We Are a Nonprofit Charity
Team PHenomenal Hope is an official charity nonprofit 501(c)3.
As a charity, we seek to raise awareness of a rare medical condition known as Pulmonary Hypertension, to fund medical research into improved treatments or a cure for those who suffer from it, and to implement programming that focuses on providing patient services, including removing patients from isolation, building community, and providing hope.
We have a US Team of volunteer endurance athletes who fundraise for our PHenomenal Impact Fund for Global PH Research and race in Team PHenomenal Hope racing uniforms, which we provide for them. US Team members chose their own races and pay their own costs.
Please see our mission.
We Are Growing Internationally
We also have members from International Teams who strive to make a positive impact on the Pulmonary Hypertension community. Each country has its own goals, so not all fundraise, but they do in some major way support our overall mission.
In total, we have about 86 athletes participating from Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Germany, Ireland, and Mexico. They each race under the Team PHenomenal Hope banner to fight Pulmonary Hypertension.
Read more about how this works on our Transparency page.
Why We Do This
Team PHenomenal Hope started in 2012 as a cycling team. Four friends planned to race in the Race Across America, the “toughest cycling event in the world”. They trained, built a support team, and successfully executed on their common vision. The PH community rallied around them.
There is no known cure for Pulmonary Hypertension, and the team didn’t want to stop until the real race – the race to find a cure – was won.
So, since the end of the 2014 RAAM race, Team PHenomenal Hope has continued to work and the PH community has continued to rally with us. We have grown into more than just a cycling team.
Team PHenomenal Hope actively seeks ways to improve the quality of life for those with Pulmonary Hypertension by building community, providing patients with a voice, raising money for care and medical research, and yes, we still race all over the world to raise awareness and inspire those who cannot race because of their deadly condition.
Additional Resources
Read about our history, how we use donations, our privacy policy, and our mission. As mentioned before, our Transparency page also has useful information.
Help the Cause
You can make a meaningful contribution to Team Phenomenal Hope through corporate sponsorship. For information about partnering with our organization, please contact our Executive Director, Leslie Orlovsky at Leslie.Orlovsky@
About Other Organizations in the Common Cause
The PH community is a small one, so it seems appropriate to recognize some of the other organizations who do amazing work to raise awareness of Pulmonary Hypertension and provide resources and general support.
Pulmonary Hypertension Association
The PHA, Pulmonary Hypertension Association, is the oldest and most well-known PH organization in the US. The PHA has partnered with Team PHenomenal Hope on the incredibly successful Race of Our Lives campaign, which was in support of Team PHenomenal Hope’s 2014 Race Across America challenge.
The Pulmonary Hypertension Association is an amazing clearinghouse of up-to-date resources and information for newly diagnosed and longer-term PH patients and caregivers. They provide financial and structural support to PH Support Groups throughout the US, they use their substantial organizational capacity to lobby Congress in the interests of PH patients, and they are currently developing a much-needed PH Registry
Between 2014-2016, Team PHenomenal Hope raised and donated over $100,000 to PHA for medical research.
Team O2 breathe
Team O2 breathe was a PHA national endurance program that began in late 2014. In the fall of 2016, PHA dissolved the chapter and endurance programs.
PHaware
PHaware leverages state of the art technology and tools bring innovation and agility to the process of raising the global level of awareness of pulmonary hypertension and accelerate the path to a cure. PHaware has broken new ground by launching iTunes and Android apps that enable the PH community to promote awareness themselves through their own social networks, as well as the “I’m Aware That I’m Rare” podcast series, and their high-quality video series. We applaud the work PHaware does to enable individuals from the PH community to connect in common voice and raise awareness of their disease.