WomenCARE offers a safe haven where women who are making the cancer journey will find mutual support, shared experience and open hearts.
SUPPORT AND SERVICES
Call WomenCARE at (831) 457-2273 for assistance with these services.
Practical Support
* Transportation to/from medical appointments (local and bay area), meals, light house cleaning, occasional childcare, gardening assistance, and more.
Phone Support
Information and Referral Phone Line
* Phone support and referrals to local and non-local cancer resources.
Bodywork & Bodycare Services
* Massage, energy work, acupuncture, nutrition consultation, facials. Certified practitioners offer FREE sessions to WomenCARE clients.
WomenCARE Advocates
* Legal services to women with cancer in selected areas of law.
Lending and Reference Library
* Books and articles on cancer and women's health, located at the WomenCARE office.
Research Assistance
* Assistance in accessing the latest medical information on cancer topics.
WomenCARE Speaker's Bureau
* Trained speakers offer education and outreach to the community.
WomenCARE GROUPS
Emotional Support Groups:
Pre-registration required: 457-2273
ARM in ARM (Advanced/ Recurrent/Metastatic)
Meeting Time: Every Monday 12:30-2:00pm
Facilitator: Sally Jones & Shirley Marcus
Cancer Support Group:Open to newly diagnosed women throughout the course of their treatment and up to 3 months post-treatment.
Meeting Time: Every Tuesday, 12:30-2:00pm
Facilitator: Vickie Assunto & Deb Abbott
Friends & Family: Open to all friends and loved ones of people with cancer.
Meeting Time: 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of the month, 5:30-7:00pm
Facilitator: Donna Cavallaro
Las Mariposas Valientes: Open to Spanish speaking women with all types of cancer from diagnosis through treatment and the healing process. Groups led in Spanish.
Meeting Time: 2nd & 4th Saturdays, 2-3:30pm
Facilitator: Carolina Evans-Roman
Entre Nosotras: Open to Spanish speaking women with all types of cancer from diagnosis through treatment and the healing process. Groups led in Spanish.
Meeting Time: 1st & 3rd Thursdays 6-8pm
Location: 406 Main St. #211, Watsonville 95076
Facilitator: Chila Correa
HEALING CIRCLES
Complementary Treatment: Educational & collaborative group for women who want to learn/understand about the many complementary cancer treatments.
Meeting Time: 4th Saturday of the month 10:00-12:00pm
Rotating Facilitators
Mindfulness Meditation: Guided meditation & talk with a facilitator from Land of the Medicine Buddha
Meeting Time: 1st Tuesday of every month, 2:30 to 4:00pm
Facilitator: Yangchen
**Healing Circles Held at Alternative Locations:**
Art for Healing: Paint, draw, glitter, glue, cut, tear and use pastels, clay, natural and other materials to explore our deepest selves. No art experience necessary.
Meeting Time: 3rd Saturday of each month, 10:00-12:00pm
Location: Soquel Glen Mobile Home Park Clubhouse - 5470 Soquel Dr.
Facilitator: Wendy Traber
Qigong: In this class you will learn specific tools for managing side-effects of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation.
Meeting Time: 1st & 3rd Saturday, 2:00-3:00pm.
Location: 1729 Seabright Ave, Suite E.
Facilitator: Sarah Diaz-Bastin
Laughter Yoga: Join Carla Brown, certified Laughter Yoga instructor, to form you own laughter practice! Females who are a vital part of a client’s care team are also invited!
Meets the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of every month, 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. Inner Light Ministry – Fireside Room, 5630 Soquel Drive.
All level YOGA: This class will focus on using the breath and gentle stretching to open up the body and reduce stress. For those who are ready to rebuild strength, modifications will be offered. No yoga experience necessary – beginners welcome!
Taught by Becky Dickson, certified yoga instructor. Meets the 4th Thursday of each month, 3:30pm-4:30pm at Yoga Within in Aptos (www.yogawithin.com).
WomenCARE is a community providing advocacy, resources, education and support to women with cancer, their families, friends and health practitioners throughout diagnosis, healing, surviving, or dying.
WomenCARE is directed and led primarily by women with cancer or a cancer history.
WomenCARE respects and depends upon the wisdom that comes from a diversity of culture, economic background, age, sexual orientation, and physical ability, and thus strives to be an organization embracing the widest diversity of women.
Cancer weaves innumerable changes -small and profound- into women's lives. We acknowledge cancer as a complicated disease that strikes at random. We believe that no woman is to blame for getting cancer. WomenCARE honors the unique relationship each individual has to cancer.
WomenCARE helps women to explore diagnostic and treatment choices from worldwide and multicultural options. We honor and respect a women's individual decisions, including choosing not to begin or not to continue treatment.
In coalition with other organizations, WomenCARE is committed to uncovering and challenging the current politics of cancer. We strive to rectify the insufficient funding for prevention, education, treatment and research of women's cancers as well as the inequitable access to medical and alternative treatments and to quality support services.
WomenCARE understands the necessity of, and is committed to, creating an organizational structure and process which promotes the health and well being of all women involved in WomenCARE.
