A thousand people pledging $20 every month could raise the $20,000 a month to keep the center open.   Kathleen Merryman; The News Tribune 'To be able to come here and be treated royally, which is what it's like, is a major gift,' says [Dianna] Carlsen.    - Drew Mikkelsen / KING 5 News

On Wednesday, April 11^th, 2012, the Breast Cancer Resource Center was forced to close its doors and suspended all programs and services – including imaging vouchers, classes, and support groups.  This decision was extremely difficult, but was made in hope that we would be able to reopen with our previous schedule and services on May 1^st, 2012.  As that day has come and gone, we are now looking to June 1st as a reopening date as we continue to work on securing new operating cost assistance.

Up until this emergency furlough, the center had been operating at a modified schedule for client services as compared with our hours in 2008, when I started as a part-time client services coordinator and prior to our original loss of $110,000 in Komen funding in March of 2009.  In 2008, we were open for clients from 9:00am-4:00pm, Monday-Friday, we had three community outreach workers including one for the African American community and one for the Hispanic community directly, and held five movement classes (exercise and relaxation) weekly and two support groups monthly.  In June of 2010, after working at full capacity following the 2009 Komen cut only by utilizing savings, the center's hours were reduced to Monday - Thursday, 10:00am-3:00pm.

When I took on the position of executive director in November of 2010, our client service hours had to be further reduced to the current Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 10:00am-3:00pm, in order to remain available to our clients.  Our classes and support groups remain constant, but we are down to one community outreach worker with outreach having become another hat for the two full-time staff.  To operate on the current schedule - including all goods (bras, prostheses, wigs, post-mastectomy camisoles, etc.) and programs (800+ Patient Support Kits annually which go out free of charge to 75 offices in five counties for newly diagnosed women, etc.) - it takes close to $20,000 each month.  As of mid-March, our client services were up by 15% for the year.

Our board of directors has had to adjust our "bottom" - the point at which we have just enough money to pay off our debts and walk away from the center - multiple times as we have gone along through a harder and harder economy following our sudden loss of support from Komen.  At the meeting on Monday, April 9th, it was clear that we were no longer able to adjust that number and that we were at the place we kept hoping to avoid.  Tuesday was a horrible day and declaring the furlough was the most hopeful thing I could think to do in order to not close our doors for good.  

The women we see are in need of and deserve a safe space where they can be heard at length, in detail, and through any emotional response they are having to their diagnosis, their side effects, and their fears without worrying about having to wrap it up, write it down, move along, or pay the bill at the end of the visit.  They are valuable, their needs are valuable, and their time is precious.  In order to continue serving women in this manner, we are asking for individual donors to support our mission and our clients through recurring and secure online donations.  Federal Tax ID #91-1928695.

Thank you in advance for your support,

Jay Zatzkin, MD, FACP Board President Retired Medical Oncologist

Janie Cunningham Executive Director