We were honored to be asked to provide a program at Abe Stark School and to the close-knit community of Starrett City/Spring Creek Towers. 15 parents and staff members participated on October 31st and they accepted us warmly. There was breakfast and home baked cupcakes. Most of the participants had grown up together, attended school together, a few became teachers and now their children go to this school together.

The group was comprised of many survivors who shared their stories and diagnosis, treatment and survivorship. They freely gave and received support to one another. One woman described her reconstruction and answered questions from the others who were curious about the procedure.

Many important topics were covered including: the importance of listening, financial concerns, coping with feelings of helplessness loss and grief, caretaker burnout, unhelpful family members, and making time for important health care and screenings. The importance of knowing your own family history was also emphasized and demonstrated by 3 generations of one family who attended the program. They spoke positively of sharing the same health care providers. This has been essential for them in surviving various health care issues, including breast cancer.

When we asked how many women in the group had had a yearly mammogram all but one raised her hand. She expressed fear about the procedure. As the group provided empathy and support, she was able to acknowledge and release her fear. A member of the group offered to help her make the appointment and would accompany her and she accepted.

This community has so much strength, caring and wisdom to share. It was great to see that shared strength in action, as participants gave voices to their concerns and needs, and were able to help each other value themselves and take active steps to protect their health and the health of those they love.

On October 22, SHAREing and CAREing conducted cancer education classes at International High School for Health Sciences in Elmhurst, Queens. 132 students and staff attended this program.

IHSHS helps new, non-English speaking immigrant students acquire English language skills and develop the determination, compassion and discipline for successful college study in healthcare.

Our program includes personal stories of survivorship, the importance of taking charge of one’s personal health history to minimize risks, how to perform breast self-exams and testicular self-exams. We also provided basic information about cancer diagnosis, treatment and survivorship. Students were encouraged to identify health promoting behaviors and integrate them into their lives. We also helped students identify and address psychosocial barriers to initiating conversations with family members about obtaining healthcare and vital cancer screenings.

Many IHSHS students are likely to embark on careers as healthcare providers. This cancer education program was a chance to lay groundwork for the future as well as offer lessons immediately useful in the present. SHAREing & CAREing representatives appreciated the opportunity to share our perspectives and knowledge with interested listeners, and to know that by sharing our distinctive stories we are making a difference.

We received many personal thank you notes from the students. Here are a few of our favorite quotes:

“Thank you for sharing your experience through your year of this hard disease. I think you are strong and brave. Thank you for telling us your story and overcoming this challenge.”

“I love your information because it is important for me and others in my life.”

“Thank you for sharing your story and the information. I hope you do not get sick again.”

“I hate cancer.”

“Thank you for teaching us about cancer and making us aware of it and how to keep ourselves safer. Thank you for telling us your story.”

“I hope you have a beautiful life.”

“Thank you for teaching us how to support someone with cancer.”

“Thank you for teaching us we should value our lives if we are not sick.”

Trained cancer survivors Emlyne Stinfil and Merci Pinzino both shared their experiences with cancer for the first time to a group of students. They had students’ full attention and compassion. Frances Smith, RN demonstrated how to perform testicular and breast self-exams. Students also appreciated the opportunity to ask her their medical-related questions. Program Manager Merryl Reichbach, LCSW led discussion on cancer and treatment, as well as lively discussion on health and wellness strategies for reducing your cancer risk.

Students actively participated in each class; they asked thoughtful questions. Discussion also focused on identifying and eradicating barriers to “bringing this information home” and encouraging the adults in their lives to get appropriate health care and cancer screenings.

Each student received a specially-designed handout. This provided with them with basic information about cancer terminology, supporting loved ones with cancer, protecting their health and suggestions for initiating important health related discussions with family members. Students and staff also received S&C bilingual brochures.

On January 23, 2018 Anna Kril, Executive Director and Founding Member of SHAREing & CAREing and Merryl Reichbach, LCSW, Program Manager attended a small ceremony held by Maspeth High School to present us with the proceeds from their cancer fundraiser. The donation was presented by Teacher and Department Leader Anastasia Bitis, Mario Matos, Jr. Assistant Treasurer, Board of Directors of the Municipal Credit Union and Health and Physical Education Department Chair Jesse Pachter. We would like to thank the entire Maspeth High School community, especially the staff of the Health and Physical Education Department, for their generosity.

We are proud of our longstanding relationship with Maspeth High School. Our Be a Friend to Your Mother cancer education program is an annual tradition at this school and all students are required to attend as part of their Health and Physical Education requirement.

Maspeth High School states their vision is “to have our students become leaders in all fields of personal endeavors through academia and to be physically, emotionally and intellectually healthy with determination and compassion.” They surely have demonstrated all of these qualities, particularly leadership and compassion, by fundraising on behalf of those in our community impacted by cancer. The donated funds will be used by SHAREing & CAREing to provide services including counseling, wellness programs, navigation and financial assistance to those in our community impacted by cancer.

On November 13 and 16, 2017 SHAREing & CAREing presented our Be a Friend to Your Mother outreach programs for Maspeth High School. The program was presented in 12 separate classes over the course of two days. Health and Physical Education faculty and staff at Maspeth High School attended the program. Over 1,000 students, faculty and staff attended the program which is an annual tradition at this school.

The program was developed and facilitated by Program Manager Merryl Reichbach, LCSW, ACE and Consultant Fran Smith, RN and survivor volunteer Mercedes Pinzino. Our curriculum focused on providing information about cancer, proactive strategies to decrease breast cancer risk factors, and the importance of communicating cancer screening and other health care information with family members.

The program was well-received. Many students have had personal experience with cancer and their questions and attentiveness reflected this. Students participated actively in discussion and made use of the opportunity to learn and perform breast and testicular self-exams on models while guided and supervised by staff.

All faculty and staff at the high school received DOH Breast Cancer and Women’s Health pamphlets, bilingual SHAREing & CAREing brochures, and other health handouts were distributed. All students also received literature on contacting staff at SHAREing & CAREing to help family members access free mammograms and other health services through Elmhurst Hospital and the BEAT program at Mt. Sinai Hospital.

On June 12, 2017 SHAREing & CAREing, presented our Be a Friend to Your Mother cancer outreach program for female students and health education teachers at Long Island City High School. Over 360 students and staff attended the program which was presented by Anna Kril, Eartha Washington, Mercedes Pinzino, Fran Smith, RN, Merryl Reichbach, LCSW and Freda Z.

Our Be a Friend to Your Mother has been an annual event at Long Island City High school for many years. It was nice for us to wind down our very successful series of high school programs by returning to a school where we have had such a strong relationship.

We were particularly excited and appreciative to have a new survivor, Freda Z., present the outreach with us. It was her first time telling her story publicly to a large group. She was so appreciative of the assistance she received at SHAREing & CAREing, that she was eager to take advantage of an opportunity to give back. Freda shared her story of surviving ovarian cancer to an attentive audience, who were actively engaged and asked thoughtful questions.

We look forward to returning to Long Island City High School again for the 2017-2018. We anticipate presenting future programs with Freda Z. We will continue to offer presenters reflecting a range of expertise in survivorship, health care and counseling skills which makes our high school presentation so adaptable to so many different high schools and essential to all audiences.

Video made by International High School for Health Sciences about the empathy and cancer educational unit which SHAREing & CAREing was part of.

On April 27 and May 4, 2017, SHAREing & CAREing conducted cancer education classes at International High School for Health Sciences in Elmhurst, Queens. IHSHS teachers Sarah Cunningham and Priscilla Thomas coordinated with SHAREing & CAREing Program Manager Merryl Reichbach to create an innovative program that allowed students to learn vital perspectives about cancer in an accessible way. 18 interviews were conducted by a total of 179 students.

The International High School for Health Sciences helps new non-English speaking immigrant students acquire English language skills and develop the determination, compassion and discipline for successful college study in medicine, nursing, health counseling, research or in the administration of health care services. Teachers use collaborative, project-based units to integrate English language development with content knowledge. SHAREing & CAREing’s Be a Friend to Your Mother cancer education program was adapted to a small interview format to best suit IHSHS’s unique students and their needs.

Students’ learning goal was to develop English language skills, learn about cancer, and strengthen their empathy, career development and communication skills. Eight SHAREing & CAREing staff and survivor volunteers—Connie Arroyo, Carol Gaviglia, Merci Pinzino, Lucy Rauch, Merryl Reichbach, LCSW, Francine Smith, RN, Karen Sonn, and Eartha Washington—served as interview subjects. Students conducted their interviews in small groups, with one representative from SHAREing & CAREing and about 6 students per session. Each group of students conducted 3 interviews per class session, so each student experienced 3 different perspectives.

The students represented a wide range of countries of origin, including Bangladesh, China, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti and Uzbekistan. Many have been living in the US for less than a year. Students expressed appreciation for this opportunity to talk with people they might not otherwise encounter and who had much to teach them. SHAREing & CAREing spoke warmly about wanting to learn from the students and validated their experiences and perspective. Adolescent new immigrant citizens do not often have this experience. Students were sensitive to the emotional challenges our cancer survivors faced in openly sharing (and repeating) personal stories of illness, vulnerability, treatment and survival.

We often express the wish that providers and loved ones could better understand how it feels to experience cancer. Many IHSHS students are likely to embark on careers as health care providers. This cancer education program was a chance to lay groundwork for the future as well as offer lessons immediately useful in the present. SHAREing & CAREing representatives appreciated the opportunity to share our perspectives on cancer with interested listeners, and to know that by sharing our distinctive stories we are making a difference.

Some of the wonderful feedback we got from this program…

• “I liked when I asked one reason how your life changed, she said that after getting cancer, I enjoy my life better than my old life.” – Sufian, grade 9
• “I learned that every day is a gift.” – Santiago, grade 10
• “Something that I like is that most of the stories that the survivors told were really interesting and I really liked that they said that they never lost hope to be healthy again. I learned that you don’t have to believe in just one result of your tests, but you have to be sure that you are completely healthy.” – Nicole, grade 10
• “I really like knowing that cancer survivors enjoy their lives, because I see that Connie is a very happy woman!” – Valentina, grade 10
• “I learned that when something is a problem for us, we don’t have to be depressed or feel sad all the time. We need to fix that problem and improve ourselves.” – Zhiwei, grade 9
• “I liked the visit from the survivors because it is a life lesson for each one of us, that we learn the value of living every day.” – Shaltzy, grade 10
• “I learned many things from the visitors, like not to give up even when no one is with us, and to fight for what we decide we need.” – Brenda, grade 9
• “I learned that if we are diagnosed with cancer, we should not give up.” – Zach, grade  
• “I liked their strong stories.” – Cristian, grade 9
• “I learned that it is not necessary to feel any pain or sickness, you should always see your doctor and get the results of any test.” – Wahida, grade 9
• “They taught me to value life better.” – Juan, grade 9
• “I liked the visitors who came to us to tell us what cancer is, how it feel when a doctor says you have cancer, and also how it affects your mind and body. They made us feel empathy. I also liked the nurse, Fran, who encouraged us to check our bodies for if we have any problems or not. They answered all of our questions clearly. We learned from them:
  – If you don’t treat your cancer, it will spread through, all over your body.
  – There are many supports to help you.
  – Hope can give you a beautiful life.” – Noosrat, grade 10
• “One thing I learned is that people can still live a normal life after having cancer.” – Alhabib, grade 10
• “I liked meeting Merryl, because she is so patient, and she encourages the people that she helps.” – Fatoumata, grade 10

On April 26, 2017, SHAREing & CAREing conducted three Be A Friend to Your Mother cancer education outreach programs at World Journalism Preparatory High School and two outreach programs to students in their middle school. A total of 334 students and 6 staff attended our program.

The programs were presented by SHAREing & CAREing Program Manager Merryl Reichbach, LCSW, ACE and Fran Smith, RN, who has specialized in Women’s Health for 37 years at Elmhurst Hospital.

Our high school curriculum included ensuring students were educated about basic cancer facts as well as the importance of knowing their own bodies and feeling a sense of personal responsibility for maintaining good health. Each presentation offered the following information: cancer statistics, diagnosis, staging and treatment; the importance of knowing what is normal for our bodies, performing testicular and breast self-exams, understanding cancer risks within our control as well as risk factors beyond our control; identifying personal behaviors proven to reduce some risk; the impact of early detection and regular screenings on treatment and survival outcomes; communicating crucial health information to family members and helping them access health care and screening services.

Middle school curriculum focused on answering students direct questions about cancer as well as helping them identify and implement personal behaviors to sustain good health, including eating healthy foods, regular physical activity every day, and reporting any changes or problems in their lives—physical, emotional or social—to a trusted adult. Offering this program to middle schoolers was a new experience for us. Their response was so receptive we hope to extend this to other middle schools in the future.

The WJP assistant principal, Daniel Petrotta, attended many of the programs and provided support and feedback throughout the day. He was extremely positive about the presenters and the material and how both were appropriate and accessible for the students. High school and middle school students alike were attentive and engaged. Several reflected on personal experiences with cancer and their sense of urgency about this health issue. Many came up to the presenters after the program to thank them and ask for information to sustain their connection with SHAREing & CAREing.

SHAREing & CAREing conducted a breast cancer education program for students, parents, caretakers, teachers and staff at Voyages Preparatory High School on March 21, 2017.

The SHAREing & CAREing team included Executive Director, Anna Kril, Program Manager Merryl Reichbach, LCSW, bilingual nurse, Martha Genao, bilingual-trained survivor Mercedes Pinzino and Rosa Sarmiento. Ms. Genao and Ms. Sarmiento translated for a Spanish-only parent who attended the program with her daughter.

We provided information about screening, prevention and resources for administrators, teachers and students as well as information about SHAREing & CAREing’s offerings and programs in the community. Parents and staff had questions and concerns. One woman had some health concerns but was fearful about following up with her doctor. We provided empathy, supportive counseling, psychoeducation and concrete information to enable this woman to move past her concerns and take action on her own behalf. We also provided peer support and validation for a woman whose mother had died of breast cancer. We answered numerous questions teachers and staff asked about providing support to students impacted by cancer and other health traumas.

The program was also an opportunity to showcase projects students had created in response to the breast education programs (Be a Friend to Your Mother) we had presented in February and March. Students used their collaborative and creative skills to make posters that demonstrated basic information about cancer as well as passion for this issue.

Department of Health Breast Cancer and Women’s Health pamphlets, bilingual SHAREing & CAREing brochures, and other health handouts were distributed and made available at the workshops. All participants also received literature on contacting staff at SHAREing & CAREing to help family members access free mammograms and other health services available at our partner hospitals.

Each program included an RN, LCSW and at least one trained cancer survivor. Anna Kril, Founder and Executive Director of SHAREing & CAREing, shared her cancer survival story which inspired her to co-found SHAREing & CAREing 23 years ago. S&C Vice President Eartha Washington provided additional information about our organization and emphasized the importance of taking charge of one’s personal health history to minimize risks. 34-year cancer survivor and bilingual volunteer Mercedes Pinzino shared her incredible survivorship story. Fran Smith, RN shared her mother’s story as a cautionary tale and taught students how to perform testicular breast self-exams. She answered students’ medical related questions. Program Manager Merryl Reichbach, LCSW, ACE led discussion on cancer and treatment. She helped students identify and address psychosocial barriers to initiating conversations with family members about obtaining health care. She also led discussion on health and wellness strategies for reducing lifelong cancer risk.

A large proportion of Bryant students are from immigrant families. They seemed to particularly appreciate our pedagogical approach: tying together personal family stories with concrete health information. Our education program and agency are a living model of what activism, motivated by personal tragedy, can inspire. Our appeal to students that they be activists in their own lives hit home. Students could understand that becoming aware of what is normal for their bodies, communicating crucial health information to their families, and linking family members to health services including cancer screenings, was vitally important. Taking actions like this could help them move themselves out of a situation of being ignored and underserved into the more powerful, active stance of truly protecting their lives and the lives of their families.