Al and Marjani Harris took have created the only Black-owned cancer support center currently in the United States.
What We Know:
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- After supporting cancer patients for more than seven years, the couple felt that it was time to create a space for them to receive more support than before.
- The disease had also hit close to home – the couple had three relatives battling cancer at the same time in 2009. Al’s older cousin was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer, his younger cousin had brain cancer, and Marjani’s step-father fought and would eventually pass away from colon cancer later that year.
- “Cancer really hit us hard and we were looking for extra support and couldn’t find it, so we decided to create our own…We noticed that there was no center where people with cancer could go to decompress…All of our programs are free because we want to support the person and their family without them having to worry about paying for anything” Al Harris stated.
- In February 2019, The Cancer Who Cares Center opened to bring patients not only the support but the resources they need as well. Some of their events include yoga nights, spa days and ring the bell celebrations and they even attend appointments with their members as well.
- “It’s a dream to be the first of any kind to do anything but to be the first from our culture is amazing just because of the people that came before us and the things that they created,” Al Harris said. “We feel proud that we can show our children and the rest of our culture that you can always be the first at something even when you feel like you are in last place.”
Shoutout to them for making such a big difference.
