The CanCare Difference

Using humor in the cancer war: Survivor Ethan Zohn keeps it funny for hisfavorite tribe

Ethan Zohn

CanCare's 17th annual luncheon celebrating cancer survivors Thursday at the Westin Galleria drew an immense and appreciative crowd, as well as one particularly attractive (and familiar) face — Survivor: Africa winner Ethan Zohn.

The luncheon is planned each year in conjunction with National Cancer Survivors Day (which is Sunday this year) and brings cancer survivors, their families, friends, and the medical providers and volunteers who help support them together to share their stories.

After a touching testimony by brain cancer survivor Mike Parker and his wife Michelle, Zohn took the stage to share his own battle, during his mid-30s, with a rare form of Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Zohn made note of the irony of the show that made him famous being called Survivor, and said he was thankful that he hadn't been cast instead on Six Feet Under.

Although Zohn recovered quickly — he ran the New York City marathon just 10 months after completing treatment with a stem cell transplant — it took two failed chemotherapy treatments and a clinical trial before his cancer went into remission.

Likening the cancer community to a new "tribe" of survivors, Zohn said surviving cancer was kind of like being "a member of an elite club that no one really wants to belong to."

His speech was warm and well-received, especially his quips about lasting on Survivor because his long locks meant he ever-more resembled Jesus, who no one would dare vote off, and his assurance to the audience that "I'm a nice Jewish boy, so I invested [my prize money] well, everyone . . . With a nice Nigerian guy I met over email."

Zohn also spoke about Grassroot Soccer, the foundation he founded after his winning Survivor run to raise youth awareness of HIV and AIDS in Africa.

But perhaps still more compelling, at least at my table, was one Frances Poole Knight. Herself a breast cancer survivor, Frances is a 2009 gold-medal winning swimmer in the U.S. National Senior Games. Once a member of the Lamar High School swim team, 75-year-old Frances plans to compete in the 2011 Senior Games here in Houston later this month.

CanCare is a Houston-based cancer support organization that pairs recently diagnosed cancer patients with survivor mentors, provides support to family members and facilitates regular hospital visits.

Ever lighthearted, Zohn encouraged luncheon attendees to donate to the cause, saying "we need to raise as much money in one day as Maria is going to get from Arnold in the divorce."

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income analysis

Texas families need to make this much money for one parent to stay home

Photo by CDC on Unsplash

With costs to raise a child soaring over $20,000 a year in Texas, some households might decide to have one parent work while the other stays at home to raise their child.

As the cost of raising a child balloons in major cities like Houston, many families are weighing the choice between paying for child care or having one parent stay home full-time.

A recent analysis from SmartAsset determined the minimum income one parent needs to earn to support their partner staying at home to raise one child in all 50 states. In Texas — not just Houston — that amount is just under $75,000.

The study used the MIT Living Wage Calculator to compare the annual living wages needed for a household with two working adults and one child, and a household with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child. The study also calculated how much it would cost to raise a child with two working parents based on factors such as "food, housing, childcare, healthcare, transportation, incremental income taxes and other necessities."

A Texas household with one working parent would need to earn $74,734 a year to support a stay-at-home partner and a child, the report found. If two parents worked in the household, necessitating some additional costs like childcare and transportation, it would require an additional $10,504 in annual income to raise their child.

SmartAsset said the cost to raise a child in Texas in a two-working-parent household adds up to $23,587. Raising a child in Houston, however, is somewhat more affordable. A separate SmartAsset study from June 2025 determined it costs $21,868 to raise a child in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro.

In the report's ranking of states with the highest minimum income needed to support a family with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child, Texas ranked 32nd on the list.

In other states like Massachusetts, where raising a child can cost more than $40,000 a year, the report acknowledges ways families are working to reduce any financial burdens.

"This often includes considerations around who’s going to work in the household, and whether young children will require paid daycare services while parents are occupied," the report said. "With tradeoffs abound, many parents might seek to understand the minimum income needed to keep the family afloat while allowing the other parent to stay home to raise a young child."

The top 10 states with the lowest minimum income threshold to support a three-person family on one income are:

West Virginia – $68,099
Arkansas – $68,141
Mississippi – $70,242
Kentucky – $70,408
North Dakota – $70,949
Oklahoma – $71,718
Ohio – $72,114
South Dakota – $72,218
Alabama – $72,238
Nebraska – $72,966

texas income smartasset family

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income analysis

Texas families need to make this much money for one parent to stay home