New Group Will Offer Cancer Help
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Del.icio.usThe Kapolei Cancer Self Help Group will have its first official meeting at 5 p.m. Sunday at Island Pacific Academy (909 Haumea St. in Kapolei), where facilitators Luella Windisch and Kala Holden hope to provide a safe place for men and women to cope and share with others in the community dealing with similar hardships.
“I’ve had cancer myself,“Windisch said, “and one of the problems I’ve had is that I live in Ewa Beach and it’s just so hard to get in and out of here. All of the self-help groups I’ve heard of are far away or for military, and it was just very frustrating.
“While I was going through all this I just really needed someone to talk to, and so I thought,‘I can’t be the only one dealing with this in Kapolei.’ And that’s where I got the idea for this group.”
KCSHG is the the only cancer-help support group west of Aiea.
Lending a hand to get the nonprofit off the ground was St. Nicholas Episcopal Church, which offered up some of the hours it didn’t use in the rented space at IPA for the group to meet.
“I just started asking around and trying to figure out a good meeting place, and the church stepped in. It was wonderful,” Windisch said.
“I don’t know if I’ll have one person or 100 people show up, but the great thing about IPA is that we’ve got the space for either.”
The group is led by volunteers who have experienced cancer firsthand and are now helping others with support and information, exposing participants to different ideas, viewpoints and experiences that can help them manage their own fears and those of relatives and friends.
Windisch said she and Holden will try to bring in speakers every month to give advice and medical facts on cancer as well. Medical professionals interested in speaking at a future KCSHG meeting are encouraged to contact them to schedule a date.
“I want people to know that they’re not alone,“Windisch said. “I just really want to encourage people who just feel like they’ve been hit in the gut with this to come out.
“There are people out there that can help ... We can help.”
KCSHG meets on the second Sunday of each month. For more information, visit www.kapoleicancerselfhelp.org or e-mail Windisch at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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