Here For The Girls Inc

Programs: Support for young women diagnosed under 51: breast cancer has a significantly greater impact on quality of life and for a longer period of time for young women. For 12 years here for the girls (h4tg) has been here improving the quality of life and emotional well-being of young women whose lives have been turned upside down by a breast cancer diagnosis - those on the front lines of the disease who are just trying to get through one more day. H4tg gives them peers who understand, and the vital support, information, and resources they need to get through and beyond this unexpected, frightening experience feeling confident, energized, understood, and hopeful, no matter what the future may hold. H4tg does this through two not-your-typical support services: beyond boobs and pink link. Beyond boobs provides loving in-person support, led by trained facilitators, in community-based support systems in va, tx, fl, and nc. It also offers a variety of uplifting h. I. P. Chick activities to restore confidence and just have fun as young women should be doing. Pink link provides the same brand of intimate, loving support as beyond boobs but online, nationwide, 24/7 through chat choices and one-on-one connections, plus a database of resources and relevant information (in chat guides facilitated by experts) for survivors and caregivers. The women from both programs, in-person and online, also have the opportunity to participate in an annual one-of-a kind wellness retreat (renew, restore, retreat) and private facebook groups, and to attend or volunteer at our signature events, apply to become calendar models (and h4tg ambassadors) in the annual a calendar to live by or dancers (who perform before a large audience) at starlets of dance as a way of stepping out of their comfort zones and growing confidence that often leaves with the diagnosis. These are more ways our young women can ask questions, share information, and support one another through the many challenges of being young and dealing with a breast cancer diagnosis and the aftermath of treatments that can last for a lifetime, no matter how long or short that may be. Health and wellness education is a part of the support h4tg provides because healing from this disease and living your best life afterwards involves healing mind, body and spirit, not just the physical. H4tg consistently models and promotes healthy lifestyle options. The organization educates survivors and, as a by-procuct, the public, about breast health and living a healthy lifestyle. It does this through various methods, including, a lifesaving breast health guide inside its annual "a calendar to live by" (of the 10,000 printed, at least 80% are donated to free clinics, physicians offices, and given away to newly diagnosed women and at speaking engagements), partnering with a local newspaper to create a breast health insert with a distribution of 100,000+, modeling healthy living at support group meetings and activities for members, participating at health fairs and numerous local and national speaking engagements, and using its own "good health fairy" to spread its wellness message in a non- threatening way. Young women diagnosed with breast cancer face unique challenges - such as more aggressive cancers often found at later stages, premature menopause, and raising young children, holding down jobs, and caring for a spouse or dating while in treatment and afterward - yet specific resources are slim and peers can be difficult to find. Here for the girls exists to ensure that no young woman has to make this journey without all the love, encouragement, and information possible from peers who understand.