Cancer In The Workplace Research: Speaker Series Program Announcement!

cancer in the workplace

A few months ago we launched our newest program here at Lacuna Loft, the Speaker Series!  Our 5th Speaker Series Talk will launch on Wednesday, December 20th!  Starting on that day, you’ll be able to watch Robyn talk about her Cancer in the Workplace Research.  While the talk won’t be live, we’d love for you to submit your questions!  After reading a little abstract on the talk, fill out the short form at the bottom of this post with all of your questions!  Submit as many as you want and Robyn will do her best to answer them at the end of her talk!

After my diagnosis with breast cancer, I was startled to hear that although 90% of working aged cancer survivors return to work, 33% of working aged cancer exit the workforce within 5 years of their diagnosis. I spent time reflecting on my experience and my personal decision to leave my current employer and embark upon a new career and wanted to find out more. I found in my personal experience that there was an expectation that after my last day of radiation I would be back to 100% which was not the case. I also found that, after putting up the biggest fight of my life, the garbage in my workplace was illuminated and I wasn’t willing to be a part of it any longer.

As a part of my transition, I found myself going from HR Professional to HR Instructor and now have the opportunity to research why working aged cancer survivors are leaving the workforce and also capture those who are still in the workforce but in different positions. I am uncovering why people are leaving or changing jobs (often to their detriment) and what employers can do to keep employees impacted by cancer in the workforce. My ultimate goal is to help employers understand the challenges cancer patients face and that recovery is not instantaneous and make the experiences of others who are transitioning back to work a little brighter.

Psst…want to submit a topic for a future Speaker Series?  You can do so here!

Lacuna Loft’s Origin Story: Speaker Series Program Announcement!

lacuna loft origin story

A few months ago we launched our newest program here at Lacuna Loft, the Speaker Series!  Our fourth Speaker Series Talk will launch on Tuesday, November 14th!  Starting on that day, you’ll be able to watch Mallory talk about Lacuna Loft’s Origin Story.  While the talk won’t be live, we’d love for you to submit your questions!  After reading a little abstract on the talk, fill out the short form at the bottom of this post with all of your questions!  Submit as many as you want and Mallory will do her best to answer them at the end of her talk!

Just recently, someone sent me an email with the question, “How can I do what you do?” and it got me thinking.  What is Lacuna Loft?  What do we do?  Where did we start?  And, how did we get there?  I’m asked questions all the time about starting a nonprofit, what being a woman CEO is like, where Lacuna Loft’s name comes from, and more.  Well!  We’re talking about all of that and more during this upcoming speaker series talk!

Psst…want to submit a topic for a future Speaker Series?  You can do so here!

Join The Flight Crew!

lacuna loft flight crew

Welcome to Pledge Drive week!  At Lacuna Loft, we provide all of our programs free of charge to young adult cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers.  This week, we’re launching a week-long, brand new initiative to provide you with tools to lend support to Lacuna Loft if you’d like!  All week long, we’ll delve into Lacuna Loft’s needs and let you know how you can help!  Last post!

Last day of the Pledge Drive!  Earlier today we talked about how else you could help support Lacuna Loft as we help support young adult cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers!  If you missed that post, you can find it here.

Now we’re talking about Lacuna Loft’s Flight Crew.  The Lacuna Loft Flight Crew is comprised of the wonderful donors who keep Lacuna Loft’s programs running strong.  Just in case becoming a member of the Flight Crew is something you’re interested in, we didn’t want to finish out our Pledge Drive week without letting you in on how to join!  By donating to Lacuna Loft, you join an exclusive group of motivated people who directly impact young adults facing cancer.  We’ll provide you with special updates from me, our founder, and keep you apprised of any important announcements.  Donate a certain amount each month, and we’ll send you exclusive, Lacuna Loft swag!  You can learn more about all of this and donate here.

We know that donating isn’t always an option for young adults facing cancer and that’s why this Pledge Drive was so important.  There are other ways to become supportive of Lacuna Loft’s programs, joining our team so we can continue offering programs free of charge.  No matter how you join in, every member of the Lacuna Loft family is vitally important to our mission and we are very grateful that you’re here.

A lot has happened this first, Pledge Drive week.  Thank you for coming along for the ride with us.

With you on our team, we can continue offering programs free of charge to young adult cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers!  Thank you!

Host A Party!

host a party for lacuna loft

Welcome to Pledge Drive week!  At Lacuna Loft, we provide all of our programs free of charge to young adult cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers.  This week, we’re launching a week-long, brand new initiative to provide you with tools to lend support to Lacuna Loft if you’d like!  All week long, we’ll delve into Lacuna Loft’s needs and let you know how you can help!  Day Five!

Last day of the Pledge Drive!  Today we’re talking about how else you could help support Lacuna Loft as we help support young adult cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers!  Host a game night, costume contest, hold a raffle, host a dinner party and charge everyone $5 admission…this is a make your own adventure type of fundraiser.  Think about what you already like to do for fun with your friends, and do that!  (With the added bonus of helping Lacuna Loft along the way).

Every dollar that you raise creates an impact.  Raise $25?  That provides a book for a young adult cancer survivor in our Book Club.  Raise $50?  That provides a supply box for a young adult cancer survivor in our Creative Workshops.  Raise $100?  That sends 1000 brochures to healthcare providers to hand out to their young adult cancer patients.  Raise $250?  Well…you get the picture.  We’ll always provide you with 100% transparency behind our financials and our impact so that you can trust where your money goes and where our effort is headed.

A lot has happened this first, Pledge Drive week.  Thank you for coming along for the ride with us.

With you on our team, we can continue offering programs free of charge to young adult cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers!

What to do next?  Stay tuned for more happening this week.  We have one thing left in store for you later on today.  Just in case you are interested, we’d like to invite you to join our Flight Crew!  Stay tuned!

Support Lacuna Loft On AmazonSmile

lacuna loft on amazonsmile

Welcome to Pledge Drive week!  At Lacuna Loft, we provide all of our programs free of charge to young adult cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers.  This week, we’re launching a week-long, brand new initiative to provide you with tools to lend support to Lacuna Loft if you’d like!  All week long, we’ll delve into Lacuna Loft’s needs and let you know how you can help!  Day Four!

One easy, simple way?  Choose Lacuna Loft as your charity of choice when you shop on Amazon, using AmazonSmile!  Whenever you shop, Amazon donates 0.5% of the purchase price to Lacuna Loft!

Click the box below and it will send you straight to Amazon!

How can you help?

Choose Lacuna Loft as your charity on AmazonSmile!  Help support young adult cancer survivors whenever your shop!

With you on our team, we can continue offering programs free of charge to young adult cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers!

What to do next?  Stay tuned for more happening this week.  You’ll hear some powerful stories from our community as well as some exciting announcements!  Pledge Drive week has a lot left in store for you!

Welcome to Pledge Drive Week!

lacuna loft transparency

This week we’re doing something a little different.  Welcome to Pledge Drive week!  At Lacuna Loft, we provide all of our programs free of charge to young adult cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers.  While we don’t talk about it very often, these programs and the wonderful people working behind the scenes all come with a financial need.  This week, we’re launching a week-long, brand new initiative to provide you with tools to lend support to Lacuna Loft if you’d like!  All week long, we’ll delve into Lacuna Loft’s needs and let you know how you can help!

Lacuna Loft provides support programs free of charge to young adult cancer survivors and caregivers. We focus primarily on bringing young adult cancer survivors and caregivers together, helping to end isolation and improve quality of life.  To do this, we count on the gift of time and financial support from individuals and corporations.

And where does the money go?

$15 offers a young adult cancer survivor journaling prompts each week, for one month.
$25 provides one young adult cancer survivor with a book during our Young Adult Cancer Book Club.
$50 gives one young adult cancer survivor a supply box for a Creative Workshop.
$100 provides 1000 brochures to healthcare providers working with young adult cancer patients.
$250 allows one young adult cancer survivor to participate in a session of our 8-week Unspoken Ink Young Adult Cancer Creative Writing Group.

How can you help?

Share Lacuna Loft with your community. Tell your story, how Lacuna Loft helped, and ask them to help support programs that support you.

With you on our team, we can continue offering programs free of charge to young adult cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers!

What to do next?  Stay tuned for more happening this week.  You’ll hear some powerful stories from our community as well as some exciting announcements!  Pledge Drive week has a lot left in store for you!

Speaker Series Talk: The Sum of Survival – Jenn

surviving young adult cancer

Our 3rd Speaker Series talk is live!  Check out Jenn’s talk on The Sum of Survival in the video below!

Chatting with Jenn was a real treat.  A few minutes after we stopped recording the talk she said, “I survived up until now and if that changes tomorrow, I’ll deal.”  Such an insightful remark from someone who has been through so much.

What does it mean to survive? To me it’s living life to the fullest while you’re here on this planet. Some people feel like the term survivor doesn’t apply once their cancer came back – I disagree. Every day you get up – no matter how hard – you survive. It’s another day to make memories, say I love you or sleep in. Being a survivor carries a HUGE burden. Once you’ve gone through cancer people think you should be farting rainbows. Wrong! We have good days and bad just like anyone else … and snarled traffic, a bad hair day, and rude people still set us off. I do feel uncomfortable saying the term survivor sometimes because of all these misconceptions, I’m no superhero, I’m no braver than anyone else in my situation – the simple truth of the matter is that I’ve survived all that life has thrown at me so far … and that’s good enough.

Psst…want to submit a topic for a future Speaker Series?  You can do so here!

The Sum of Survival: Speaker Series Program Announcement!

surviving young adult cancer

A few months ago we launched our newest program here at Lacuna Loft, the Speaker Series!  Our third Speaker Series Talk will launch on Wednesday, October 4th!  Starting on that day, you’ll be able to watch Jenn talk about The Sum of Survival.  While the talk won’t be live, we’d love for you to submit your questions!  After reading a little abstract on the talk, fill out the short form at the bottom of this post with all of your questions!  Submit as many as you want and Jenn will do her best to answer them at the end of her talk!

What does it mean to survive? To me it’s living life to the fullest while you’re here on this planet. Some people feel like the term survivor doesn’t apply once their cancer came back – I disagree. Every day you get up – no matter how hard – you survive. It’s another day to make memories, say I love you or sleep in. Being a survivor carries a HUGE burden. Once you’ve gone through cancer people think you should be farting rainbows. Wrong! We have good days and bad just like anyone else … and snarled traffic, a bad hair day, and rude people still set us off. I do feel uncomfortable saying the term survivor sometimes because of all these misconceptions, I’m no superhero, I’m no braver than anyone else in my situation – the simple truth of the matter is that I’ve survived all that life has thrown at me so far … and that’s good enough.

Psst…want to submit a topic for a future Speaker Series?  You can do so here!

Speaker Series Talk: Learning To Live Life Post Cancer – Kim

living life after cancer

Our 2nd Speaker Series talk is live!  Check out Kim’s talk on Learning To Live Life Post Cancer in the video below!

It was really fun chatting with Kim about her role caregiving as a young adult after her sister’s cancer diagnosis. You’ll find great tips on learning to live life post cancer as a caregiver and much more!

To hear that my sister had cancer was an indescribable feeling. For me, the only thing harder than hearing those words, was learning to live life while going through it. The second hardest has been learning to live life post-cancer. As all consuming as cancer was and is, a tremendous power was gained when I chose to take back some control during one of the most uncontrollable situations that I will probably ever face. In doing so, I have gained a unique perspective that I hope will help others to do the same.

Psst…want to submit a topic for a future Speaker Series?  You can do so here!

Learning To Live Life Post Cancer: Speaker Series Program Announcement!

living life after cancer

Last month we launched our newest program here at Lacuna Loft, the Speaker Series!  Our second Speaker Series Talk will launch on Wednesday, September 6th!  Starting on that day, you’ll be able to watch Kim talk about Learning to Live Life Post Cancer.  While the talk won’t be live, we’d love for you to submit your questions!  After reading a little abstract on the talk, fill out the short form at the bottom of this post with all of your questions!  Submit as many as you want and Kim will do her best to answer them at the end of her talk!

To hear that my sister had cancer was an indescribable feeling. For me, the only thing harder than hearing those words, was learning to live life while going through it. The second hardest has been learning to live life post-cancer. As all consuming as cancer was and is, a tremendous power was gained when I chose to take back some control during one of the most uncontrollable situations that I will probably ever face. In doing so, I have gained a unique perspective that I hope will help others to do the same.

Psst…want to submit a topic for a future Speaker Series?  You can do so here!