Young Adults - Embarking on Life

"Young Adults - Embarking on Life" group:

• The group was established by ICA as a new supportive community for young cancer survivors in their 20s and 30s. 
  
  

• The aim of the group is to address the needs of this unique population segment – young men and women who battled with cancer on the threshold of a new chapter in their adult lives – in the midst of taking matriculation exams, enlisting in the army, on a trip overseas, or studying at university, in transitioning from their parents' home to a new family unit.
  
  
  
• These young people began their adult lives from a unique starting point and have encountered challenges that do not end with recovery. In the transition from adolescence to adulthood and upon embarking on an independent life, these young adults experience particular difficulty and loneliness when coping with the disease and its aftermath.
  
  
  
• These young adults fall between the cracks in terms of their age, relating neither to children nor to older adult cancer patients; they lack a supportive social framework on their road back to reclaiming their routine that has been disrupted.
  
  
  
• They require a transitional setting for individualized support tailored to each and every member of the group, according to their specific needs.

"Embarking on Life" program:

• The program was designed as a professionally guided "home away from home" environment providing a warm and friendly setting for these young adults as well as a support group to meet their special needs.
  
  
  
• The group moderators, representing ICA, accompany them for ten 2-hour weekly meetings, during which these young adults undergo a group process of coping with issues and questions concerning the disease and the return to life's normal routine, for instance:
  
  

 Whom should I tell?

 With whom do I talk about the disease?

 How do I cope?

• A platform to work through relationships between cancer patients and their partners and family, dealing with life's routine, work, hope and significant life events. 
  
  
  
• The group's weekly activity serves as a learning and growth process, with a beginning and an end. Upon concluding, a new circle of extensive activities begins and continues throughout the year, including jeep tours, water sports activities, workshops on different topics and parties. These activities are supported by a group of volunteers who accompany the group. 

Group Trips:

• In 2000, the first Young Adults Embarking on Life group went on a fascinating jeep tour in Greece. The group continued to go on trips throughout Israel for about a year and a half, and held diverse activities organized by members with assistance from volunteers and donors. The movie "Get Out of Here Cancer" (Uf Sartan) which documented the group's travels, was aired on Channel 8.
  
  
  
• Subsequent Young Adults Embarking on Life groups went on sailing voyages in an authentic sailboat on the Northern Sea.
  
  
  
• This sailing voyage was a "journey into the depths of the soul." While emotionally coping with the disease and their recovery, members of the group also contended with operating a boat, setting sails and navigating the boat, preparing food, and taking care of the boat's regular maintenance.
  
  
  
• One of the group's members remarked: "This trip, this experience was like wind in my sails. It took me to warm and sweet places. It helped me make great strides. I have so many good things to say; unfortunately, I have also experienced the downside in life. Many moments on the edge of a deep dark pit, minutes that seemed endless, suffocating. I have resurfaced." 
  
   
• Shira, one of the project's participants: "I was in a lot of groups when I had cancer and it's totally different. We are all equal here and very fond of each other. The group has provided me with coping strategies to think more clearly, more profoundly. I wanted to offer help, but I actually received help. There's no doubt that I received more than I have given. Even after seven years, I needed the group because I still hadn't tied up all the loose ends."
  
  
  
• Over the past years and after returning from the sailing voyages, the group members have taken part in diverse activities, including volunteer activities, including in different hospital wards, meetings and workshops, sing-along parties and other social activities.
  
  
  
• Volunteers accompany the group's activities throughout the year, which are funded by donations earmarked for "Embarking on Life", as well as by token fees paid by group members who take part in the activities.
  
  

Kindly contact us, should you wish to contribute and support the activities and social events of this project. Please note that all donations received are transferred in full (no overhead is taken). 

• Lili Biller Lev

Committees and Projects Manager

Telephone: +972-3-571.95.74

E-Mail: lilib@cancer.org.il