Staci Kirk’s journey as a six-time most cancers survivor has formed her into a strong advocate for survivors, particularly ladies of shade. By means of her nonprofit, the Stiletto Boss Basis, she addresses the gaps past medical remedy, providing emotional assist, group, and sensible assets for these navigating life after prognosis.
In her personal phrases, Staci explains that her transparency and want for group throughout her journey revealed an absence of assist for a lot of ladies dealing with most cancers — significantly these experiencing healthcare disparities.
By constructing this basis, Staci offers greater than remedy — she creates a group the place survivors can heal, discover energy, and thrive past most cancers.
Transcript
What impressed you to discovered the Stiletto Boss Basis, and the way does the group assist survivors past their medical remedy?
I noticed, by my very own transparency and thru my very own journey of needing to construct group, that there have been different ladies who felt the identical means.
There have been so many well being care disparities. There was a lot past simply the remedy of [patients with] most cancers and that there wasn’t a variety of assist round that, particularly ladies of shade — they expertise fairly a bit extra adversity because it pertains to a prognosis — and in order that was the aim.
It was simply to convey group across the prognosis and to provide them extra than simply the remedy. We’ve been in a position to present assist teams. We have been in a position to do one-on- one [meetings]. I’ve sat with folks that I’ve by no means met earlier than throughout their chemotherapy remedy as a result of they did not have anybody else to go together with them.
We additionally present what we name “warrior bins” for ladies who’re newly identified with [X type of] most cancers, and it contains issues that you do not usually take into consideration, like peppermint ginger chews, lip balm, and lotion. These are issues that you do not take into consideration as a result of you do not know. We have been actually blessed to have the ability to have this basis and provides again to folks in that means.
Transcript has been edited for readability and conciseness
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