CanCare, Inc.

A Survivor By Your Side

aka CanCare, Inc.   |   Houston, TX   |  www.cancare.org

Mission

CanCare envisions a world where no one faces cancer alone. We provide hope and healing to the cancer community by ensuring that anyone facing cancer can have a survivor by their side.

Ruling year info

1991

President and CEO

Mrs. Darcie Champagne Wells

Main address

9575 Katy Freeway, Ste. 428

Houston, TX 77024 USA

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Formerly known as

CanCare of Houston

EIN

76-0305357

NTEE code info

Personal Social Services (P50)

Diseases, Disorders, Medical Disciplines N.E.C. (G99)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

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Communication

Blog

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Facing cancer is hard and can be exceptionally lonely. Academic research has shown that those individuals facing cancer who have strong emotional and mental health support generally have more positive outcomes with their cancer journey than those lacking in emotional and mental health support. The mission of CanCare is to provide a survivor by the side of anyone facing cancer. Having a relationship with someone who has faced the challenges you are facing and successfully overcome them can be a powerful factor in the cancer success journey. By providing a survivor by the side of those facing cancer, CanCare is providing hope and healing to our cancer community.

Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

One-on-One Support Program

CanCare is a mighty community of survivors who lift up and inspire cancer patients and caregivers through one-on-one support, empathy, and hope to ensure no one endures cancer alone. Our 700+ trained volunteers have survived cancer, and they want to help you do the same for yourself – or a loved one! Whether you need encouragement or want to give it, CanCare is the place for you. Support is available over the phone, via text, email and in person – one time or on an ongoing basis.

Founded by Anne Shaw Turnage, a survivor of colon cancer, CanCare has grown into a network of trained volunteers including survivors, caregivers of survivors and medical professionals who provide emotional support and cancer-related resources. Survivors of more than 75 different types of cancer are the heartbeat of the organization, providing hope, friendship and hospital visitations for those facing cancer.

Population(s) Served
Adults
People with diseases and illnesses

CanCare has been deemed a critical member of the medical cancer care team, helping to create a full-scale and wholesome treatment approach for cancer patients and their caregivers, focusing not just on the physical treatment component, but also, on the psychosocial element, which is critical to improving survivorship and the patient’s quality of life. CanCare partners with 11 Houston-area medical facilities to provide on-site volunteers who give immediate, quality emotional support to cancer patients and caregivers. This vital resource serves all demographic backgrounds, providing support to those feeling overwhelmed, stressed, or with nowhere else to turn. Our health care systems rely on our trained volunteers to ensure that their patients are receiving the best possible mental health care.“CanCare volunteers really care about the people they are supporting. Hospitals can do the physical healing, but you also need emotional and spiritual healing, and this is where CanCare comes in. I encourage cancer patients to seek support and know that they are not alone.” - Sue Chiang, Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital, Vice Chairman Board of Trustees

Population(s) Served
People with diseases and illnesses

Where we work

Awards

Videos

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.

Number of clients served through one-on-one match

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Caregivers, Chronically ill people

Related Program

One-on-One Support Program

Type of Metric

Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues

Direction of Success

Increasing

Our Sustainable Development Goals

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

By the end of 2022, CanCare aims to grow our reach:

-Growing one-one-one matches with a survivor to at least 1600.
-Growing interactions with cancer patients inside partner healthcare facilities to at least 28,000.

We will undergird this growth with strides in our technological and healthcare infrastructure.

To grow our reach and service to the cancer community, we will:

-Refine and expand our marketing to those facing cancer, especially those cancer types where we have an abundance of volunteers ready to serve.
-Deploy a Healthcare Advisory Council which will provide strategic recommendations on growing our healthcare relationships and developing an up-to-date healthcare service model.
-Deploy a Technology Advisory Council to conduct a comprehensive technology assessment and provide recommendations on infrastructure improvements that will help us attain our goals.

CanCare has 31 years of experience in serving the cancer community. We have an extensive network of more than 750 volunteers with unique skills to help us attain our strategic goals. Where we have gaps in expertise, we will partner with experts to guide us on the path to success.

We have increased our applications for support and our volunteer applications by double in the past few months. Our Advisory Councils are launched and are actively in assessment and planning. We have launched new Board committees in alignment with our strategic objectives and they are hard at work in their respective areas of influence.

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We demonstrated a willingness to learn more by reviewing resources about feedback practice.
done We shared information about our current feedback practices.

  • Who are the people you serve with your mission?

    Cancer patients and caregivers.

  • How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?

    Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person), Community meetings/Town halls, Constituent (client or resident, etc.) advisory committees,

  • How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

    To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals,

  • What significant change resulted from feedback?

    When faced with feedback from clients via surveys that some were not hearing from their volunteers timely, we implemented client follow up calls from a volunteer to check in and ensure that clients had successfully connected with their assigned volunteer.

  • With whom is the organization sharing feedback?

    Our staff, Our board, Our funders, Our community partners,

  • How has asking for feedback from the people you serve changed your relationship?

    We exist to serve our clients and we do that through well equipped and satisfied volunteers. By engaging their voices in the process and using their feedback to continuously improve, we are generating greater satisfaction and ownership with our constituents.

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

    We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive,

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback,

Financials

CanCare, Inc.
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

CanCare, Inc.

Board of directors
as of 3/7/2022
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Valerian Brock

Cullen Kappler

Patricia Hogan- Korge

Val Brock

Bernard Fields

Peter Forbes

Mark Holmes

George Kurisky

Taylor Landry

Dr. Rick Ngo

Megan Vondra

Gleeson Van Riet

Sandra Beno

Lloyd Rachal

Ken Haderer

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • Board orientation and education
    Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes
  • Ethics and transparency
    Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes
  • Board composition
    Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes
  • Board performance
    Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 02/01/2022

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
White/Caucasian/European
Gender identity
Female, Not transgender (cisgender)
Sexual orientation
Heterosexual or Straight
Disability status
Person without a disability

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

 

Sexual orientation

No data

Disability

No data

Equity strategies

Last updated: 10/26/2021

GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more

Data
  • We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
  • We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
  • We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
  • We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
Policies and processes
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
  • We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.