Peer-To-Peer

Join The Ruth and Sidney Vine Peer Support Network
YAD: Young Adult Caring Corner - Talk with a Buddy
Speak with Peers about your Health Care Team

The Ruth and Sidney Vine Peer Support Network

Why Peer to Peer Cancer Support Matters

Facing a diagnosis of breast cancer or ovarian cancer can feel isolating. Connecting with someone who has walked a similar path can provide emotional reassurance, practical advice, and true understanding.

Whether you’re newly diagnosed, actively undergoing treatment, or in survivorship, our peer support network can help you:

  • Process the emotional impact of diagnosis and treatment
  • Understand and anticipate side effects, follow-up care and survivorship issues
  • Ask the questions you may feel hesitant to ask family, friends, or your health team

How Our Peer Support Program Works

The Ruth and Sidney Vine Peer Support Network connects women newly diagnosed or at high risk of developing breast cancer or ovarian cancer one-on-one with others who share similar diagnoses and experiences.

  1. Request your match: Connect with a social worker and share about you and the concerns you’d like to discuss.
  2. Get matched: As it’s appropriate, we’ll pair you with a peer mentor, someone who’s gone through similar or the same experiences as you that can provide needed guidance.
  3. Connect on your teams: You choose how and when you communicate to provide the best resources and value to you.
  4. Build connection and share insights: Your mentor can share what worked for her and how she navigated treatment decisions, fertility issues, family concerns, and day-to-day life during and after treatment.

Support for Women Facing Breast Cancer or Ovarian Cancer

We believe no woman should feel alone in this journey. At Sharsheret, we understand that Jewish women facing breast cancer or ovarian cancer have unique concerns, including those related to fertility and family planning, and navigating side effects. In this program you will find:

  • A mentor who understands how your Jewish identity and faith intersects with your cancer journey
  • Connections around questions regarding genetic testing and the rest of your family, fertility preservation, and managing treatment while fulfilling caregiving or community roles
  • A safe, confidential space to explore and discuss how cancer affects your daily life during and after treatment

YAD: Young Adult Caring Corner

Young Adults Facing Cancer

YAD: The Young ADult Caring Corner at Sharsheret is here to support you as you support your loved one. You are not alone.

Young adults may have different challenges to others with breast cancer and ovarian cancer, including questions and decisions to make regarding fertility and family planning, career and life transitions, dating and relationships, and managing treatment while balancing young-adult life.

It’s scary when someone you love is diagnosed with cancer. You might wonder how you can support them, and you might feel selfish for wanting to also take care of yourself; for wanting to continue to do the things you like to do: seeing your friends, doing your hobbies, going to school and work.

We’re here to help you understand your loved one’s diagnosis, how you can help (even from afar), and how you can take care of yourself while still caring for them.

We focus on matching you with someone whose age, life stage, and diagnosis type are similar to yours so that you can feel seen, heard, and supported in a way that resonates with you.

Share Your Health Care Team

Are you assembling your treatment team and would like to hear about others’ experiences? Through our Ruth and Sidney Vine Peer Support Network, you are able to speak with other women to learn more about the health care professionals they are considering so that you can make informed decisions about your treatment team.

Women have shared with us their oncologists, surgeons, plastic surgeons, radiation oncologists, nutritionists, and more. If we have peer supporters who have used the same doctor you are considering, we can connect you with them so you can ask them about their experiences. This will give you the opportunity to learn about a doctor straight from another patient’s experience.

Meet other Sharsheret peer supporters and hear their stories in this video.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Ruth and Sidney Vine Peer Support Network free?
Yes, our peer support matches are free of charge for women at high risk or diagnosed with breast cancer or ovarian cancer.

Is this support only for Jewish women?
While our program is focused toward Jewish women, it is open to all women facing breast cancer or ovarian cancer who need peer support.

 

Connect With Someone Who Understands

At Sharsheret you never have to face breast cancer or ovarian cancer alone. Our peer-to-peer support network brings together women who understand your journey, whether you’re newly diagnosed, undergoing treatment, or living as a survivor. If you’re a Jewish woman or young adult confronting cancer, connect with us today and begin your journey of support, understanding, and hope.

Made possible with support from:

Genentech is a leading biotechnology company that discovers, develops, manufactures and commercializes medicines to treat patients with serious or life-threatening medical conditions.

The YAD program has been dedicated by Joy and Michael Goldsmith.

Sharsheret does not endorse or promote any specific medication, treatment, product, or service.