2018 is almost over and we’re looking back – and forward, too! Every day we work to fulfill our mission of giving support and hope for people impacted by cancer as well as connecting underserved individuals with vital health resources.
SHAREing & CAREing traditional programs are thriving. The Breast Cancer Education Action Treatment (BEAT) program, in collaboration with Mount Sinai, continues to provide vital free cancer screening for underserved and underinsured women in Queens. Our monthly survivors support group offers peer support to longstanding survivors, as well as those who are newly diagnosed and actively in treatment. We support the counseling, referral and navigational needs of those referred by larger organizations including CancerCare and American Cancer Society, as well as through word-of-mouth from those who have benefitted from our services in the past.
Our High School Cancer Education outreach program has expanded to new high schools, including The Young Women’s Leadership School–Astoria. We are also responding to increasing requests from elementary and middle schools. We were asked—and have provided—developmentally-appropriate cancer education and support programs for staff, students and parents at the Abe Stark and the Bilingual Center Schools in Brooklyn and The Early Magnet School for the Arts in Queens. Upcoming schools include Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, as well as returning to familiar territory, including the International High School for Health Sciences.
Summer 2018 we were asked to develop and deliver health education workshops for patients and families served at the Women’s Health Pavilion at NYC Health + Hospitals at Elmhurst Hospital. We offered classes on stress management and chair yoga for families, as well as on how to sleep better.
Our Queens Public Library Wellness Workshops are popular. Our October 19, 2018 workshop on Supporting Families through Cancer was a featured segment on Spectrum News/NY1. Wellness Workshops are offered on a regular basis for English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and Adult Basic Education (ABE) students attending the Elmhurst Adult Learning Center, Elmhurst Branch, Queens Public Library.These workshops (and all our library outreaches) are open to all members of the community. In 2019, we have topics including women’s health, cancer prevention and insomnia scheduled for Auburndale, Forest Hills, Woodside, Peninsula and Whitestone branches of Queens Public Library, with other topics and locations in the pipeline.
Thanks to a generous grant from the Department of Aging, we have been providing a healthy aging series at the Allen Community Senior Center. We look forward to offering more programs this spring to this vital community!
Thank you for all you have done and continue to do to support our work. We cannot do it without you. We hope 2019 brings you health, happiness and peace.