By Lillian Cohen-Moore , other
In the early days of Rochelle Shoretz’s first cancer diagnosis, the 28-year-old mother of two struggled to find someone else to talk to.
“I found myself asking anyone who called to offer support, whether they knew of another young Jewish woman who had breast cancer,” she said. “More than the meals, more than the rides, more than baby-sitting, I really needed other young people
So Shoretz created Sharsheret, an organization that provides support for Jewish women with breast cancer. Six months after starting Sharsheret, Hebrew for chain, Shoretz had added more than 20 “links” and had begun to attract the attention of national cancer organizations. The centerpiece of Sharsheret’s 10 offerings is the Link program, in which women affected by breast cancer can act as a peer supporter to others.
“For a young woman facing breast cancer, the notion of connecting over the telephone with other peers at a time and place that is convenient and private is critical,” Shoretz said.
Shoretz spoke with JTNews during a visit to Seattle in July.
The effort to see Jewish women supported through breast cancer led Shoretz to make the Seattle trip, with the hope of seeing the program Sharsheret Supports brought to the area. Sharsheret Supports seeks to partner with organizations and agencies already existing in a region, and to offer assistance in the creation of locally aimed programs and materials sensitive to the needs of Jewish women dealing with breast and, more recently, ovarian cancer.
Marjorie Schnyder of Jewish Family Service met with Shoretz during her visit.
“One of the things we looked into six or seven years ago is Jewish healing programs nationally,” Schnyder said. “We got a lot of calls about people looking for support for chronic and serious illnesses, and we did some strategic planning to see if we needed to expand our programming.”
Project Misheberach was a pilot program at JFS to explore programs supporting the ill. During the pilot, they discovered the work Sharsheret was doing, and they finally had a chance to connect in July. Schnyder said JFS looks forward to working with Sharsheret in the future.
In the past year alone, Sharsheret has seen 75 inquiries from Washington State for requests of materials or support concerning breast cancer, Shoretz said. The recent addition of ovarian cancer to Sharsheret programming is both an outgrowth of a new strategic plan for the organization and genetics issues faced in the realm of cancer support.
“Jewish women of Ashkenazi descent who carry a mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene are at increased risk of developing both breast and ovarian cancer,” Shoretz said. “One in 40 Jewish women of Ashkenazi descent carries the mutation.”
Carriers of the BRCA mutations have as high as an 80 percent chance of developing breast cancer in their lifetimes. With the added risk of ovarian cancer that comes with the mutation, Sharsheret’s strategic plan called for an expansion of programming to address the risk of ovarian cancer in the Jewish population.
Though hereditary breast and ovarian cancers are a small percentage of all cases, Sharsheret also has a Genetics For Life program that addresses the concerns of Jewish women and families, making it possible to consult with a genetics counselor, free of charge, to weigh both familial risks and options.
“There are a lot of questions that Jewish families face when considering genetic counseling, and genetic testing,” Shoretz said.
The organization is ultimately unique, Shoretz said, because “There are unique ways in which Jewish families are affected by a breast or ovarian cancer diagnosis, and Sharsheret is the only national organization that can address those unique needs.”
Shoretz gave examples of how the High Holidays or use of the mikvah brings questions and concerns into the life of patients that had never before been present.
In 10 years, Sharsheret has fielded more than 19,000 requests for help. The New Jersey-based organization has helped women across the United States with its diverse programming, and has remained in operation primarily from the contributions of individual donors.
When asked where she hoped Sharsheret will be in 10 years, Shoretz was both hopeful and pragmatic.
“My real hope is that there isn’t a need for Sharsheret, that breast cancer has been cured,” she said.
But if there is that need, she hopes “Sharsheret is there to support those Jewish women and families who may have before our founding felt alone in their fight against breast cancer.”
In talking about her own fight with the disease, Shoretz explains the changes she’s experienced since receiving treatment for a second breast cancer diagnosis.
“The immediacy of it is more obvious now, with this diagnosis, than it was in the first,” she said. “Now that I can experience our program as a patient, Sharsheret, the chain, has really come full circle.”
For more information, visit www.sharsheret.org.