Our mission: To provide a meeting place where men, women and children living with cancer, along with their family and friends, can join with others to build a personal network of emotional and social support as an integral part of their cancer treatment.
The Gilda’s Club program is broken down in to The Basic III and The ‘Plus’ Supplements:
The Basic III
Support and Networking Groups
Weekly Wellness Groups for those living with cancer, weekly Family Groups for family members and friends, and monthly Networking Groups which focus on a particular kind of cancer or topic of common interest (i.e., ovarian, breast, or prostrate cancer, young adults with cancer, living solo with cancer, etc.). Groups are conducted by a qualified facilitator.
Lectures and Workshops
These activities provide opportunities for acquiring new skills, tools, and information to learn how to live with cancer. Lecture and workshop topics are selected based on members’ interests. Some common lecture topics include stress reduction, nutrition, talking to your children about cancer, and managing pain. Typical workshops include art for self-expression, meditation, drumming, yoga, scrapbooking, cooking, and more. For a complete list of current lectures and workshops see our calendar.
Social Activities
Our popular social activities range from potluck suppers with music to movie nights and special holiday gatherings. Social activities allow members to come together for fun, relaxation, bonding, and networking.
The ‘Plus’ Supplements
Team Convene
These two-hour sessions are requested by a person with cancer or family member to create an active support network at the time of diagnosis and/or for any challenging situations that may follow (i.e., a hospital stay or home recuperation). Sessions include all significant family and friends in a member’s life, who join together to provide support for transportation, childcare, meal preparation, etc. Facilitated by a staff member.
Family Focus
The Family Focus meeting allows the family to learn together how to live with cancer. The family identifies and discusses beliefs about cancer, critical family issues, problems and solutions.
Noogieland
Noogieland is a support program for children ages 5-17 who have a loved one with cancer, who have lost someone to cancer, or who have cancer themselves. In Noogieland, the children are the experts.
ph&d
ph&d stands for: Perspective, Helping Hands, and Discovery. Its focus is to live long-term with cancer as a life experience and to continue to learn and grow. “Survivors” of cancer—whether those who have lived or continue to live with cancer over long periods of time, or “family cancer survivors” with whom they are in relationship—have accumulated much “wisdom of experience” directly from their experience. “ph&d” offers a play on words in true Gilda’s Club tradition, one that suggests, with humor, an advanced degree in the expertise gained from living with cancer. We offer general support groups as well as specialized groups depending on members’ needs.
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