Healing the Emotional Scars of Cancer

A Fresh Chapter’s (AFC) Odyssey programs provide a unique approach to cancer support by incorporating a one or two week volunteer and cultural immersion experience into a broader six-month developmental framework. Divided into three phases, the program is designed to give patients and caregivers the tools to explore the difficult emotions of cancer while simultaneously fostering resiliency and meaningful connections with others. The program educates participants about struggles people confront throughout the world and empowers everyone involved to seek new possibilities and purpose in their lives. 

The three phases of the Odyssey Program Framework:

• Discover: 8-week online series
  • Prepare to Travel/Expand Perspective
• Experience: 1-2 week Volunteer Experience
  • Connect, Give Back, Reframe Adversity
• Integrate: 12-week online series
  • Bring Knowledge, Restored Purpose, and New Possibilities Into Your Life      

Changing the Paradigm

We’re changing the paradigm for cancer support while building a better world. AFC Odyssey programs:

• Empower patients and caregivers.
  • Cancer can strip us of our sense of purpose and place in the world. We empower people who have faced cancer to believe that a new experience, a new volunteer opportunity, or a new friendship is possible and then give them the tools to make this a reality.
• Build meaningful connections.
  • We believe that lasting friendships are built on shared experiences as well as shared values and interests. By offering programs that serve people from across the cancer community and providing experiences that are about so much more than the disease, we enrich the lives of our participants and help them build a lasting community of support.
• Remind us that struggle is universal.
  • Whether volunteering with disabled women at Mother Teresa’s in India or chopping vegetables in a community kitchen alongside men and women in a substance abuse recovery program, our participants see examples of resilience and joy amidst struggle. They have the opportunity to reframe adversity and feel less alone as they navigate life beyond a cancer diagnosis.
• Expand the story beyond cancer.
  • By propelling people out of the environment where they have constant reminders of being sick and introducing them to new cities and cultures, participants gain confidence, experience once-in-a-lifetime memories, and the perspective to see themselves and the world through fresh eyes. This expansiveness leads to increased well-being and the ability to find peace amidst the uncertainties of living with and beyond cancer.