The year 2006 marks the 20th anniversary of the Women’s Cancer Resource Center. Our founders rallied around a radical idea: Women are entitled to health information and emotional support.

During our twenty-year history, WCRC has involved scores of women in identifying the gaps and dysfunctions in the health care system that prevent women, particularly underserved women, from obtaining the information and support needed be active and informed consumers and survivors. This inclusive process has enabled us to create and provide culturally sensitive information and referral, support groups and practical in-home support. Our community outreach and education programs provide community and empowerment for women with cancer and their supporters.

We continue to distinguish our services by focusing our programs on the needs of underserved women though our Sister to Sister Program, Latina Services and efforts to sustain a culturally competent staff and volunteer work force. And the model for our work continues to be refined today, as a significant amount of our work is accomplished through leadership of and participation in collaborations and coalitions structured to educate the general community about health, cancer prevention and treatment and to advocate for a life-affirming, cancer-free society.

The trailblazing women who founded and sustained the organization during the past twenty years have unquestionably challenged and changed the community standard of care.

This broad array of essential services was developed from the generous funding we have received from major Bay Area foundations, corporations and individuals.

Please join me in acknowledging the funding leaders who have enabled our work during the past year:

• Avon Foundation: Latina Services/Alameda County
  
• East Bay Community Foundation: Latina Services
  
• Firedoll Foundation: General Support
  
• Friends of Faith: Emergency Funds for Women with Breast Cancer
  
• HPC Foundation for Hospice Care: Sister to Sister
  
• Office of Minority Health, Department of Health and Human Services: Latina Services/Contra Costa County
  
• San Francisco Foundation: Sister to Sister
  
• Universal Care: Sister to Sister
  
• University of California Breast Cancer Research Program: Research Projects
  
• University of California at San Francisco Mini Grant Program: Sister to Sister

The following organizations held very successful events that brought in unrestricted funds to benefit the Center:

• Breast Cancer Fund
  
• Fore Women Golf Association
  
• Funny Girlz
  
• UC Berkeley Chapter of Kappa Gamma Delta
  
• Royal Grand Ducal Council of Alameda County
  
• St. Mary’s College of California
  
• Support Strokes for Breast Cancer

The 2005 Swim a Mile exceeded its goal to raise $250,000 thanks to the 523 swimmers who raised funds on our behalf. The top fundraising swimmer is Marty Heinrich who led the top fundraising team, Marty’s Mermaids – Kathryn Utsumi, Karyn Utsumi, Anne Hollingsworth, Karen Hoexter, and Susan Steakley.

And finally, our thanks go to all of the generous individuals whose donations sustained our work. You are the heart of the Center.

To make a donation to WCRC please click here.

Best Holiday Wishes and Happy New Year,

Peggy McGuire, Executive Director

Integrative Health Coach, LauraLynn Jansen, MHEd., CPCC, PFT, RYT will provide a variety of approaches to bringing wellness into your daily life. She will offer practical information, tools and practices for your every day life. This month she starts with a few simple pointers for bringing ease into your life during this time of year that tends to be filled with more mayhem than peace.

While it may be simple to practice mindfulness, it is not necessarily easy. - John Kabat-Zinn

Eating is one of the best places to start since it has a definitive beginning and end time. Not to mention we do it consistently, so there is nothing we have to add to our everyday routine. This time of year eating can be even more of a challenge with office parties, extra tasty treats and big festive meals. You have choices when it comes to meals and what kind of experience you wish to create. Where you would like to bring your focus? Here are some options:

• Offering of gratitude and/or recognition of what is being consumed: Before you eat, take a moment to pause and acknowledge the food in front of you before consuming it. When I started to eat fish and chicken again, this was a practice that became very important to me. To this day, not being a strict vegetarian any more is something I grapple with. However, the acknowledgment of the animal that gave its life to feed me is one I make note of in my pre-meal grace. I also give thanks to all those who worked to grow the food, to gather it, and to make it ready for my consumption. Ho!!
  
• Consciously plan what you will eat for the day. Each day take time to plan out your food for the next day or plan it weekly so you can get all the ingredients you need when you go to the grocer.
  
• Bring your attention to every act, sensation, & perception: Sense your senses and feel your feelings when you are doing a task in preparation for the meal. Touch, examine the colors and smell the produce as you pick it the market. Take the time to be truly mindful of what you are going to put into your body.
  
• You may choose other aspects of the meal to bring mindfulness to - the preparation, setting the scene and serving the meal to each person, or clean- up. Walk slowly, watch the motions of your body and hands as you set each place setting or wipe the dish through the water. Coordinate your movement with your breath.

TRY THIS when eating your next meal . . . Begin by consciously choosing a piece of food. Look at it and smell it before plopping it into your mouth. After a bit of curious examination, take a small bite. Chew slowly and intentionally. Explore the flavor as it roams around in your mouth. Put your fork down as you do this. Chew thoroughly and swallow before picking up your fork again and selecting your next morsel. No ‘automatic pilot’ allowed here. You are fully aware of what every part of your mouth, mind, hand and stomach are experiencing in each moment. It is inevitable that your mind will slip away, but gently bring it back to the meal without punishment or guilt. Invite it to join you in enjoying the deliciousness before you.

LauraLynn Jansen can be contacted through her website www.ihcoach.com. Please note her website is currently under construction (images will be changed), but you may still access it for more information.

As we approach the end of one year and the beginning of another, it is important to look back at where we have been and to acknowledge all those who have brought us to where we are today. In my role as the Development and Volunteer Associate at WCRC, I have the opportunity to work with so many wonderful people who are committed to helping make both our local and global community a healthier place. Every day I feel honored to have the privilege to work with amazing volunteers who give of their time to help with everything from stuffing envelopes to helping women who have recently received a cancer diagnosis find the resources and information that they need.

I want to take this opportunity to tell all of you that we are extremely grateful for the time and energy you give to the staff and clients at WCRC. Your commitment to the work we do is one of the main reasons WCRC is the successful organization that it is today. I cannot imagine what blessings are in store for our organization in the coming year, but if this year is any indication, I know we will continue to be surrounded by a group of supportive men and women who are committed to being actively involved in the struggle for a life-affirming, cancer-free society.

Best wishes,

Sarah Kurhajetz, Development Volunteer Associate

Writing for Wellness -- Saturday, January 7 - - 10 AM – Noon

In this supportive workshop, we'll write like the wind, share our writing about our lives, and experience a deepening connection with ourselves and with each other. By writing our thoughts down without stopping to judge or edit, we can see how our minds work. Often we move beyond the frenetic chatter of our conscious minds into the wisdom held in our subconscious. Facilitators Abba Anderson and Jeanne Lupton are writers and healing practitioners who have witnessed and personally experienced the emotional and physical healing that blooms from this two-part process of spontaneous writing and compassionate witnessing. While this class is designed for non-writers (though writers are welcome!), you may leave hooked on the practice of writing to contact your subconscious wisdom!

Please contact Jeanne to register (510) 632-7548 or jeany98@aol.com.

Gentle Yoga for Health & Healing With Bonnie Maeda -- 2nd and 4th Wednesdays in January, February and March; 1-2 P.M. -- (January 11, 25; February 8, 22; March 8, 22)

This class will include a gentle asana practice as well as restorative poses. No previous yoga experience is necessary. Please wear comfortable clothing. Especially for women with cancer—supporters may attend as space permits.

Bonnie Maeda, R.N., graduated from The Yoga Room’s Advanced Studies Program in 2002 and currently teaches Restorative Yoga at the Yoga Room. She works with students with chronic illnesses and believes that yoga improves one’s health and sense of well-being.

Please contact Margo to register: margo@wcrc.org (510) 420-7900 x111

YARN DIVAS: For knitters and other crafters (working with yarn is not a requirement) -- Last Tuesdays – January 31, February 28, March 28 -- 7:30 – 9 PM

Instruction by Kate Freeman of Article Pract. Beginning learning supplies provided. Come learn to knit or bring your knitting, crocheting, or crafts project to work on in a warm, friendly atmosphere.

Book Launch - Another Morning: Voices of Truth & Hope from Mothers with Cancer. -- Wednesday, February 15, 7-9 PM

Author, Linda Blachman MPH, MA, founded the Mothers’ Living Stories Project, an award-winning nonprofit agency that brings compassion, dignity, and support in parenting to mothers who have cancer by helping them record their stories as living legacies.

Quivers, Shakes & Fear: Performed by the Mothertongue Feminist Theater Collective -- Saturday, February 25th, 1:00 PM

What are you afraid of? What makes you excited? What makes you quiver and shake? Mothertongue performers explore the topic of fear through a collage of stories, dialogues, poems and songs written by collective members. Founded in 1976, Mothertongue believes that women find joy and strength in telling truths to one another. Join us after our performance for a discussion where you will have the chance to tell your own story. And if you are interested in exploring your own story further, we will have information about an upcoming Mothertongue workshop hosted by WCRC. Please contact Margo to reserve a seat: margo@wcrc.org (510) 420-7900 x111.

All events take place at the Women’s Cancer Resource Center and are free of charge. These workshops are especially for women with cancer, their loved ones and supporters.

This peer-based support group for lesbians who have or have had any type of cancer will resume meeting in late January if there are enough women interested in joining. Regular meetings will be held in the second and fourth Sundays of the month from 6 to 8 pm at the Center, 5741 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland.

If you are interested, please call the WCRC Helpline at (510) 420 – 7900 between 9 am and 5 pm and leave your name and phone number. A group facilitator will contact you.

Anytime in the month of December generous store owner Michele Schurman will donate 10% of your purchase gift at Paper Plus in Berkeley, to Women's Cancer Resource Center. The beautiful Marcel Schurman products sold at Papyrus are discounted at Paper Plus. The stores are densely packed with wrapping, cards, party favors, household decorations, notecards and much more. You MUST return your receipts to us for this system to work. Please bring or mail them to the Center by January 5 – WCRC, attn: Margo / 5741 Telegraph Avenue / Oakland, CA 94609

Paper Plus Locations:

• 1643 San Pablo Ave (between Cedar and Virginia), Berkeley
  
• 2114 Center St (between Oxford and Shattuck), Berkeley Paper Plus Hours:

• Monday through Saturday 10am - 6pm
  
• Sundays 10am - 5pm

Twenty years ago, no local agencies focused on the needs of women with cancer: no Hotline, no assistance to low-income women, no peer counseling and no centralized source of information on alternative and mainstream treatments

All of this changed when . . . (read more!)

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