HERS Breast Cancer Foundation :: Bras for Body & Soul

FAQs

The HERS Breast Cancer Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, provides programs and services supporting the needs of women and families affected by breast cancer in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Bras for Body & Soul®, a program of the HERS Breast Cancer Foundation, provides medically necessary items such as bras, prosthesis, lymphedema sleeves, wigs and more, to women who have had breast surgery. We also carry bras appropriate for all women and girls, including nursing bras.

Events >> Bras for Body & Soul^® Grand Opening >> Opening Remarks

The Grand Opening occurred in February 2004, and it was a joyous celebration to share our vision with our friends and supporters!

Opening Introduction - Bernard L. Stewart, DDS, First Vice President of Washington Hospital Board of Directors
Presentation - Neil Marks, Senior Associate Administrator, Washington Hospital
Welcome - Dr. Tricia McMahon, HERS Breast Cancer Foundation, Co-Founder & President, Bras for Body & Soul, Program Director

Opening Introduction

The opening introduction was given by Bernard L. Stewart, DDS, First Vice President of Washington Hospital Board of Directors.

Thank you for being here this evening for what is the first in a series of successive open houses for women’s health care services here at Washington Hospital. It is my privilege to represent the present Board of Directors, but I would like to thank my predecessors on the Board for supporting and planning for women’s health care services at this facility. Their decisions and the work of our staff have brought us to this wonderful occasion where we can take the first step in what will become a major service of the Hospital.

In the past Washington Hospital has formed many partnerships to expand health care services in the District. Examples of these partnerships are:

The Level II NICU operated in partnership with Lucille Packard. This nursery allows families with sick babies to have those children treated close to home in a state of the art facility.

The Washington-Stanford Radiation Oncology Center is also a state of the art radiation treatment center for men and women undergoing cancer therapy. There is not a more modern or up to date facility in the entire Bay Area.

Little Washington Township is a day care facility, recently dedicated, that is on the third floor of this building. This facility is operated in partnership with Kidango and makes it possible for us to alleviate, for some employees, the anxiety that can be associated with leaving a small child in a day care center far from work.

So, it’s fitting that we are here tonight to open yet another chapter in the long tradition of Washington Township Health Care District partnerships. Bras for Body and Soul offers a unique and much needed service to our community. My wife is a two-time breast cancer survivor. Together, we have walked through the agonizing decisions and challenging times associated with fighting breast cancer. I understand, in a deeply personal way, the great need for the services offered by Bras for Body and Soul. Breast cancer can be a devastating experience, and this fine organization can be an integral part in a woman’s full recovery. The partnership with Bras for Body and Soul and the location within the Hospital is certainly unique in the Bay Area and perhaps the Nation. We are proud to take this first step in providing health care services for the women of our District.

It is with great pleasure that I represent the Board in honoring and welcoming Bras for Body and Soul. Washington Hospital is one of the leading health care institutions of the Bay Area and I believe that what we are doing here, will be viewed as a model for other health care providers to follow.

Thank you very much.

Presentation - Bras for Body & Soul Grand Opening

Neil Marks,
Senior Associate Administrator
Washington Hospital

On behalf of our Board of Directors and our Chief Executive Officer, Nancy Farber, I would like to welcome you to this very significant event today, that being the formal opening of the first phase of our Women’s Health Center.

Today we are opening what is the first phase of our Women's Health Center. Typical of new services within the Washington Hospital Healthcare System, we arrived here today by participating in a community needs study six years ago that showed the population of women was growing throughout Washington Hospital's service area. In particular, it showed that the Tri-City area had one of the highest rates of late-stage breast cancer in Alameda County. It was clear from the study that this increasing population of women of all ages -- with emphasis on baby boomers -- and the increased incidence of breast cancer meant that there would be a need for new and enhanced services providing a continuum of care for the residents of the District.

From this, the concept of the Women's Health Center was developed, and the hard work and dedication to create this specialized area of service is what we're here to celebrate this evening. The center will eventually become a place where women can come and receive their care in comfortable surroundings and in an environment that completely caters to their needs.

There couldn't be a better example of this than Bras for Body & Soul, which is focused on meeting the special needs of women who are either going through cancer treatment or have unique needs for which local retail stores cannot help them.

Before I move on with my remarks though, I'd like to thank everyone who had a hand building this beautiful space: Ed Fayen, Chief, System Operations and Support; Kimberly Hartz, Chief, Strategic Management; Jim Davis, Sr. Director, System Operations and Support; Tina Nunez, Sr. Director, Strategic Management; Paolo Diaz, Jennifer Morlock and John Connolly of Fong and Chan Architects who designed this beautiful space; Tom Hyder of Jtec/HCM for his project management; and Mike Mastagni and Jack Netjes of Acme construction. We thank you for making what could've been routine retail space, into an integrated and pivotal part of our Women's Health Center.

The soon-to-come Women's Health Center is one of the most beneficial aspects of being a community-owned hospital. The fact that we can be supportive of an organization like Bras for Body & Soul, by providing such an accessible and warm home, and a convenient location for a valuable community resource, is a very visible sign of that.

If we were not accountable to the District residents, but instead to outside shareholders, a decision to build a Women's Health Center -- let a lone providing prime retail space to such a worthy community organization like Bras for Body & Soul - would likely not get the support that Washington Township Health Care District can provide.

All the moneys we raise through the Washington Hospital Healthcare System are returned to the community through the quality and depth of services we're able to offer our patients, and the residents of the District to meet their health care needs.

Bras for Body & Soul represents the very beginning of the build out of our Women's Health Center. Phase 2 of the state-of-the-art Women's Health Center, which will be located adjacent to the Bras for Body & Soul Shop, will be a breast health center that will include our existing digital mammography, which was the first of its kind in the Bay Area when it was installed here at Washington Hospital in 2000; sterotactic breast biopsies, which provides a much less invasive method for breast biopsies with a quicker recovery; as well as a support group offered for women who have survived or are living with breast cancer.

Knowing that the Bay Area is home to some of the highest breast cancer rates in the country, means that we have an obligation to the residents of the District, who are our owners, to make sure that our female patients have access to the best in Women's Health Services available. This not only includes access to the latest technology, but also to the best support available. And, we could not be more pleased to have Bras for Body & Soul as part of this partnership.

Welcome

Dr. Tricia McMahon, HERS Breast Cancer Foundation, Co-Founder & President, Bras for Body & Soul, Program Director

My heartfelt thanks to each of you--friends and clients who have inspired and encouraged, literally helped my colleague, Cheryl Maloney and I, to hold on to the vision and ‘stay the course’ in responding to the unique and very personal needs of women, including women facing breast cancer. It has been the beauty and courage of the women we meet that has kept the flame of Bras for Body & Soul aglow through the trials, errors and success of manifesting a venture such as this.

Many of you here are part of that vision and hope. Cheryl and I count on your ongoing wisdom and support.

I am often asked: how is it that you are partnering with Washington Hospital? I would like to paint a picture for you of just a few of the special people and moments that helped this dream come true.

There is someone here tonight who might not even know how integral he was to this unfolding. It is he who inspired me to make that fateful call to Nancy Farber’s office seven years ago. He was on the Hospital Board at the time, and had also been a long time colleague of my father. I love hearing him tell the story of how my Dad—one of the founding Medical Staff members when Washington Hospital opened its doors in 1958--helped him to feel welcomed as a colleague and friend of the Fremont medical community. Knowing about that relationship helped give me the courage to reach out to Don Amsbaugh for his personal and professional advice regarding my own possible affiliation with Washington Hospital. Don, thank you for taking my longing to heart and compelling me to meet Nancy Farber. I know that my Dad is smiling upon us all right now.

I will never forget that first meeting with Nancy in June 1997 to explore how we might collaborate in meeting the needs of women facing breast cancer. In that half hour encounter this partnership was born. Sure it took almost seven years to manifest, but it only took 30 minutes to be initiated. Unbeknownst to me Nancy was already hoping/planning to somehow offer similar services here at Washington Hospital. She immediately understood and embraced the breadth of our outreach---our demonstrated commitment to addressing breast health issues not only of breast cancer survivors but women and girls of every size, shape and circumstance, with the care and dignity that every woman deserves.

Each day holds for us the dichotomy of wanting breast cancer eradicated, while at the same time being here to hold and care for women facing this disease. We would love for the need to work with growing numbers of breast cancer survivors to become obsolete. We pray that someday women will not be vulnerable to this disease. We trust that our effort to foster a new (and long overdue) respect and care for the breast health of all women and girls is itself healing for women personally, and our society communally.

This is a landmark day for us! And we hope for the community in general. We are thrilled to create a one-stop shop that is designed to meet the breast health needs of women and cancer survivors in particular. We look forward to providing the array of expanded services that a boutique of this size has to offer. Little did I know 45 years ago... when shopping at Capwell’s Emporium for my white patent leather Easter shoes with matching gloves and straw hat, that I would one day be opening a boutique here. Imagine the surprise of two particular clients of Bras for Body & Soul, both of them breast cancer survivors—one who worked 30 years in the Capwell's shoe department; the other who purchased her two prostheses and bras in the girdle department of Capwell’s in 1979….the prostheses, receipt and Capwell's bag are on display in the shop! By partnering with Washington Hospital we have been able to custom design a space unique to the breast care industry. As you will see it takes a great deal of space to adequately provide the full range of services now available at Bras For Body & Soul. I hope that you will share the exciting news of our new location and expanded services with all your women friends.

Two years ago while meeting at the HERS Breast Cancer Foundation office, Nancy Farber declared: “I want every woman in this community who is facing breast cancer to benefit from the one-stop services that Bras for Body & Soul has to offer with such care and compassion.” As a nonprofit program, both the hospital and HERS are in a unique position to collaborate in offering a sliding fee and when necessary. take care of women who have no resources to support their medical needs.

There is a plaque given to us by one of our volunteers that says: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it’s the only thing that ever has”.

Even though Cheryl and I are the ‘founders’ of this work—Cheryl focused on public relations and marketing while I have been the ‘bralady" (as I am affectionately known), it has been inspired and sustained by the love, encouragement and expertise of many many incredible women, and men, who share our passion and our hope.

My gratitude to the HERS Board of Directors: Chris Pollard, Saralyn Brown, Dennis McMahon, Michele Druckhammer and Nacha Subramanian and of course our Executive Director Cheryl Maloney.

I also want to recognize recent board members: Bernie Dutra, Tony Gelfuso and his wife Philomena who passed away this past October, and Loretta Amaral for their participation in the planning and decision-making process.

Lana Puchta and her husband Stan for encouraging and supporting Bras for Body & Soul from it’s inception on Ellsworth Street in Mission San Jose.

Our current Bras for Body & Soul team: Elaine Skloot, Julie Ward, Rosie Savage, Lisa Stambaugh, and newest volunteer Terri Trettin

I have respect for the Design Team:

Tina Nunez, Kimberly Hartz, and Jim Davis of the hospital staff as well as Paulo Diaz and Jennifer Morlock of Fong and Chan Architects.

To Annette Fagundes and her associates Jaime and Tricia at Gabriella Ronegas Designs we all say thank you for your special touch upon the new shop from the dynamic carpet, incredible chandeliers, soft paint and more.

One of the most exciting elements of building our business and the outreach of the HERS Foundation is the opportunity to invite others into the process by building strong alliances and partnerships that will make a difference in the community we serve.

Hattie Hyman Hughes of the Fremont Bank Foundation has been a major supporter of our work as well as a mentor and dear friend helping us stay true to our dream while fundraising for our work and outreach.

The art and passion of Laurel Burch has touched our lives, and our work in profound ways. We are forever grateful to Laurel for the painting that graces the new shop and for the spirit of love and compassion that she herself embodies.

Another example of attracting dedicated, talented and compassionate women is our growing relationship with New Image Salon and Spa on Civic Center Drive. The owner--Akee Azar has introduced us to Annie Lopez, Lynda Smith and Marlene Triplett. All three are gifted hairstylists who will be working with us and our clients who purchase wigs.

I am very proud that 3 of my 5 siblings are here tonight: Dennis McMahon and his wife Linda, Kathleen Sekreta who flew in from Seattle for this momentous occasion, and my brother Shannon McMahon and his wife Patti and 3 boys who live here in Fremont. Who knew that one day we would be here launching a new innovative service addressing the breast health needs of women in partnership with Washington Hospital in a similar way in which our father was one of the early medical doctors meeting the needs of the community. I am deeply touched and remain grateful for your continued support.

In closing, I quote from the glorious painting that graces the new shop where Laurel wrote:

JOIN HANDS

OPEN HEARTS

WE ARE HERE FOR EACH OTHER

My heart is full of deep thanks for each of you whose paths have crossed ours on the journey to get to this day. To the women we serve: thank you for allowing us to be a part of your life. To the construction crew and all the workers who helped to bring form and function to our beautiful space. And to Nancy Farber and the Administrative Staff, thank you for sharing the vision and helping to bring it to fruition. We look forward to a meaningful and prosperous partnership.

Thank you.