"I'm lost," was the only way that she could verbalize her feelings. Her husband had been diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer the summer before. She was holding down a full-time job and had children at home. With a faint voice and a look of distraction, she was speaking to a small group that had joined for an orientation meeting at a place called The Wellness Community. These meetings are
held twice a week and are led by survivors who know first-hand about the stresses of living with cancer.

The Wellness Community, a national organization founded in 1982, provides free psychological and emotional support as part of conventional medical treatment.

First located in Santa Monica and founded by Dr. Harold Benjamin, husband of a breast cancer survivor, the Boston Wellness Community opened in 1993, in honor of Gilda Radner, a close friend of the local founder, Pamela Katz Zakheim. When people with cancer walk in the door, they leave behind the role of patient and become a participant. Oncologists, who serve as advisors, provide the only link to the medical side of the participants' experience. The emphasis is on hope, recovery and the power of relationships in all of the Community's activities.

All activities are designed for group participation and all activities are free of charge. Typically there are two types of programs offered: emotional and educational. The weekly emotional support groups, which consist of groups for participants (cancer patients) and separate groups for their families/supporters, require a commitment to participate in such groups over a course of time.

Interviews are conducted before a new person enters an existing group, and the groups are led by licensed psychotherapists who address the three most common stressors for those experiencing cancer and their supporters: loss of control, hopelessness and sense of social isolation. The emphasis is on the powerful experience of sharing.

Many participants enter The Wellness Community come with fear and anxiety but gradually gain hope and learn to cope more effectively through the relationships they develop there. One young participant said, "I have learned so much at The Wellness Community. But most particularly I have learned that love is greater than suffering."

Except for the weekly support groups, all ongoing activities at The Wellness Community are on a drop-in basis. Monthly schedules include networking groups with a focus on a particular disease (such as breast cancer or melanoma) or a certain group (for men or newly diagnosed); a program especially for families, children and teens, called "Kids Count Too"; programs on nutrition. relaxation, yoga and tai chi, and workshops on a range of topics such as "Look Good, Feel Better" and "Anger: Friend or Foe."

The Wellness Community's funding comes from individual, corporate and foundation donations. Fundraising events throughout the year include the springtime Gilda Radner Award Dinner, a summer golf tournament and a gala dinner held in the spring.

Hung in a prominent spot is a framed quote attributed to founder Harold Benjamin. It reads: "If you participate in your fight for recovery, you will improve the quality of your life and just may enhance the possibility of your recovery." This thought encompasses the very philosophy of the program. The 700-800 people per year who visit The Wellness Community reap the benefits of this recognition of hope.

Gayle Mosher frequently writes our "Reaching Out" column.