Jackie, a long-time nurse working in Northampton, reached out to Deb after reading her story in the Daily Hampshire Gazette, “Cancer prompts a sister act”. The Gazette was covering Deb’s efforts to get then President, Bill Clinton, to declare breast cancer an epidemic after Deb’s own sister died of breast cancer six months earlier. Jackie shared her own story and they began working together.

After a few years of working through other non-profit groups in the state and local area providing support to individuals affected by cancer, Jackie challenged them to “start a place where people with cancer can come to talk.” They researched how other cancer support programs across the country were organized and what worked well.

In 2000, they officially opened Cancer Connection, which was originally located in the Silk Mill building in nearby Florence, MA. They created groups for women with ovarian cancer and breast cancer, and after the first male participant arrived, they started a men’s group. By the fall of 2000, word had spread about their new cancer support center and thanks to the many local people who came forward to offer their services, soon Cancer Connection had a variety of support groups and (integrative) therapies to offer.

Deb, Jackie, and their devoted part-time office manager, Sybil, ran the day-to-day operations until Jackie Walker died, suddenly, in 2008. At the same time, Betsy Garson Neisner had recently joined Cancer Connection’s Board of Directors. Having had experience as a nonprofit administrator before law school, she offered to volunteer during the transition.

When Deb retired, a few months later, the Board hired Betsy to be Cancer Connection’s next director. Cancer Connection was already a dearly loved and respected resource for community cancer care in the Valley, but it was still a nascent nonprofit. Betsy hired new staff to support and enhance the center’s visibility in the community. She created written policies and procedures and developed a strategic plan. Betsy built on the foundation Deb and Jackie created and expanded the center’s capacity.

As we welcomed more participants, it was clear that the center had outgrown the Silk Mill. The layout worked when the center was beginning, but it offered no room for growth nor was it easily accessible to participants with physical challenges. Cancer Connection needed to find new quarters, organize a building campaign, and renovate the new space to fit our expanding needs. The Board of Directors approved Betsy’s plan in 2010 to move to a new ground level location less than a mile away, which would significantly increase our program capacity and improve access to our center.

The move to 41 Locust Street was completed in July 2010 with a handicap-accessible bathroom, a separate room dedicated to integrative therapies, and even a private garden. The entryway was adorned with a beautiful mural, honoring donors to the building campaign.

New programs expanded almost immediately with the opening of the new center. Cancer Connection had always benefitted from the financial support of the community. Individual and business donations, sponsorships, small grants, and fundraising events had covered expenses thus far. Nevertheless, nonprofits are best sustained by a stable source of income rather than relying on fundraisers year after year for their operating budget.

The solution? A thrift shop! It could bring in a stable and consistent income while offering the community a meaningful community service, a “green” business, and a fun opportunity for our volunteers. In 2012, Betsy Neisner, Cancer Connection’s executive director at the time, formed a Thrift Shop Task Force. It was comprised of center staff, board members, and dedicated community members with strong retail experience. The steering committee found a terrific space on South Street in Northampton and hired its first Thrift Shop manager, Nancy Charbonneau Case. After (literally) lots of heavy lifting, Cancer Connection’s Thrift Shop opened its doors in late 2013.

After guiding Cancer Connection from its early days in the Silk Mill to a new location, with an expanded staff and programs, with the thrift shop now well-established to support them, Betsy Neisner retired in 2016. Betsy was a beloved and well-known leader of Cancer Connection for almost a decade. During her tenure, Betsy’s name became synonymous with cancer support in the valley and it would be challenging for a new executive director to come in right away. The Board of Directors hired Kristen Elechko to serve as an interim director for the next year, to provide stability to the center. During this transition period, she also assisted the board in finding the next permanent Executive Director.

In November 2018, Beverly Herbert succeeded Betsy Neisner. A previous Cancer Connection participant and volunteer and 2-time breast cancer survivor, she said “yes” to follow Betsy and continue the vision established by Jackie and Deb in 2000 of providing free services for individuals, families and caregivers facing cancer; and promoting its mission of “providing a haven where people with cancer, their loved ones and caregivers can learn to cope with the physical and emotional turmoil that is part of a cancer diagnosis and to explore ways to enhance their strength, their hope and their care through support groups, integrative therapies, creative activities and education.”

Under Beverly’s leadership, Cancer Connection’s fundraising and Thrift Shop sales increased, The Board approved giving and planned giving policies that allowed Cancer Connection to accept a planned gift worth more than one million dollars in 2018. A leadership team comprised of senior leaders from both the Center and the Thrift Shop was created bridging agency decisions, befriending, connection, and partnership. The Board of Directors welcomed training to move towards a governance board and are implementing strategies to improve their effectiveness and ensure Cancer Connection’s stability.

The greatest challenge we faced was the COVID-19 pandemic. As required by many companies in 2020, Cancer Connection shifted its service delivery to ensure the health and safety of its staff, participants, facilitators, volunteers, and Thrift Shop customers. For at least six months, we held all staff meetings online to keep everyone connected while safely physically apart. When reopening was permissible, Cancer Connection adopted Massachusetts required reopening plans for every site for the safety of all, The Thrift Shop closed for five months reopening in August 2020.

When the Thrift Shop reopened, the Thrift Shop had adjusted their donation process and hours, reduced the number of shoppers in the store at one time, rearranged the floor displays to allow for better accessibility as well as social distancing, added protective shields, and undertaken other actions to keep all safe. In all we do, we care.

The Center was closed to in-person visitors for two years and in June 2022 began a phased physical reopening with in-person befriending visits by appointment. Many participant services have been provided remotely by phone or video since the start of the pandemic. Recently, we worked with the board to establish a mandatory vaccination policy for staff and volunteers.

Following Beverly’s retirement in 2022, the board of directors hired Chelsea S. Kline, MTS, as our new Executive Director.

Chelsea comes to this role as a resident of Northampton for over 20 years, and the daughter of a cancer survivor. Her mother greatly benefitted from Cancer Connection services when she went through her own healing and recovery time around 2002. Cancer Connection has subsequently held a very special place in her heart because of how much her mother benefitted from the participant services.

Learn more about Chelsea here.