Location: Calgary, Alberta
The Living with Cancer Program volunteers are part of a weekly, year-round drop-in group that provides support to adults and their caregivers who are facing the challenges of living well with advanced cancer. The COVID-19 pandemic required program members to isolate and distance themselves from others, and program volunteers realized they needed to reach out to the participants in a new way.
Eleven volunteers now make weekly calls to participants to check in on them. These calls are extremely important to program participants living with the stress of cancer, isolation and managing their risk of contracting COVID-19. Now, more than ever, they depend on the volunteers reaching out and bringing the community to them. These calls remind program participants that although they cannot meet as a group, they are not forgotten as individuals.