Gilda's Club North Texas

Gilda's Club History and Mission

The mission of Gilda's Club North Texas is to create welcoming communities of free support for everyone living with cancer - men, women, teens and children - along with their families and friends. Gilda's innovative program is an essential complement to medical care, providing networking and support groups, workshops, education and social activities. Gilda's Club opened its doors to the North Texas community on April 22, 2002. Gilda's Club North Texas is the first Texas affiliate, and the 14th nationwide, of Gilda's Club Worldwide, the international nonprofit organization inspired by the late comedian Gilda Radner. Gilda regained her gift of laughter and feeling of control when she joined with others living with cancer. She discovered a community built on sharing her experience with others while learning how to live with cancer. Gilda's Club North Texas is the place where people with cancer and their families learn to live with cancer, and hopefully beyond it. It is their lifeline to strength, hope and guidance. The effects are lifechanging.

Gilda's Club North Texas is chartered to serve the following counties: Dallas, Collin, Tarrant, Denton, Johnson, Ellis, Rockwall, Hunt, Fannin and Grayson. Currently, Gilda's Club employs 9 full time staff members, and partners with 250 volunteers annually. More than 6,750 member visits were logged in 2008, with an additional 5,248 visits recorded by nonmembers. Each month, approximately 100 unique activities take place in the club house and Gilda's outreach team has connected with more than 7,600 individuals via hospitals and clinics, schools and neighborhood organizations and corporate health fairs. In the coming year we know that we need to expand our services in scope and location - to meet the needs of the growing cancer community - to meet those touched by cancer in their own communities.

Program Description

Each day, fifty more of our North Texas neighbors hear the words "You have cancer." Those words mark the beginning of a formidable and frightening challenge to the people who are diagnosed with the disease and their friends, family members, and children. When cancer is in the family, parents are often overwhelmed by chaos and decisions, and children can be confused, fearful, and reluctant to express themselves for fear of causing distress. Usually, a child is the only one among his friends who is living with cancer.

Gilda's Club North Texas helps families communicate, support each other, and maintain stability as they experience the life-changing crisis of a cancer diagnosis through Support Groups and our Noogieland Program.

Gilda's Club programming is truly unique in DFW. No other cancer support organization provides comprehensive social and emotional support for the entire family during a cancer diagnosis. Support programming at Gilda's Club is inclusive of those diagnosed with cancer and the team of support that is touched by a loved one's diagnosis. At Gilda's Club the entire network of friends, family and loved ones receives the support necessary to manage the crisis effect of a cancer diagnosis. This support is available completely free of charge and through every season our members face including treatment, post-treatment and if necessary remission or bereavement. The components of Gilda's Club programming include:

• Support and networking groups that help members deal with the devastating emotional impact of cancer. These include Wellness Groups, made up of people who are living with any type of cancer - whatever the outcome; Families/Friends Groups that support the special needs of the loved ones of those living with cancer; and a group of cancer survivors called Ph&d: Perspective, Helping Hands and Discovery, that share their experiences with other members.
• Guidance for family members in giving maximum support to their loved ones with cancer, while dealing with their own anxieties.
• Workshops on topics such as stress management, exercise, and nutrition, as well as therapeutic activities such as art, music, and journal keeping, provided by licensed professionals and program specialists.
• A special program called "Noogieland" for children with cancer and children touched by cancer in their families. Noogieland is a warm and supportive play environment filled with toys, books, games, and art supplies. Trained counselors and volunteers encourage children to express their feelings or simply unwind with other children who understand their emotions and accept them.
• Receive certified personal training and access to exercise equipment, wellness strategies and encouragement and guidance from staff sensitive to the wellness needs of those touched by cancer via a partnership with Cancer Foundation for Life.
• Essential information from experts and specialists on the latest findings concerning cancer treatment, pain and symptom management, and recommendations concerning financial and family issues.
• A resource center with educational and inspirational materials, computers, and Internet access.
• Special programming for teenage members of Gilda's Club North Texas. Teen Talk allows teen members to come together to complete volunteer projects, assist with clubhouse events and meet other teens who have been touched by cancer.
• Ongoing support for family members and friends when a loved one with cancer dies.

Additionally, Gilda's Club's calendar is filled with fulfilling activities that are simply fun - potluck suppers, joke fests, art classes, music, and more. It's a place where people come as they are to learn to live with cancer. And it's all free of charge.

An Urgent Call for Emotional and Social Support

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a study in late 2007, Cancer Care for the Whole Patient: Meeting Psychosocial Health Needs, which reinforced Gilda's Club's philosophy that emotional and social support are integral to medical treatment when cancer is in the family. Through report findings, the IOM issued a call to action among medical professionals to increase the standard of psychosocial care for all cancer patients. This call to action means that Gilda's Club's comprehensive program of support is more necessary than ever.

The physical pain and symptoms of cancer and treatment can debilitate people and deprive them of their independence. Cancer can wreak emotional havoc in the lives of people with the disease and their friends, family members, and children. They may feel helpless, stressed, depressed, angry, and anxious. Family relationships and friendships, reshaped by the crisis of cancer, change and sometimes end. And children are often left with the emotional scars that a lifethreatening illness can inflict.

Gilda's Club was founded to meet the need for social and emotional support for people living with cancer, which the current health care system does not adequately address. In fact, a recent poll by the Lance Armstrong Foundation found that 49 percent of people living with cancer feel that their non-medical needs go unmet by the health care system. More than half said that the practical and emotional consequences of dealing with cancer are often harder than the medical issues.

There are many effective organizations and facilities in North Texas that provide expert medical care and emotional support to people diagnosed with cancer. Gilda's Club North Texas augments those services by facilitating a community of emotional support to meet the needs of all the people whose lives are changed by a cancer diagnosis - the patient and family and friends. Gilda's Club is the only organization that supports the families of cancer patients as a separate group with their own unique needs and issues. Gilda's Club is the only organization with the goal of enabling and facilitating its members in developing a community of support to help themselves and each other.

Since April of 2002 Gilda's Club North Texas has been reaching out to North Texas families touched by cancer to offer emotional and social support. In this short time Gilda's presence has expanded from our initial membership of 500 to currently serving 2,452 members, 499 of those members being children. GCNT outreach has continued to grow and in 2008 community support enabled Gilda's to partner with more than 250 volunteers log more than 7,216 member visits and touch over 5,000 visitors - clubhouse usage for the year totaled more than 12,000 visits. Additionally, the Gilda's message and mission has reached more than 7,500 individuals in hospitals and clinics, schools and neighborhood organizations and corporate health fairs.

Membership is free of charge to anyone touched by any form of cancer. Just like cancer, Gilda's Club does not discriminate and welcomes members of every race, gender, color, creed and socio-economic background. Distinctive support programs are offered for men, women, teens and children and their families and friends so that no one in North Texas must face cancer alone.

Our Success

The best indicator of our success is member satisfaction. Gilda's Club North Texas tracks data and statistics for all components of our program, and conducts regular evaluations and questionnaires for members, staff, and volunteers. In the past year our members have visited the clubhouse nearly 11,000 times. A random survey mailed this year resulted in a 20% response rate. Respondents were overwhelmingly positive in their comments and attitudes toward Gilda's Club and the usefulness of the program in helping them learn to live with cancer. 95% would recommend Gilda's Club to others living with cancer. 96% find our educational presentations and workshops excellent/good. 96% find our social events excellent/good. 88% find our weekly support groups excellent/good, 89% find our Kid Support Group excellent.