that.
What is HeartWorks and how does it advance CHD research?
HeartWorks is a nonprofit regenerative medicine organization founded in 2020 with a mission to move beyond repairing damaged hearts and begin rebuilding them. Building on groundbreaking work launched through the Todd and Karen Wanek Family Program for Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome at Mayo Clinic, HeartWorks is developing personalized cardiac cell therapies using patients’ own cells. HeartWorks has received the world’s first FDA approval to move this therapy toward human application in congenital heart disease.
How can I support congenital heart disease research?
There are several meaningful ways to support CHD research and families: participate in or donate to events like Bikes & Brews at givebutter.com/ridetocureCHD, support A Cure for Cora’s ongoing initiatives, or make a direct gift to HeartWorks to fund regenerative cardiac research. Every contribution helps move science forward and ensures CHD families know they are not alone.
