My Nonprofit Reviews

I am a young adult cancer survivor & have been blessed to have attended 2 Next Step retreats. The 1st one was for young adult cancer survivors only. I cannot say enough about this retreat. There were 25 of us, with different cancers, different stages of treatment/survivorship & to be able to share a whole weekend with people who understood was…priceless. We could talk about what we went through, were going through & how we truly felt about it. We didn’t have to “be strong” & act like everything was great. We also didn’t have talk about cancer at all & still knew what the other was going through & feeling. Every emotion out there; happiness, sorrow, grief, guilt, hopefulness, helplessness…..etc. I have made friends for life! We all stay connected through different social networks & encourage & inspire each other daily. No one can understand what we’ve been through, except those, our own age, that have been through it themselves. It was a much needed self healing & self renewing weekend for all of us. The 2nd retreat was a couple’s retreat for young adult survivor & their partner in LA. This was exactly what my husband & I needed. To be able to get away from it all & spend it with other couple’s that knew the struggles & strain cancer can put on a relationship. To be able to relate with other couples that have been through what we had been through & to hang out with them was so amazing. We have good friends that we hang out with, but it is not the same, especially for the caregiver. I was so happy my husband had the opportunity to meet other caregivers/spouses & be able to talk with them, bond with them & form friendships with them. For us to able to do this as a couple really brought us closer together. It gave both of us an outlet to talk, vent & share with others & it gave us time to just be together. Not have to worry about money, debt, fertility & most importantly Cancer. I cannot say enough about the Next Step retreats & how they have truly changed my life for the better. The staff & volunteers are so great! They are very kind & helpful but they are more than that, they are passionate about what they do & very genuine. They welcome us all into their lives with their arms & hearts wide open, no hesitation, no feeling sorry for us or making us feel like we’re less than we are. They are there to help us shine, help us grow, help us live again & show us, through their actions, that helping others is a key to happiness! I love them, I thank them & I would hug them all right now if I could!

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