"OMG, I Have Cancer. What Do I Do Now????"

Wednesday, April 16, 2025

2025 YOUNG ADULT CANCER SURVIVOR RESOURCES (AGE 18 – 39)

For purposes of information and resources, you are considered a “young adult survivor” or “young adult cancer survivor”. YAS or YACS. A lot of resources in the cancer community are categorized by these names, so it will be easier for you to search for grants, assistance, funds, resources this way. Also, always check the description of the grant or age parameters as some young adult information is for age 18 to 35, and some is for age 18 to 39, so be aware of the cut off (especially for grant applications). If they are that specific and you don’t fit their qualifications, don’t waste your valuable time applying for it!

Young Adult Cancer Survivors have a few different sets of challenges than their older counterparts.

Education: some young survivors have had to leave college or give up their dream of college when they were diagnosed with cancer. With medical bills piling up many are forced to abort this dream, or put it on hold indefinitely.

Dating: it's hard enough to show your mastectomy scar to your husband of 35 years but imagine that you are out there in the dating world with some of the physical scars of your cancer. Plus, sometimes it is hard to envision your own future, let alone meeting someone new and involving them in it. Btw...I once got laughed out of a survivorship meeting when I suggested an online dating service for cancer survivors. Well looky here! www.curetoday.com/view/cancer-and-dating--online

Finances: usually if you are young, you are working for peanuts in entry level jobs. Most likely you are renting, haven't saved much of anything and have college loans or credit card debt on top of your medical bills.

Lack of any health insurance at all.

Loss of friendships/loss of your social network. This happens to older cancer survivors too, but with young survivors, the support systems may not have been built up enough to help them through. Also, all their young and happening friends may not be able to handle something like a cancer diagnosis in a friend who is so young.
Fertility Issues. Some chemotherapy treatments can cause infertility. If you are male or female, the time to ask questions about this is before you get a single drop of chemotherapy.

Here is a list of various resources for young adult cancer survivors. Hopefully some of the topics above will be covered in some of these sites for you. Best wishes!! Hope this helps!!

Charlene’s Dream: www.Charlenesdream.com is a local Community Cancer Support Center in Daytona Beach for women with cancer of all ages. We are always here to assist with local support groups, meetings and events, wigs, lymphedema sleeves, lumpectomy and mastectomy bras and prostheses, Breast Cancer 101 classes. By appointment only (because we are run by volunteers): 386-871-3028.

Young Survivors Resources:

Stupid Cancer: It’s kind of a clearing house of online resources for young adult survivors: financial, emotional, career etc. The website is kind of clunky, but give it a little time and search around it. They have a young survivors podcast, have message boards/list serves to connect with other young survivors. They also have some good webinars. They have a large “convention” annually in Denver called Cancer Con (formerly the OMG Summit). It is an amazing experience and if you can possibly go, we encourage it. You will have a ton of fun, but it is also a great way for young survivors to connect. They have many seminars with lots of interaction: financial issues, legal support, fertility issues, sexuality/dating during and after treatment, career guidance (how to find a job/career after your cancer experience). Lots of emotional support. Every April. There are scholarships to attend and travel scholarships to cut costs if you apply early enough. http://stupidcancer.org http://cancercon.org

Imerman’s Angels: (a cancer “buddy” system). They try to connect you to someone who has had a similar experience as you. Maybe there is another young survivor out there going through something like what you are going through. They hook you up by email and you make arrangements with your “mentor angel”. If you want to talk on the phone or just email each other, they introduce the two of you, share your contact info and let you pick how you want to connect and how often you want to connect. http://imermanangels.org

Oncolink (UPENN) Lots of good links for resources for Young Adult Survivors here:

www.oncolink.org/cancers/pediatric/resources/resources-for-more-information-pediatric-adolescents-and-young-adults-with-cancer

Dana Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) Boston: has a young adult network. Some stuff on the site is only for DFCI patients, but some young survivor stuff is available to anyone. Here they have some podcasts, a young survivor app and virtual support groups. Some stuff is only for DFCI patients, but some are for all.

www.dana-farber.org/patient-family/support-services/young-adult-program

DFCI Facebook Page:

https://www.facebook.com/YAPatDFCI

The Dana Farber Young Adult Cancer Conference: is in the spring, is one day long and it is free, but it is in Boston. You might be able to get air assistance and Hospitality Homes in Boston may be able to help with lodging.

http://www.dana-farber.org/Adult-Care/Treatment-and-Support/Patient-and-Family-Support/Young-Adult-Program/Annual-Young-Adult-Cancer-Conference.aspx

DFCI Young Adult Program e-newsletter: YAP's e-Newsletter. To subscribe, email yap@dfci.harvard.edu

Iaya is the DFCI Young Adult app:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbiaLljXaiw

Financial Assistance

Some of these are small “grants”. They might be in the $500 to $1500 range and usually require just a short application. This can be a little energy draining trying to remember when to apply for them and to keep track of your applications. If you have a supportive friend or family member, put them in charge of tracking when all of these grant periods occur. They might all be different- meaning you can only apply once a year or once a quarter kind of thing. Some of these small grant providers “open” once a year and then they are gone again until the next year. Some also “go out of business”. We suggest you write a couple of short paragraphs about your “cancer” story and save it in a Word document. You can cut and paste pieces of that into some of these grant applications, so you are not reinventing the wheel each time.

MeStrong: is for all ages. If you need any financial assistance (help with paying rent or a one-time bill etc.) they will provide. They pay the vendor directly (your landlord etc). We know these ladies and they are amazing. Read Linda Ryan’s story if you have a chance. www.mestrong.net

Application: http://mestrong.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Grant-App-2017.pdf Mainly for folks in treatment.

The SAMfund: Grant application periods are usually February and June. www.thesamfund.org

This is one of the best grants/funds around for YOUNG adult cancer survivors (age 21 to 39) who have completed treatment (check their requirements, they have certain eligibility criteria). So, when you are done with treatment, definitely apply for this one.

The woman who started this nonprofit is an AMAZING young two-time cancer survivor named Sam Watson. She (had a donor bone marrow transplant) and started this nonprofit in Boston and it has gone national. She is a totally awesome speaker and one of the real drivers behind increased funds/information/programs addressing the needs of young adult cancer survivors in the U.S.

Any young adult survivor can apply for assistance for anything…. adoption funds, medical bills, mortgage, rent, car payments etc. You used to be able to apply for tuition assistance but it looks like they don’t do that anymore, but they provide a good list of resources on their website for that (see below). Assistance is for $1500 to $2000. They will give up to $4000 if it is fertility related, but it states that they will grant that only if you have a well thought out plan in place and know what the costs will be. http://www.thesamfund.org/get-help/grants

Allyson Whitney Grants: $1500 in assistance. Application period 3 or 4 times per year. Can be going through cancer treatment or recently finished. They ask for a doctor/nurse or social worker to verify your cancer history. Ask your team here, and we’ll help.

http://allysonwhitney.org/what-we-do/grants

Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (buddy system and some limited financial resources)

http://www.lls.org/support/peer-to-peer-support

Nikki Leach Assistance: small “grants” for young survivors 18-30. Grant period opens in Spring.

http://www.nickileach.org/assistance

Various other young survivor resources:

Fertility issues and chemo: https://www.facingourrisk.org/support/find-financial-assistance/fertility-preservation#:~:text=LIVESTRONG%20Fertility%20provides%20financial%20assistance,financing%20programs%2C%20scholarships%20and%20grants.

Livestrong Fertility:

https://livestrong.org/how-we-help/livestrong-fertility

Fertility and Breast Cancer:

https://youngsurvival.org/fertility-and-family-planning?gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADqfrXIfDylr9bIJvUpIeL9bkOcBC&gclid=Cj0KCQjwqv2_BhC0ARIsAFb5Ac-Po2PlZ8Z6wnRxE44bxJzAq8Ufecd8gwlpP2KEEy2FV8E69Vscu6YaArdjEALw_wcB

Young Adult Survivorship: Fertility, Sexuality and Intimacy:

https://www.cancercare.org/connect_workshops/1096-young_adult_survivorship_fertility_sexuality_intimacy_2024-02-09

Cancer Care: (have to be in active treatment). Used to be $300 in assistance that they would send the patient now might only be $150. Quick application.

http://www.cancercare.org/financial

Cancer and Careers: If you are looking for a job again.

http://www.cancerandcareers.org

Bloch Cancer Foundation: type in your type of cancer or young adult survivor and they send you links for information. Warning: some links are out of date.

http://blochcancer.org/resources/big-list-of-cancer-resources/

Livestrong Young Adult Survivor

https://www.livestrong.org/we-can-help/young-adults

Lymphoma Research Foundation (more disease information vs assistance)

http://www.lymphoma.org/site/pp.asp?c=bkLTKaOQLmK8E&b=6296735

Financial Aid for Students Impacted by Cancer

www.oncolink.org/support/resources/resources-for-young-adults/support-for-adolescents-and-young-adults-with-cancer/resources-for-more-information-financial-aid-for-students-impacted-by-cancer

Retreats-For When You Have Finished Treatment

There are a lot of “retreats” offered to cancer survivors and families. Some places just offer up free lodging for a few nights, some for a week. Some are group events, some just offer a place to stay with your family. Most of them are free, but they are located all over the country and it is the cost of getting there. However, there are a ton of scholarships available and often you can ask if there is flight assistance as donors sometimes give up air travel miles so that survivors can get there (see air travel at end of this page).

First Descents (age 18 to 39): Free outdoor “life changing” retreats for young survivors. I have met several people who went on these and RAVE about them and absolutely called them life changing. You go once you are finished with your treatment.

https://firstdescents.org/

Retreats all ages:

Camp Mak-a-Dream: In Montana and it is beautiful. There are scholarships and air mile assistance possible. They have a young adult retreat and two women’s retreats (one is for ovarian cancer survivors, and one is for all women with cancer).

http://www.campdream.org/programs/young-adult-conference

Free house in Georgia Mountains for cancer survivor and families

www.secondwindretreat.org

Cruise http://www.cruisingagainstcancer.com/

Free retreats for breast cancer survivors: http://www.karenwellingtonfoundation.org/

For Ovarian Cancer survivors in New England:

https://www.turningthetideovariancancerretreats.org

Casting for Recovery (Fly fishing retreats for breast cancer survivors):

https://castingforrecovery.org

Healing Odyssey Retreats CA

https://healingodyssey.net

Little Pink Houses of Hope Retreats (10 different states) for families