Bay Area Young Survivors (BAYS) is an organization run entirely by volunteers.
Bay Area Young Survivors (BAYS) is an organization run entirely by volunteers. BAYS mission… to support young women in the San Fransisco Bay Area who are living with breast cancer.
BAYS is a grassroots organization with a tiny budget and no staff, just dedicated volunteers making it happen.
BAYS began in 2004 when two of the co-founders couldn’t find a support group in the Bay Area to address the specific issues faced by young women.
BAYS is open to all survivors – from the newly diagnosed, to those battling recurrent or metastatic disease, to long-term survivors. BAYS is a diverse and compassionate group of women, diagnosed with breast cancer before the age of 45.
Many of the women who are part of BAYS were misdiagnosed, told they were “too young” to have cancer. Many of them found their own cancer because they were too young for routine mammograms.
Through monthly support group meetings, an online network, and community-building events, BAYS members share information, experiences, and resources. BAYS goal is to break the isolation of living with breast cancer by providing a community built on compassion, understanding, hope, and inspiration.
In BAYS support group and online community, BAYS members share some issues that are common to all people with cancer and others that are unique to young women with breast cancer.
Since BAYS founding, member volunteers have continued to try to offer things not found anywhere else, such as free childcare during support group meetings (so that young moms can attend) and “happy hours” with a trained sexologist to discuss how cancer treatment affects sexuality.
For more information, visit…http://www.baysnet.org/
