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

 WCRC Resource Materials

• WCRC Key Facts (doc)
• WCRC Case for Giving (doc)
• June 30, 2009 WCRC Financial Statements (pdf - .5MB)
• June 30, 2007 Financial Statements (pdf - 3.7MB)
• June 30, 2005 WCRC Financial Statements (pdf - 8MB)
• 2006 Income Tax (Form 990 - pdf - 10MB)
• 2007 Income Tax 999 (pdf - 15MB)
• May 2010 Amended and restated bylaws (pdf)

 WCRC Board Resource

• WCRC Board Member Job Description (doc)
• WCRC Strategic Plan for Board, 5.19.08 (doc)
• Prospective WCRC Board Member Application (doc)

  Please submit to Peggy@wcrc.org

• WCRC Board Cover Letter (doc)

 A Brief History and Description of the Organization

Not long ago, there were no local organizations focused on the needs of women with cancer. While an extensive social service network for people with AIDS/HIV 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
• Director of Development
• Business Manager
• Community Outreach Manager/Art Gallery Curator
• Client Services Manager
• Bilingual Patient Care Services Manager
• Latina Program Coordinator

A core of 80 dedicated volunteers are at the heart of the Center.