Dec. 1--A brochure with the single word "hope" caught Gloria MacDonald's eye in 2004 when she was in a doctor's office learning that she had ovarian cancer -- a disease with a dismal survival rate.
She picked up the information and soon was connected with Sunstone Cancer Support Centers, a nonprofit organization whose motto is, "Hope has a name." Those who use its facilities say that while their doctors treat the cancer, Sunstone tends to the soul.
Both MacDonald, 60, and her husband, Bob, fell in love with the group's retreat center on a donated 12-acre northeast-side ranch, and Gloria received the hope she badly needed in a support group with other women also grappling with cancer diagnoses. Her husband made use of the services Sunstone offers to caregivers and family members, and they are both now Sunstone volunteers.
But it will all come to an end Dec. 31 when Sunstone, citing financial difficulties, will close its five centers for good. The eight-year-old organization, which relies solely on community donations, serves about 700 people per month. It has a sliding fee scale, and has never turned anyone away for an inability to pay.
"We're a community that's grieving right now," said Patricia C. Harmon, Sunstone president and chief executive officer.
Said Peter Bramley, board member and cancer survivor: "The board came to this decision very, very soberly and with a heavy heart, but with the determination that it's the right thing to do.
"We've been working at developing a sustainable budget, one where our income and costs are in line. And no matter how much we pare back, we don't seem to be able to get to that. We haven't been able to raise our monthly budget for a long, long time."
Bramley said Sunstone has been operating its five centers with a staff of just eight people, supplemented by a lot of volunteer workers. Staffers and volunteers had also been working to raise more money, but it was never enough.
"It's hard to say it's all the economy, but it certainly has exacerbated it," he said.
While Sunstone sold off most of the ranch property last year, it kept an acre for use as a healing center, which it plans to sell now.
Its other four locations -- at Tucson Medical Center, the Arizona Cancer Center at UMC North and Arizona Oncology Associates, and in Yuma -- also will close. Those sites will be allowed to keep the extensive supply of wigs and resource information if they wish, Harmon said.
Bramley said he hopes the lessons that Sunstone leaders have learned will be the basis for something else down the road. Right now, leaders are focusing on ensuring Sunstone continues in some way through its "Sunstone Legacy Grant," which will redistribute existing assets to support a Southern Arizona program that shares its values and mission.
Harmon said Sunstone brought the community a message that cancer is more than a diagnosis -- there are a variety of psychosocial needs related to fear and stress. Family issues often come up and intensify when a cancer diagnosis takes place.
"This is a place where they could bring the reality of a cancer diagnosis and get support through groups, touch therapies, information through access to our library," Harmon said. "The expression from the survivors has been an expression of real loss that we won't be there anymore, so I'd say it's painful for survivors, especially those actively being helped."
Harmon added that many members weren't surprised, as Sunstone has struggled financially. But many had been hoping the organization would hang on.
"The overwhelming feeling I have is sadness," Gloria MacDonald said. "We're really glad it was there for us, and sad it won't be there for others. The doctors don't have time to answer questions about a lot of things, but the people at Sunstone could."
MacDonald said the bonds at Sunstone were so deep and intimate that some women in her group, severely ill, losing their fight against the disease and often barely able to walk, mustered the energy to show up for a meeting to say a final goodbye.
MacDonald received several treatments at Sunstone, including acupuncture during her chemotherapy, healing-touch reflexology, and massage to help with chemo's side effects.
Others have similar stories.
"I've been using it for four years now," said Linda Hardy, a 51-year-old breast cancer survivor. "I feel very sad for the community because I feel like Tucson has been a really great community (in which) to have cancer -- if you have to have cancer -- because of Sunstone."
At the suggestion of her oncologist, Hardy went to a weekend workshop at Sunstone shortly after her diagnosis and found a community of friends.
"I knew about the financial difficulties. But this is just horrendous," Margaret Hoeft, an ovarian-cancer survivor, said of the closure.
When Hoeft was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2005, she heard about the gynecological-cancer support group at Sunstone but didn't want to go.
"Then when I went, I just fell in love with that support group. I learned so much, and suddenly my cancer was not a lonely thing," said Hoeft, a nurse practitioner who is 69. "As time goes on, you feel you are a support to someone else."
She also forged lasting friendships through Sunstone and recently traveled to Italy with Gloria MacDonald.
Hoeft helped organize an event in September called "A Day for Us" for 14 ovarian-cancer survivors at Sunstone's northeast location, 2545 N. Woodland Road.
The women consulted with a nutritionist, painted their toenails and heard from experts, Hoeft said.
"We ended the day with some ballet dancers coming and performing a ballet based on the Dr. Seuss book 'Oh the Places You'll Go!' It makes me cry every time I think about it. It was beautiful, a wonderful day."
center services
Currently scheduled Sunstone services will continue to be offered until the end of the year at the nonprofit's five sites across Southern Arizona. A calendar of events is available at www.sunstonehealing.org
Contact reporter Stephanie Innes at 573-4134 or sinnes@azstarnet.com. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/stephanieinnes
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