By Amber Jurgensen | Associate Editor
When you walk into the South Florida Baptist Hospital Cancer Resource Center, it feels like a cozy home.
Relaxing music plays in the background. Comfy couches are positioned around a wood coffee table. A volunteer greets you at the door, offering tea, coffee or water.
“When you’re here, we treat you like a guest not a patient like everywhere else,” Wendy Brown said.
Brown was a board member on the American Cancer Society, along with hospital Chief Operating Officer Steve Nierman. Two years ago, Brown, approached Nierman about creating a cancer-resource center at the hospital. The closest centers were in Lakeland and Tampa.
“When you’re tired and sick from treatment, you don’t want to drive all the way to Tampa for support groups or resources.”
Nierman agreed. Initially, Brown planned for one room in the hospital, but Nierman organized the donation of an office building on Palmetto Avenue. Brown then worked on getting furniture and other equipment donated.
A Realtor friend found a living room set for the front room. Another meeting room has a fridge and microwave which were donated for support-group activities. Positive sayings are painted on the wall: “Everyday holds a possibility of a miracle.”
The Cancer Resource Center opened Aug. 15, 2011. Since then it’s been staffed with compassionate volunteers like Nola Olatubosun. Nola takes pride in her work at the center, where she volunteers every Thursdays. She herself had ovarian cancer in 2010.
Brown also has close ties to cancer. Her father and husband died from cancer, and her mother battled breast cancer and survived.
“Every person has been affected by cancer, whether it’s a friend or family member,” Brown said.
Brown made sure the Cancer Resource Center would have everything it needs for those who are seeking refuge, support or information.
There is a women’s room which is stocked with pamphlets about female cancers like breast and ovarian cancers. Free bras and prosthetics are offered to those who can’t afford a prosthetic or whose insurance doesn’t cover the cost.
A private dressing room decorated with feminine touches offers privacy and comfort to those who want to try on prosthetics. “If you are confident, you are beautiful,” a saying painted on the wall says.
The center also has a wig room with every imaginable hairstyle, hair color and length someone would want. A cosmetologist volunteers at the center and will cut hair, style wigs and teach about wig care and maintenance.
Across the hall is a hat room. Baseball caps are hung up on the wall in neat rows. Beautiful scarves are folded neatly on a hanging rack. Knitted and crocheted hats sit in a drawer waiting to be taken home.
A reference room full of every pamphlet and booklet imaginable is available. Many pamphlets provide information about different types of cancers. But there are also booklets offering support for those whose family members have cancer.
There are several meeting rooms for support groups to gather. In one room, a sewing group has been meeting to sew quilts and hats for cancer patients. But the center would like to see more activity.
“We really want people to come, but I don’t want to pray for people to come because of the reason,” Brown said. “But we have a lot to offer those who need someone to listen to their story, need information.”