We are excited to share with you that our Peer to Peer: METAvivor Training Program for Support Group Leaders has launched! Our first “graduates” are all set to go and excited about building support groups in their local areas.
Just what are Peer to Peer Support Groups? They are support groups run by MBC patients for MBC patients. They are modeled after the support group I started in Annapolis MD in 2007 ... almost two years prior to the founding of METAvivor.
Peer to peer support is based on the concept that patients with MBC gravitate toward each other for advice, for comfort, for sharing and for friendship. These groups are run and attended solely by MBC patients. Members get together at coffee shops, restaurants, and other meeting areas that are comfortable and convenient to the group members. They periodically have parties, perhaps guest speakers, they might take field trips together or go antiquing ... and all the while they chat and share information about MBC. The members quickly develop close friendships and also serve as a source of local support when times are rough.
Peer leaders ensure the needs of members are met, arrange regular meetings, keep patients informed, identify and provide information on local and national resources and arrange for a welcoming, positive environment. Most importantly, they provide opportunities for patients to share, have fun, be understood and express themselves freely with others who truly understand.
The names, locations and contact information of new peer leaders ready to take on members, can be found below. Additional applicants will be training over the next few weeks and added to the list. Given that these are in-person programs and thus local only, we would like to see thousands of these started so that everyone wanting to be part of such a group can do so, regardless of where they live.
If you wish to join one of these new peer to peer support groups, please download and complete the membership form at the bottom of this post and forward to the peer leader identified below for your area.
If you are interested in becoming a peer leader and starting one of these groups, please take the survey and we will be in touch. For more information, contact CJ Corneliussen-James at [email protected]. Please put “Peer to Peer” in the subject line.
Both the peer leader training and support group membership are free to all MBC patients.
METAvivor wishes to express its deep appreciation to Avon, whose funding made this program possible.
Eastern States
Dayville, CT: Nicoltte Ricci
Greenwood, DE: Barbara Westfall
Noblesville, IN: Lisa Stillerman
Fishers, IN: Linda BB, call 317-876-9730
Westlake, OH: Jennifer Hendryx
Delta, OH: Tatum Bowerman-Hummel
Avon Lake, OH: Wendy Kozel
Central States
Arley, AL: Amy Ackley
Springdale, AR: Lisa Quiin
St. Louis Park, MN: Darlene Personius
Mountain States
Cheyenne, WY: Karen Pope
Pacific States
Palo Alto, CA: Vickie Young Wen
Visalia, CA: Rebecca Adam
Las Vegas, NV: Tina Martin
