As of April 1, 2015 InspireHealth has been free for all new members and we are excited to see many new faces at all of our centres. Our Pay It Forward campaign allows people who have benefited from InspireHealth to “pay it forward” to empower the next person with a cancer diagnosis.  

 

Our campaign’s goal is to reach $1,000,000 by March 31, 2016. The money raised goes directly to keep InspireHealth free for all people diagnosed with cancer and their supports, and in addition, goes to support the continued growth and expansion of InspireHealth’s programs and services. 
 

Joeleen Achurch joined InspireHealth in February at our centre in Victoria after finding out about our No Membership Fee Initiative that was started by generous funding from the Victoria Foundation. That funding helped to make all InspireHealth centres free as of April 1, 2015. Joeleen explains her story: “I cannot thank you enough for this kind amazing generous gift. I have fought ovarian cancer and want to keep on living. A year and a half ago I experienced some of my darkest days after my diagnosis and surgery. My young daughter and loving husband have carried me and allowed me to see joy every day. I have healed from chemo, surgery and am still working on emotional scars.” 

Joeleen described how she first came to InspireHealth: “After a diagnosis you are left sifting through mounds of information trying to find a path that works for you. I believe in healing using both traditional and alternative medicine and InspireHealth is a bridge between both. Having been at the location in Oak Bay at a education session, I knew that this would be part of my plan to remain educated and healthy.” 

The cost of going through cancer can be difficult, and Joeleen explained how having “no fee” helped to change her options: “As anyone going through cancer knows, it is very expensive. Trying to find what works isn’t easy and can be a financially draining process. The initial fee for InspireHealth was not in our budget for this year as I am not able to work full-time yet. When I saw that you have no fees, I jumped up and down and could not believe it.” 

 “I don’t know if you can imagine how much this means to someone going through this foreign land of cancer to find a place that feels safe and secure and that is InspireHealth.”