This year, the Women’s Cancer Resource Center celebrates its 20th anniversary, and we want to involve you. Our intention is to deepen and integrate our work by engaging our Board, staff and supporters in a year of “reflection and visioning” that will create a strategic direction for the next twenty years and enlist others in its pursuit.

To prepare for this effort, we have reaffirmed our commitment to the mission and vision of the organization, committed to revisit and articulate our core values, engaged in a program improvement project to assess and strengthen each of our programs and established individual, program and center-wide goals, objectives and desired outcomes.

We also plan to hold mid-year and end of year celebrations. Our Board Development Committee is devoting much energy and imagination to creating events that will combine celebration of our mission and accomplishments and fun! More details to come.

Through this process, we have identified several critical priorities in capacity building:

• to develop and expand our Board of Directors to assure that there is sufficient leadership to assess our contributions during the past 20 years and to bring forward a dynamic organization positioned to address the needs of women with cancer into the next two decades;
  
• to better integrate program activities so that individual and organizational knowledge is being shared, disseminated and replicated, cost efficiencies achieved, core skills are identified and developed;
  
• to expand our reach and impact by increasing the number of culturally competent volunteers engaged in our programs;
  to expand community education and outreach programs that focus on health, prevention and treatment options;
  
• to develop an integrated program to collect and analyze data to evaluate our programs;
  
• to engage in a community-wide needs assessment to create an ongoing dialogue with the people we serve and the people who support us about the services that need to be created and sustained in the future;
  
• to create a more welcoming, serene and beautiful environment at the Center through our collaboration with the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising.

We are a strong community of women seeking to grow stronger. Please consider increasing your involvement in and support of the Women’s Cancer Resource Center by volunteering your time and talents, donating, attending events and sharing your point of view.

Peggy McGuire, Executive Director

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.

A Satellite Show of Photography from The Art of Living Black

Red Hat #2 | Sálongo Lee

Work by:

• David Johnson
  
• Michael Johnson
  
• Sálongo Lee
  
• Patricia Patterson
  
• Charles Robinson
  
• Joseph Robinson
  
• Tasin Sabir
  
• Ron Moultrie Saunders
  
• James Weeks
  
• Saida Hogan Nassirruddin

Show runs January 24 – March 19, 2006
Reception with the artists Friday, February 24, 6-9 pm

Live music

In collaboration with the Richmond Art Center

Bay Area BusinessWoman is proud to partner with the Women's Cancer Resource Center in a "Subscribe and Support" Fundraiser.

The Bay Area's only full-integrated, women-owned and operated media resource reflects a powerful, supportive, and involved community of women. The Women's Cancer Resource Center and Bay Area BusinessWoman work hard to empower women by providing them the resources and information they need to make better choices for themselves and the larger community.

Bay Area BusinessWoman News believes in commerce with a conscience, and since its inception, has been a committed supporter of WCRC. To continue this fine tradition, BABW is offering a donation to WCRC of 15% from all new subscription fees for the next 30 days.

Get your subscription today! Not only will you receive a full-year subscription to BABW News ($59) you'll also be making a donation to WCRC and help them continue to provide their valuable services. To participate, log on to http://www.babwnews.com/subscribe.php, select the Community Level (all the other levels are eligible too!), hit Submit, and then enter the code "WCRCBABW."

The second "Each One Reach One: Working Together to Make a Change" Conference
Saturday, May 6, 2006, 8:30 – 2:00

Oakland Hilton Airport Hotel

For more information call: Dolores, Women’s Cancer Resource Center at 510.420.7900 x112

Conference Organizers: Dolores Moorehead, Women’s Cancer Resource Center; Jackie Pugh, American Cancer Society; Wendy Favila-Penney, ACMC, Cancer Navigator Program; Debora Jones, Charlotte Maxwell Complementary Clinic

Conference Sponsor: Northern California Cancer Center

Town Hall Meeting

The Marin Breast Cancer Watch and the Bay Area Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Center are holding a Town Hall Meeting, “Bringing Communities Together to Explore Environmental Links to Breast Cancer.” The meeting will take place January 21, 2006, at Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center.

The Town Hall Meeting will provide an engaging forum to facilitate dialogue between scientists and community on breast cancer, and provide education and discussion on related topics. It will create opportunities for collaboration among health professionals, scientists, public policy advocate, public officials, environmental organizations and community members. Registration is $10 You can register online at www.breastcancerwatch.org.

Charlotte Maxwell Expands Services

To celebrate the opening of their new San Francisco Clinic, Charlotte Maxwell Complementary Clinic is holding an Open House on Thursday, January 26 from 5 to 8 pm. at 2601 Mission Street, Suite 201, San Francisco. Please RSVP by Monday, January 23 to 510.835.6305, ext.11 or admin@charlottemaxwell.org.

Charlotte Maxwell provides free complementary alternative medicine and social services to underserved women who have cancer.

Advance Healthcare Directives: Training for Staff and Volunteers – Wednesday, February 1, 6:30 – 7:30 pm

An "advance health care directive" lets your physician, family and friends know your health care preferences, including the types of special treatment you want or don't want at the end of life, your desire for diagnostic testing, surgical procedures, cardiopulmonary resuscitation and organ donation.

Suzanne Leib, MFT, John Muir/Mt. Diablo Senior Services will facilitate the training. Suzanne will provide staff and volunteers with information on the necessary steps adults over the age of 18 need to take to establish their own Advance Healthcare Directives.

Please contact Sarah to sign-up: sarah@wcrc.org 510.601.4040 x 105

Volunteer Orientation – Tuesday, February 7, 6:00 – 7:30 pm

Did your list of New Year’s resolutions include: becoming more involved in your community and taking better care of yourself? Volunteering at WCRC is the perfect way to give back to others, while at the same time providing nourishment for your spirit. Attend the Volunteer Orientation on the first Tuesday of the month and find out about who we are, what volunteers and interns do and some basic information about cancer. We look forward to seeing you!

Please contact Sarah to sign-up: sarah@wcrc.org 510.601.4040 x 105

The therapeutic benefits associated with different yogic asanas are many Centuries old. One of the most comprehensive yoga texts, Light on Yoga by B.K.S. Iyengar, provides many of the benefits for most yogic postures. These postures or asanas are demonstrated to be beneficial to both physical and mental planes.

Studies done on individuals who regularly practice yoga have detected a wide range of physiological changes. The most noted physical benefits associated with doing yogic asanas are improved circulation and an increase in flexibility and strength. Savasana, also known as Corpse pose, has been noted to relieve high blood pressure. Yoga is an age old stress reduction technique. The latest research is finding a preliminary link between stress reduction techniques and the lowering of cortisol levels, a key to increasing the function and effectiveness of the immune system.

Larry Payne, Ph.D., suggests poses that bend the back as beneficial to the immune system, such as Cobra, Bow and the Sun Salutations series. If you are really wiped out physically Savasana is the best way to allow your body to catch up in restoring vital energy.

Yoga for Wellness by Gary Kraftsow is an excellent resource for understanding the link between yoga and creating health in the body and mind. He notes that yogic asanas have the ability to boost self-confidence and help to diminish fears. A regular practice can make an impact on anxiety and depression. In time your focus turns from limitations to accepting yourself, no matter what your physical ability is. A correlation has also been made between enhanced concentration and an overall sense of well- being.

Give yourself the gift of health this week. Take the time to take a class at the Women’s Cancer Resource Center and/or pop in your favorite yoga DVD. Esther Meyers, a cancer survivor, created Gentle Yoga for Breast Cancer Survivors. This VHS tapes can be used by anyone desiring a gentle asana practice.

For more scientific research information on the therapeutic benefits of yoga you can contact The Yoga Research and Education Center, www.yrec.org.

For articles on the connection between well-being and yoga you can visit Yoga Journal’s website, www.yogajournal.com. The following link will bring to an article specifically about yoga for cancer, http://www.yogajournal.com/health/126_1.cfm.

Namaste, LauraLynn

LauraLynn Jansen can be contacted through her website, www.ihcoach.com

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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