by Nicole Friedman, LCSW
Over the past several years, Jewish Family Service (JFS) has partnered with Sharsheret to provide assistance to those women in our community that are going through breast and ovarian cancer. Sharsheret is a national organization that provides support to Jewish women and their families of all different backgrounds that are either diagnosed or at high risk of breast and ovarian cancer. Sharsheret has served 70,000 women, families, health care professionals, community leaders and students from all 50 states. Even though Sharsheret provides support to women, they help men as well.
Sharsheret provides a variety of programs that help those facing breast and ovarian cancer. Some of the programs that Sharsheret offers include individual and peer support, parenting resources, and financial assistance. Individual and peer support includes speaking privately to a trained mental health professional who can empower women and their families to better understand their diagnosis, cope with the challenges they might face, and make informed decisions about their treatment. Peer support gives those facing breast and ovarian cancer the opportunity to connect to someone with similar diagnosis and challenges.
Parenting is another beneficial program that Sharsheret provides. The parenting program involves providing a Busy Box to children with educational materials on how to talk to them about cancer. The Busy Box also includes games and activities that children can engage in while their parent is at a doctor’s appointment or resting after cancer treatment. Sharsheret is also beginning to expand its financial assistance to those they support. Sharsheret is starting a program called Best Face Forward 2.0. Best Face Forward 2.0 provides subsides for non medical services that might be partially covered by insurance such as wigs, tattoos, and cold caps which is a treatment to try and prevent hair loss from chemotherapy.
JFS is continuing to partner with Sharsheret in an effort to help local Jewish women with breast and ovarian cancer. If you or someone you know may benefit from the services that JFS and Sharsheret can provide, or if you want to collaborate and bring ideas on how JFS can expand its services treating women with breast and ovarian cancer in our community, please contact 570-344-1186. For more information on Sharsheret and the programs that they provide you can visit www.sharsheret.org.
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