The person
Tina Calderone-Roth
Tina is a loving mother and wife who lives in California and is deeply committed to serving her community. As a social worker, she has spent her career advocating for individuals and families who need guidance, resources, and the chance to be heard - work rooted in equity, empowerment, empathy, and the importance of human connection.
She holds master’s degrees in gerontology and in health care administration. In her spare time she quilts, repurposes old furniture, paints rocks, and volunteers with several community organizations. She is a proud wife to Gary and mother to Sarah.
The journey
Nearly four years, one thread
The gold moments are the ones that became the book.
The phone call no wife wants to make
An ER visit, a tumor, an ovarian-cancer diagnosis. Her daughter was ten. “Not knowing if we would make it to the next day was extremely difficult for us, on so many levels.”
Over 168 appointments
Port flushes, chemotherapy, bloodwork, scans, five surgeries, six rounds of chemo. “My entire existence revolved around appointments.”
The kindnesses started arriving
A nurse praying with her in a parking lot. A food train. A prayer placed in the Western Wall. Her husband shaving his head next to hers. A little dog with one paw on her hip.
She rang the bell
Family, friends, coworkers and her oncologist gathered in teal outside the cancer center and played the theme from Rocky. “We all crossed the finish line together.”
Learning to live again
Therapy, support groups, a survivor fashion show walked in blinged-out teal boxing gloves - and a promise to give back.
The book - and the Gold Book Award
Where Fear Meets Faith began as stories she wrote down for her daughter. It became an award-winning memoir carried by news outlets across the country.
Giving back
Positivity Rocks
There is a meditation garden at the cancer center where Tina was treated, filled with river rocks and bamboo, and a statue she walked past on the way to every infusion. Years later she learned its name: Warrior - a totem by Herb Alpert, whose music her father had taught her to love. Her father had died years before the diagnosis. She had wished he could be beside her through treatment, and found that he had been, every time she walked past.
For five years and counting, Tina has gathered people to paint messages of hope on rocks and leave them along that path. The rule is simple: if one speaks to you on a hard day, pick it up and take it with you.
“The intention is that the energy put into each rock art will transcend onto the recipient.”
- Tina
“I focused on what a warrior was, rather than being a worrier.”from “Rise Up Warrior”
Meet her on a page, or in a room
The book is where her story lives. The talks are where it becomes yours.