The Joyfulicity Podcast
Let's face it - in a world full of pain and troubles, couldn't we all use a little (or a lot) more joy? But how do we find it, keep it and share it? We'll dig in on that and explore it together here, on the Joyfulicity podcast. What is Joyfulicity? It's my made-up word for the art of living happy. I'm your host Laura Wakefield, a single mother of 9, certified midlife discovery life coach, writer, travel host and yoga and beach lover. Dedicated to helping others discover and maintain greater peace and personal empowerment. Dare to Dream - Plan to Play - Live to Learn. Here's to living life with a smile.
The Joyfulicity Podcast
Sue Weldon - Founder of Unite for HER
This week I am honored to have as my guest Sue Weldon, founder of Unite for HER, a non-profit dedicated to providing need based supplementary services to people undergoing treatment for breast and ovarian cancers.
During her own treatments for cancer, Sue personally learned the benefits of alternative therapies such as acupuncture, yoga, massage, and nutrition in complementing traditional medical treatments. As she became more aware of how many others were unable to afford these services (they are not typically covered by insurance) to help them, both physically and emotionally after cancer diagnosis, she became passionate about creating an organization to provide them for as many people as possible.
To learn more about Sue and her amazing foundation visit the website: https://uniteforher.org
and please consider donating to this worthwhile cause.
Please like and subscribe here, and also visit my links page to see all of the other places we can connect. This is the hub for more information on my website, my coaching program, the podcast, social media and to subscribe to my newsletter. Hope to see you there soon! https://www.joyfulicity.com/links
Welcome to the Joy Felicity Podcast. I'm your host, Laura Wakefield, and I'm pleased to have as my guest today Sue Weldon. Sue is the CEO and founder of Unite for Her, a nonprofit organization with a mission to empower and restore those that are battling breast and ovarian cancers. Thank you so much for being on the show today, Sue. I appreciate it very much. Yeah, you are most welcome. So tell me what led you to found Unite for Her. I know you have a personal backstory. So if you wouldn't mind sharing that, I would love it.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. So, you know, I was diagnosed at a young age, 39 years old, diagnosed with breast cancer, and um had a tough go. You know, had a tough go. And I dove into a lot of integrative therapies, think of complimentary therapies, supportive therapies, um, therapies like acupuncture and massage and yoga and nutrition, um, all to complement the standard of care and the chemotherapy to try and mitigate those side effects and symptoms because they were just beating me down, you know, and like all that go through cancer, there comes like a lot of really arduous, you know, side effects from the treatment itself. And these are side effects that linger, you know, years after the treatment may even be done. When I was going through that in 2004, I leaned into these types of therapies, especially the acupuncture and the nutrition and yoga. And what I found was life-changing for me. I I could not get over the change that occurred in my pain management, in my nausea, in my depression, um, anxiety, you know, emotional and physical changes that were helping me do better on treatment. But I had to pay for it all out of pocket. I had to pay for it all out of pocket. And that was the gap, you know, that was the gap that I saw all those years ago. And, you know, it actually came from eight words I always talk about is um I was at an event at the art museum steps, and there was a young woman out of the corner of my eye, and you know, she was going through breast cancer, hair gone, hollowish tone in the skin and eyes. And I was looking in a mirror, you know, and um, I was feeling better. I I've gotten through, I was about a year out. So of course I had all these tools, right? I had all these tools that, you know, empowered me to be able to go up to her and say, Let me let me share what I learned. And you too could have this experience. And when I shared, she cried. You know, she just said, Good for you. I could never afford that. And they were the eight words that like let a fire under me to create. Yeah. And shame on me, right? Shame on me that I thought that everybody had access. Like they were those eight words that opened up that whole conversation of health equity and that health care is not equal. And, you know, and and that people don't, you know, have they might be educated in so many different ways. Like for me, I'm such a creative and I was in sales. I did not know the medical industry, and I did not know the integrative care industry either. Didn't mean I'm not educated. I it's just not my area. And to be able to bring this access and education so that people can wrap their hands and grant grab control again in a disease they had no control over. Um, that is really what sparked, you know, Unite for her being built all those years ago. It was really what I lived, you know, and I just wanted to package it in a way that we could serve one member at a time with these$2,000 worth of services that they wouldn't have to make any choice. They could get access and education.
SPEAKER_01:And primarily you're focusing on the stuff that insurance doesn't cover.
SPEAKER_00:It is, you know, sometimes um, you know, check your insurance because sometimes insurance will cover a few acupuncture treatments. It's rare, right? Sometimes insurance gives you some nutrition consults or a gym membership. What we do that is so unique and comprehensive is that we meet them where they are in their neighborhood, in their community, and we give them$2,000 worth of therapies or treatments or services that they get to pick and choose. So, like for example, our nutrition program is not just sitting down and having a conversation like you and I. That's step one, right? After they have that, we send six weeks of vegetables to their home for six weeks so they have access to that food, especially when we're in underserved areas where there are food deserts, that becomes life-changing for them. It's a basic need. You know, we end up doing um giving them access to counseling sessions. Sometimes counseling is covered, but you have to go at a certain time or back in the hospital, and you know, they they don't want to go back to that hospital place. They want to have it in their community or they do it like this. You know, telehealth is really um this whole virtual setting has opened up and and really broke down barriers that used to exist um where people were were really hesitant to go to counseling, but when they can do it in the comfort of their home, right, in their car, pick up their phone and do a FaceTime. And then they're going through treatments and feel sick. You know, you don't you don't get a car and go somewhere. Yeah. Yeah. And and so that's that's that gap that we bridge. We will either mail everything to their home, have one-on-one consultations like this. In the Philadelphia area, we do do it in person nationwide. It is all done either virtually digital. We have digital series today. We just did ask the experts on mammogram and testing and diagnostic and what's in the future, right? And and it's a lot to manage. So we are that hub, that resource for all of these complementary services that align and help the standard of care actually do better, help that patient do better. So, so yeah, it really has become a model that we want to see everyone be able to adapt at one point because it it just the outcomes are tremendous. The science and the data is there.
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely. And that's why it's surprising to me that insurances haven't gotten on board. They're on board with more traditional methods of care, but not with the things that are going to support the whole person throughout the process. And it's so much more than just fighting the cancer cells themselves. It's like you said, when you're going through this, your entire body, mind, spirit is affected. Yeah. And if that's emotional stress, that's not being nurtured, the other stuff's not going to work as well.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Yeah. Emotional, you know, stress leads to physical symptoms. There's yeah, there's a lot of of data around that. And, you know, our we have incredible hospital and insurance partners. Unite for her does, you know, and they work in collaboration with us. So they might not have it. Um, like for example, Independence is a partner of ours, Blue Cross. And they invest in the Unite for Her program differently than might, than maybe what they do for their insurance, you know, uh, different coverage plans. But they are investing in us, they're starting to see that. They understand that comprehensive approach. So we're hoping that it's going to be soon. You know, sometimes you'll see Medicare has access to 12 acupuncture treatments in a year. You just have to check your insurance. It's it's fewer than than you know, than we would hope. But it's a start. And the more conversations that we have and the more that they can see that it affects the bottom line of not going back to ER, not having, you know, to stop treatment or being able to adhere to treatment so that you can do better on your therapies, all of that gets taken into consideration when they work with Unite for Her.
SPEAKER_01:That's amazing. So I saw on your website massage along with acupuncture. What does that do to enhance the treatment? In what ways is that beneficial for someone?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, well, let me sort of talk about the whole passport because we really give our community choice, right? So on that passport, they get to choose acupuncture, on college massage, Reiki, yoga, nutrition, counseling, fitness. It's not a one size fits all. Like we know that not everybody's going to fit into that one lane. I did acupuncture, life-changing for me. But I know that for other people, it might be nutrition and fitness that help them with sleep deprivation and bone pain and, you know, maybe their emotional well-being. Um, just movement in general, like just walking and movement is such a good outlet for our community. Um, that's why we give choice. So, you know, yes, the acupuncture, there's so much science behind it. Hot flashes, bone pain, neuropathy, headaches, right? So depression, anxiety, all things I used it for. I mean, it ended up taking my hot flashes from 21 a day down to nine a day. Now all of a sudden I can sleep, right? And when I'm sleeping, I'm healing. That's powerful. Oncology massage, it's very important that when a cancer patient goes and gets treated by a massage therapist, that they are trained in oncology massage therapy. It is different. There are a lot of different factors that they need to work on. They have to look at port sight, they have to look at lymphedema, they have to understand where, you know, the surgery was, what side it was on. Um, deeper tissue massages are not good for our cancer patients. So there is a different level of touch that they would get. So that is very valuable. All of our massage therapists are all vetted through the S4OM, the Society for Oncology Massage, that they get credentials so that they know that how to work with patients that are getting cancer treatments. So if that loved one meaningfully gives you this massage to go out and treat yourself, oncology massage is actually treating symptoms and side effects. It's very different. There's a goal at the end. It's not just a spa day, right? Right. Nutrition is another, you know, food is truly your medicine, and and that's empowering. And when we're when we're going to underserved communities, um, we find that they're using the passport all for food. And and it makes sense because, you know, they're having a tough time meeting their basic needs, and food insecurity is an issue, and food deserts are an issue. So when they see a passport that says you can get six weeks of fresh vegetables sent to your home, and then you can renew it again and again and again, or you can get$75 gift cards to the supermarket and coupled with that nutrition consult with registered dietitians that are speaking their language, right? We have a woman that is Latina, we have a woman in the black community. We make sure that we are reflecting that community that we're serving. That gives trust, that breaks down barriers, that gives, you know, actual resources. That$75 is helping them bridge a gap. So they get to pick and choose, not one is better than the other, because it has to be a style of a lifestyle change that they can do forever, right? Like we don't want it to be just a short-lived. We want it to be something that makes them feel that they have control, confidence, and that they can self-advocate for themselves and it feels good, brings joy, right?
SPEAKER_01:Well, and if you have been living in an underserved community, you probably are not used to self-advocating. No. Life hasn't been easy for you, and have that skill. So having an organization like yours just for you to kind of help you learn that skill is so important.
SPEAKER_00:And it's not just us, like the nonprofit organizations, we talk about this so much is that we can't do it alone. We need our wellness partners, we need our medical partners, we need our pharma partners, we need our nonprofit partners all together working together in a collaborative approach. You know, for us, when we're going into underserved communities, we know we have to link arms with our communities of color. We know we have I am, I am here reaching out to that black community, Touch BBCA, Black Health Matters, El Congreso, right? We know that we have to get to those that are right there in the culture because they have the trust. When they bring us in, when someone like the Black Breast Cancer Alliance brings in Unite for Her and their leader is a white woman, that helps the trust and that, you know, transparency where they can have that trust because it's not always the case, right? Like there's there's been a lot of distrust in a lot of the communities. So we know we work together and collaboratively where everyone is getting access. And that's the ultimate goal, you know. And when we work and we have different nonprofit partners, that we can say, hey, we have 50 seats, we call it, um, so that members can come into our program just for your community, just for this community here, that are, like, for example, Gilead's grant that we got, where black women with triple negative breast cancer or metastatic disease, right? We knew that if we're invested in, then we can go and find those communities, forge relationships and partnerships, and then deliver the services and the programming that we've been doing for 14 years. That is where that whole control and access, and that's where it all happens, right? But look how many people I talked about. We have this collaborative approach. A lot of people have impact, right? Or intent. I'm sorry, a lot of people have intent to actually bridge health equity gaps. A lot of people have that same mindset. They want to do something about it. But they don't always have the impact. That's where collaboratively we have the impact. We've been doing the programming for 14 years. We know how to do it like the back of our hands. We're a well-oiled machine, we know how to bet the providers, we have the trust, we are the gold standard. Together, now we have impact and in intent all working together. And that's where these organizations and companies that will never have the trust of the patient the way that nonprofit partners do, they can gain that trust by linking arms with us and helping us move the needle and investing in the programming, very similar to what Gilead did. I I feel like they they are like the gold standard. They did such a beautiful job. You felt so invested in.
SPEAKER_01:Are the providers that are working for you volunteering their time or they're not? So I was wondering about that. How do you find them or how do they find you?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, well, think about that. Let's talk about that for a little bit too, because, you know, we have over 5,300 members that we treat a year. I couldn't imagine they have to make a living. Can you imagine if these, you know, massage therapists, yoga professionals, nutritionists were all pro bono? They would not get the same quality of care, number one. They would probably be like, oh, it's an a Unite for her patient that's putting on my, you know, calendar for today. So we found it very important to pay their rate. We we pay their rate. You know, we are a collaborative. Yes, do we want them to give back? Sure. You know, when we have our events, we want them to come to our events. We want them to invest in us the same way we invest in them. But our bottom line is that member, that patient that's getting treatment. We want to make sure they have the best experience. So we are absolutely paying them their rate for acupuncture, counseling, massage therapy, yoga, you know, virtual or in person. We we pay their rate. You know, registered dietitians are on staff. We have four on staff, right? Remarkable team. Nutrition is probably our our best, most used therapy, right, out of all of it. But for it's very important that those providers have the support and the and are paid well so that then they are, you know, they are treating our community. And when you have over 5,000 members that are looking for these types of um services, you want to make sure that they're getting the best, the gold standard in the care. Yeah. Yeah. So that was one part of the question. What was the other one? I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_01:Uh, just how they found you. Like how do you think about it?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I guess people that are working. Thank you for the reminder. So we have advisors in every different modality, every integrative care service. So, for example, in acupuncture, Dr. Tom Bergoon leads that acupuncture team, and Dr. Margaret Stroze. They go out and vet our providers for us, so much so that we have well over 50 acupuncturists, you know, in the Philadelphia, New Jersey, Delaware area. The same for massage therapy. We have advisors. They take that role as a volunteer. They do volunteer for us in that advisory role. And they give back to us. They are leaders in the industry and they're looking to give back. That is key. We have advisors in our nutrition team, you know, our director of culinary nutrition, Erin Pellegrin, is an incredible resource, really remarkable at leading her team of four registered dietitians. We have advisors in Reiki, in yoga. So that's how we then find all of the other providers that roll up under them and we vet them and they have to be credentialed. We have a wellness program manager that credentials all of our providers so that we know that they're certified, they're licensed, they have the Unite for Her philosophy, and they are accepted as a provider for Unite for Her. Once they're on our list, you can see it on the website. We our members can use them, we pay their bill directly. That's amazing.
SPEAKER_01:How does how do you select who receives these grants?
SPEAKER_00:We actually served over 5,300 last year, and we are looking to serve another 5,300 this year. However, we did have over 500 on a wait list, just like you said. And it breaks our heart, you know. So our team actually collectively got together and formed a third program. It's called our Empowered Living Program, because there are a lot of resources that we give, in addition to this beautiful care box that they receive, you know, right in the mail. That's like their springboard into the program. They get this incredible care box with all of these resources, about$200 worth inside the box, right? Then they get a passport. That's our passport program. The Empowered Living Program does not have the passport. They have access, though, to our registered dietitian team through cooking webinars, 48 of them a year. They have access to the SE experts, the speaker series, the virtual hangouts that we do three times a month. They have access to this virtual and education community that is incredibly powerful. Probably$800 worth of services or types of events that we hold for them. The fact that we can control that internally on staff, that is how we can then make sure whoever comes to Unite for Her will be in one of our programs. And this is just new for us because we did have to figure it out. Our demand is getting great. People know we're here. They want to invest in us. The more people that can invest in us, we can give the passport to, right? Right. But it doesn't mean that the investment, like we have other ways of investing in us that we can do the empowered living program that isn't as expensive as that$2,000 of passport offerings that allow us to bring in hundreds, thousands into that empowered living program with costs that we can manage internally. So, so we're we're in this, you know, sweet spot. We're still learning. I I don't want to say we have, you know, um, I I don't know if we'll come to a point where we have to turn people away from the empowered living program. Hopefully we are are good there. Some of them receive the box because they're within 18 months, right, of getting a diagnosis. If you're over 18 months, you just get into the program. So I guess there could be a huge influx of maybe people who would get the box and we'd have to maybe wait. But so far we're we're feeling very confident that you will be able to get into one of our three programs when you work with Unite for Her, either the past or something.
SPEAKER_01:And somebody would just go to your website and and apply.
SPEAKER_00:You got it. Yep. So they would go to the website and they apply, Uniteforher.org slash apply. And then our wellness team, we end up seeing what program they would fit in. Gotcha. And we do have criteria. You know, just like Gilead had a grant for us, 550 women of color that are triple negative or living with metastatic disease, or women of color. We had all three categories. So we knew that we had funding for that group. We wouldn't have to turn anyone away, right? Well, we have funding for our Latina population. We have funding for our underserved population. We have a lot of people investing in certain populations with restrictive funding.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:So we do have our wellness team that looks at the people who come in, and then we look at, you know, where they're coming from. Are they underserved? Are they one of our restricted grants? Are we at our capacity or not? Right now we're in the beginning of our halfway into our fiscal, so we're doing well. And then we decide what program they get into. We also have one more program, which is an extended passport program, and that's for our metastatic community. And for those living with metastatic breast cancer, we made a promise to them that's a stage four breast cancer. They will always have treatment that will never leave their side, right? We'll renew their passport of services every six months for as long as they need. Um, that has been incredibly powerful, right? The data behind us being so connected to that community helps them do significantly better with their outcomes. And we have a lot of data about, you know, those, that group of uh individuals that we're treating. Um, we actually did a poster at San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium on 139 metastatic women, and the outcomes were incredible. And to see that data, that 94% were able to adhere to treatment, 28% were able to eliminate one or more prescribed medication, 80% could reduce, right? Um, had reduced side effects and symptoms, like that data that speaks volumes. That's incredible. That speaks volume. So people can actually see that on our website at uniteforher.org slash SABCS. And all of that matters, right? Because that's how we present them to other organizations to say, when you invest in us, we can show you data because we survey them, we pay their bills, we, you know, we we know what our community is using. That's very unique at Unite for Her that we have such a close hands-on type of programming for them.
SPEAKER_01:I feel like part of one of the biggest components of what you're offering people is just some hope and some love because not only do a lot of people not have access to these services, sometimes they have no support at all. You know, like maybe they're a single mother trying to go through these treatments while also caring for their children. And they're taking care of them.
SPEAKER_00:We have we have so many, um, they're actually behind me, but I have a filter on. We get so many love notes, you know, written to us by our community. Um, but you're exactly right. Like they tell us, it they tell us, we pick up the phone. We are talking to our community. They share what is really devastating for them. You know, they have a lot of pride too. They don't want to tell their doctors that they can't afford to put food on the table, but they'll tell us, right? They don't want to tell their doctor that they're having trouble with paying the rent, but they will tell us where we can end up connecting them with other nonprofits, you know, like Family Reach, or we can connect them with, you know, somebody who wants to educate them on in um clinical trials and what does that look like, right? Like that is where Unite for Her comes in, and we're that, you know, this this hub of resources and an ear, a listening ear. I mean, we've had we've had our women, we get so many testimonials, and I can read off many, many of them. But one that stands out is, you know, this one woman, Sana, um, she received the Unite for Her program, and she said before she was, you know, going back and forth on the bus, single mom, and um, she had to choose between eating that day or taking transportation to chemotherapy. And she would just she would just not eat because she couldn't afford it. She had to choose. But then Unite for Her came and the box was delivered, the care box, and then the passport. And then she saw she could actually get food on the passport, and now we're supplementing her monthly, you know, her monthly bills with this food and the nutrition consultations and presentations and uh ways that we can help them with GI issues and side effects and mouth sores. And it's it's hope. It is such hope. You you you nailed it. It is it is hope, it's a voice, it's somebody who listens to them. And if we don't know the answers, we can find it because we have an incredible coalition of other nonprofits that are doing remarkable work as well, that we can just pass them, you know, to the right place. Um the hospitals, you know, they can't do it. The medical community, it's a tough job. You know, they have to they have to go after that cancer. They are there to kill the cancer, and that is all we want them to do at this point because we want a cure. We want a cure. But if they can bring us in and support us and fund this integrated care, everyone's gonna do better, right? Everyone's gonna do better on treatment. They're gonna be able to have the, you know, the data that I shared with you where adherence to treatment is a thing. Like abandonment of treatment is a thing. When you don't have access to transportation, to food, you don't feel well, you're really struggling with side effects, people stop. But if we're in there, we can help them stay all in treatment and they can do better. Everybody wins in, right? Our medical community, our pharma community, and then Unite for her, or a nonprofit community. Everyone is involved and invested.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, because the doctors, medicines can't do their job if the person cannot get there to receive them. Yeah, it's tough. There's a lot of factors there. That's really heartbreaking for me to hear that because I think I can't imagine. I have not ever been diagnosed with cancer. I've had family members and close friends who've had, but I can't say that I understand how that would feel. Yeah. But I c I can't imagine how devastating that alone would be. Yeah. No, it's the living diagnosis, and then all of the physical stuff on top of that. Yeah. And then add that extra layer on top of that of all those other needs too. I that's I must think about it. So I understand that part of things, you know, of sometimes feeling unsupported, but I can't imagine the layering effect of all of that on somebody's spirit and how they would feel. So what a wonderful gift you're giving people. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Put put COVID on top of that. Can you imagine our community during COVID? Like it was just, it was devastating. They were so isolated as it was, and then they get a cancer diagnosis, and no one could even go to chemotherapy with them. So, you know, Unite for Heart really had to step up and change our whole way that we delivered the program. And it became a very good teacher for us and allowed us to go nationwide and reinvent our model. And uh the staff and team here is extraordinary. They are creative and not afraid of change, and they're change agents, right? Like that's what you need. You need people advocating for you that, yeah, you see a problem ahead of you, let's solve the problem. Let's be that change agent because cancer didn't stop. And because we were able to do that, it enabled us to go nationwide and then serve anywhere in the nation for the model that we created locally, you know, three years ago.
SPEAKER_01:That's amazing. So, what does somebody like me do? I'm not a provider of any of those kinds of services. I'm not a patient. But when I hear this, of course, it calls out to my heart and and what does somebody do that wants to just help?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, well, now you know, right? So that's so good. Now you know about Unite for Her and you can lead them to our website, right? Unite for Her, Him, Them, right? Uniteforher.org. And it allows people to go to info at Unite for Her and understand, you know, these types of treatments and therapies are available. Um, learning how to, you know, share and look for support. Sometimes people hold it in. They don't they don't want to share. They they want to do it on their own. And and that's the one thing that I feel like I would tell uh individuals that it's so important to reach out because there's resources that can help you do better. And there's no reason why anyone has to do it alone. We get it. We know everybody handles it differently. Definitely all acceptable. Every way you handle it is acceptable.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Just let us be walking by your side so we can, you know, see how you're handling it and support you in that way, that you don't have to do it alone. So now you now you know, right? And we always say with companies too, every company usually has some kind of community outreach, right? They they want to give back to their community, but they don't know how. And we've been doing these box builds now that have been extraordinary. And they actually help fund the Empowered Living Program. Wow. And that's where employees have a day of giving and they just build boxes, right? They end up, you know, building 500 boxes for us and they pay for the contents of the box. That becomes incredibly powerful for us. So they have this day of service, then the corporation pays for the contents of our boxes, and we we do it all. We ship to their site, they have this wonderful day of giving, we ship it back, and then that week, 150 of those boxes represent a patient and it goes out the door. So that is where companies that are listening or individuals working for companies find out what your company does for their day of giving and consider Unite for her. It doesn't have to be during the month of October, right? Cancer happens all year long. And we work with breast and ovarian cancer. And that's a, you know, that's a good way to give back. Your money is going right to those that we're serving. Um, you know, we are very good with our outreach and and making sure that um we can manage those expenses. 87% of every dollar goes right to the community that we serve. Oh, that's great. That's really good, you know, because it does cost money to raise money. So, you know, um, I'm proud of that number, but I also understand where numbers can be less than that because you it's a lot of work to raise that funding. So the companies can help us this way. You know, they can invest in us, their employees get to see an incredible organization, and we are nationwide, so it can be anywhere, right? And we will we will ship all the contents anywhere in the nation called a box build, and then we bring them back. But everybody has a a way that feels very hands-on and empowered. And that's that's good for people to feel that actual connection to the process, I think. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, they feel like they're doing something, right? They're not they're not just uh yeah, signing a check. They're actually doing something as well, right? They get we get the funding and the actual activity, and it brings it all together.
SPEAKER_01:So if a company or a church or some organization wants to participate in something like that, is there a place on the website for them to just sign up for that?
SPEAKER_00:Um yeah, for sure. I think the easiest way we we send tend to send people to our info portal, right? Like info at uniteforher.org. And then we have our staff member, you know, look at those requests and send them to the right leader in our organization. So I feel like across the board, whether they want to get into the program, whether they want to donate, they want to do a box build, info at uniteforher.org is the best, you know, way to go. And then that's easy to remember. Um, once you get on our website, you absolutely will see different areas where it says ways to get involved. And you can peruse around there and look at all of our data and look at how we're, you know, um impacting laws with integrative care and get educated that way. But yeah, yeah, that's the best way, you know. And I think about um, I think about our partners, we can't do what we do without them. And, you know, we talked a little bit about the Gilead Health uh Towards Health Equity grant. Um, that's that's the investment, right? That's the the actual, you know, intent and impact all happening, all together, collaborating in such an incredible way. And when you have an organization that wants to invest in health equity and puts a stake in the ground and actually says, we want you to go here. This is a problem. Black women are actually dying at a 42% higher chance than the average white woman with breast cancer. Triple negative breast cancer is an issue, especially for the black community.
SPEAKER_01:Can you help us higher rate of death?
SPEAKER_00:That's yeah, yeah. And can you help us bridge those gaps? And we're gonna invest in you to do that. And can you bring your programming to this community? Right. And and that's where you know the impact happens and that's where the investment pays off. So um yeah, it's it's been such a good experience to work with like-minded organizations that's that really put their words into action in a way that's meaningful and they understand the collaborative approach and you know how we can actually fulfill that, you know, that need, bridging that gap.
SPEAKER_01:Well, and if I understood you right earlier on, you would find providers from within those same communities as well, correct? So they're totally do.
SPEAKER_00:All kinds of things going on there with understanding and support and yeah, we hired a uh Latino registered dietitian, but not just somebody who speaks Spanish. She's actually from the culture, you know, and native to the language. Like that, that's important. People want to feel seen and heard, you know, that and that's a lot to say because, you know, with registered dietitians, only 3% are represented by women of color. We feel very fortunate that we have two registered dietitians that are women of color that are able to support that community in a way that I can't, you know, um, or a a white dietitian couldn't. And that that's important for us to represent the community that we want to serve. It it speaks volumes to the commitment. And it's also important for us to have counselors that are counselors and and professionals of color and acupuncturists and fitness and yoga. And we had to work hard at that. We had to look inside and figure out where our gaps are and find those providers, not just expect them to come to us. We need to find them. That's the investment. And that's what you know organizations help us do, you know, when they invest in us in a way that um helps us bridge those gaps where there are such, you know, huge health disparities.
SPEAKER_01:Well, and just the gaps in the providership is a whole other layer of the same problem. Just that and I'd love that you're reaching out to uh kind of expose that also, that that the general public doesn't really understand that. Like that number, 42% higher rate of death, that's a staggering number.
SPEAKER_00:It is a staggering number. You guys can you can get a lot of incredible statistics. There's an organization I talked about, touch the Black Breast Cancer Alliance, um, remarkable organization. And just educate yourself, you know, get on that website and look at the data, you know, and young and young black women being diagnosed at twice the rate and dying at three times the rate if they're under 35, right? There's a lot of different factors there. You know, some of those factors are that black women are not represented in clinical trials.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:That's a problem. That's a crisis. How are we supposed to help that community if we're not actually the tests and the drugs and the chemotherapies that we use were not tested on black bodies? Like, like we need to get more clinical trials out there. And there is a whole movement to make sure that more and more people are trusting and involved, getting involved in clinical trials. Um, there's a variety of reasons why, you know, there's this health disparity, but we want to move towards that collectively. And for Unite for her, our goal is to do the integrative care piece, right? Link arms with organizations that are doing the clinical trial piece or you know, the education piece, talking about it here, you know, and getting that information out. Um, once you know, you know, right? Once you know, exactly. Now what are you going to do about it?
SPEAKER_01:And exactly because you can't solve a problem if you're not even aware it exists.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Yeah. And when you're aware it exists, now it's time to do something about it. That's where that's where we come in and a lot of our partners. They're remarkable nonprofit partners in the industry. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, because it's 2023. This should not be a conversation we're even needing to have anymore. Yeah. So the fact that we are, there's so it's time to really get this information out there. And I so admire the work that that you're doing and Gilead and and anyone that is educating the public on this.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. I mean, Gilead, you know, they they didn't just invest in Unite for Her, they invest in in 21 nonprofits for this Toward Health Equity Grant. Like it was, it was an incredible lift. And um we appreciate them. We appreciate them. We can't do it without them.
SPEAKER_01:That's amazing. That's amazing. Well, I have one more question for you. I just wanted to save our time real quick. Um so this podcast at its core is based on seeking joy and daily living. And a lot of what you're doing with these integrative therapies is trying to make people more comfortable and more at peace during a very difficult time in their life. What can somebody do that that isn't a caregiver per se, but or that is going through this themselves? Like when you're in the midst of such a difficult life, yeah. Where can you turn? What can you do to try to find some measure of peace and joy throughout that experience?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Yeah, it's a tough question, you know, because everybody's different. You have to meet them where they are. Um, you know, for me, uh, when I look at a lot of our members, some are are very uh introverted and and they can't even get out of their home and the disease is devastating. And that's correct. That's the right way to it's trauma. That is the right way to actually react to that. And we have other members that are like, I'm gonna fight it, you know, let me get my pink on, I'm gonna run this race, I'm, you know, badass. I and that's the right way too. There's nothing wrong with that either. Everybody, everybody has a different approach to a diagnosis. None of them wrong. The best thing you can do as somebody who's in their community and loves them and wants to support them is just show up for them, you know? And it's okay to show up for them and be quiet, just being there and being present. Doesn't mean that you always have to say something or have answers or try and fix them. You just gotta love them, right? And showing love and joy is getting them to organizations that know what they're doing, you know, and and the fact that now you know about Unite for Her. If we don't have the answer, we're gonna lead you to another place. Or we're gonna, hey, we're gonna give you this. And then you're having trouble with your bills, we're gonna send you over to Family Reach. Oh, and you want to learn about clinical trials in the Black Breast Cancer Organization, we're gonna send you to touch. Oh, and then you want to learn, you know, about um how to get educated on the different types of stages of breast cancer, we're gonna send you to breast cancer.org. Like we we have so many different collaborative partners that there's no reason to go it alone. So, you know, I mean, I think the best bet as an individual that wants to support somebody is you you give them love, you give them joy, you show up, right? You show up, find out what's needed, but you can't fix them, right? All you can do is love them, but give them resources that are trusted and valid. And that's what today's podcast was about, is giving you a resource now that's trusted and valid, valid nationwide.
SPEAKER_01:And is there a minimum donation that an individual can make?
unknown:No.
SPEAKER_01:Oh no. Any amount is helpful.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, anything. Oh, we love it. We love our donations. We love, especially when we get these beautiful letters and they're handwritten and we know that it was like so important for them to give, and it was five dollars, and and that is meaningful, right? Like now there's no limit. There is no limit. We just, you know, we always say whatever you can give is is so appreciated because collectively, if we bring that all together, oh, it can move mountains, you know? So it just has to depend on where you are in your stage of life.
SPEAKER_01:So there's no wrong way, and there's no minimum amount, you know. Both really important takeaways from this. Sue, thank you so much for being my guest. Welcome and for all of the amazing work that you're doing there, Eite for her.
SPEAKER_00:I admire you so much for providing resources for people. Thank you. Incredible team, you know, incredible collaborators, incredible community. It it really, I know that that's a saying, it takes the village, but it really does. And you want to work together. You don't want to work in silos, you want to work together. And that's how real change happens. And Gillian knows that.
SPEAKER_01:100%. I would encourage everybody out there to go to Unite for Her and see if you need help or resources for yourself or if there's you want to get involved and help others, go to Unite for Her, and there's going to be information there for you. Yeah, we'll put you to work. 100%. Yes.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you so much. Have a great day, everybody. Got it. Thank you.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you for joining me today on the Joy Felicity Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please like and share, and come follow me on all major social media sites at JoyFelicity or on my website, joyfelicity.com. You can follow the link in the description for this episode to all of the places that we can connect. Have a great day, everybody, and remember dare to dream, plan to play, live to learn.
