Who We
Are
Mission Statement
To empower women with cancer to be active and informed consumers
and survivors; to provide community for women with cancer
and their supporters; to educate the general community about
cancer; and to be actively involved in the struggle for a
life-affirming, cancer-free society.
Board of Directors
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Chair:
Merle Weiner
Secretary:
Holly Brownscombe
Treasurer:
Sally Elkington |
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Directors:
Lovisa Brown
Darlene deManincor
Linda Epley
Annie Gardiner
Sheila Head
Irene Marcos
Leslie Preston |
WCRC Resource Materials
A Brief History and Description of the Organization
Not long ago, there were no local agencies focused on the
needs of women with cancer. While an extensive social service
network for people with AIDS developed during the 1980s,
there were no parallel services for the over 60,000 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.
In 1986 all of this changed. A small group of women with
cancer created the Women’s Cancer Resource Center to provide
direct services to women with cancer as well as advocate for
broad changes in the health care system. For the first two
years, the Center was simply an answering machine in someone’s
living room. A committee of twenty women took turns answering
calls, mostly from women with recent cancer diagnoses seeking
information and support.
The number of callers grew rapidly each month as word spread
of the Center's existence. The volunteer pool also grew in
size, and the early founders recognized that they had struck
a chord in the community. Seed money from the San Francisco
Women’s Foundation was used to develop the fledgling
organization. The following years saw an outpouring of grassroots
community support, including critically needed operating funds
from Vanguard and other foundations.
The WCRC currently has a staff of seven:
- Executive Director
- Manager, Planning and Development
- Business Manager
- Community Outreach Manager/Art Gallery Curator
- Client Services Manager
- Bilingual Patient Care Services Manager
- Latina Program Coordinator
A core of 120 dedicated volunteers are at the heart of the
Center.
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