The organizations’ roots stem from a collaboration project of the founder’s.  The Breast Cancer Resource Guide Project started in 1993 as a private public collaboration to help disadvantaged women in Massachusetts find the resources they needed to recover from breast cancer. The project created and printed more than 50,000 resource directories between 1999 and 2004.  The guides were distributed to healthcare professionals, social service agencies, government entities, legislators, and libraries to assist women obtain the products and services they needed to successfully move through their cancer journey.

In 2006, the resource guide had become outdated and needed updating. The collaborative partners realized the need to streamline and update the information using a web-based tool. This resulted in a new collaboration and the development of the online resource guide. Using an extensive list of local and regional resources, Massachusetts’ patients and providers were able to locate many the social and medical support services they needed.  Throughout the process of creating this online version of community resources, the resource guide developers visualize a bigger opportunity to meet the needs of a larger community.  Although the guide was created for breast cancer resources, most of the information in the guide was appropriate for patients diagnosed with any cancer. It was this vision that led the Co-Founders, Karleen Habin and Mary Lou Woodford to create a nonprofit organization to address the gaps in patient care that they witnessed every day.

VISION

The Cancer Resource Foundation, Inc. envisions a world where all persons impacted by the work “cancer” have access to any product or service that will enable them to reach the highest quality of life possible, regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity, income or geography.

MISSION

Our mission is to advocate and provide support for the prevention, early detection, diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship of cancer through patient assistance, education and research. We conduct our mission by providing:

• Financial assistance to cancer patients and families
• Access to patient assistance programs through a comprehensive network of financial assistance organizations
• Access to relevant and current cancer information and tools for cancer patients, families, and caregivers
• Funding for research; focusing on nursing research and supportive care
• Capacity building for financial assistance organizations