Brushes with danger spur woman’s commitment to cancer patients

by Jill Huber
NJJN Bureau Chief/Monmouth

Ilene Winters was working in a brokerage office on Broadway on Sept. 11, 2001. Although physically unharmed that day, the disaster set in motion a personal transformation for the Long Branch woman.

The events of 9/11 were not Winters’ first brush with danger. In 1989, she was on the 30th floor of a building in San Francisco when a major earthquake struck the area. In 1993, she was across the street when the World Trade Center was bombed by terrorists. After 9/11, she began to wonder how many more close calls she could endure.

She was in the process of reevaluating her life, when, in July 2002, her mother, Cissie, a 20-year breast cancer survivor, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. While her mother fought the disease, Winters ended her 20-year career in the financial corridors of New York and obtained a graduate degree in nutrition from the University of Bridgeport. She planned to counsel cancer patients on how to maintain a better diet during and after their treatment phases.

But in July 2004, Cissie lost her battle with cancer and Winters began looking for a way to bring a cancer wellness center to the Monmouth County area. Although her mother had received the support of friends and family during her two-year battle with the disease, there was no one in her immediate orbit who could truly relate to her ordeal.

“There was a disconnect, and I realized that many other cancer patients must be going through this kind of experience,” Winters said. “I began to see if there were existing resources that could help, and I decided I would do everything I possibly could to find some answers.”

The result will be the formation of a Monmouth County chapter of the Wellness Community, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC, that provides emotional and social support to cancer patients, their friends, and their families.

The Wellness Community currently has 25 centers in the United States, Israel, and Japan. It is the largest support program that is devoted solely to providing free psychological and emotional support to those with cancer, their caregivers, their friends, and families. The program is maintained by tax-deductible individual, corporate, and foundation gifts and grants.

For 18 months, Winters conducted research, interviewed cancer survivors, gathered other relevant information, reached out to the community through a series of public meetings in 2005, and obtained a charter. As a result, plans are now in place to open the Northern Jersey Shore — Diney Goldsmith Center as part of the national Wellness Community program.

Like Winters’ mother, Diney Goldsmith lost her battle with cancer in 2004. Her husband, Barry Goldsmith of Rumson, has endorsed the project, joined forces with Winters, and is helping to get the center up and running, particularly in the fund-raising area (more than $200,000 has been raised so far through luncheons and sporting events).

Now that programs are in place — including support groups led by psychotherapists, networking opportunities, educational and nutritional programs, yoga and other types of light exercise designed to increase feelings of well-being, and social events — the Goldsmith Center needs a facility in which it can conduct these services.

Winters said a 4,000-square-foot building centrally located between Monmouth and Ocean counties is under consideration (the closest existing Wellness Community is located in Bedminster). Full-time staff will consist of an executive director, a position that Winters may assume, and a program director who will be a licensed clinical social worker. There is also an all-volunteer, 14-member board of directors at the ready, and there are plans to increase the board to a 20-member group.

A year’s worth of operating expenses will total $400,000, according to Winters; although half that amount has been collected, additional fund-raising projects are planned this fall, and she is awaiting word on the outcome of several grant applications.

“We want to open our doors in December 2006, but we need that balance before we can do that,” she said. “But we’ll get it. There is so much support for this project. Virtually everyone has been touched by cancer on some level, either personally or through the experiences of friends or family members. We have strategic, development, and operational plans in the works. I know we’ll reach our goal.”

While working on the Goldsmith Center, Winters has also been operating a personal training business. She said she and her husband, John, who has been extremely supportive of her efforts, are “athletic types” who snowboard, ski, run, and cycle (they attended the Tour de France for the past two years). Winters also spins, swims, and practices yoga at the Ruth Hyman Jewish Community Center in Deal.

But her mind is never far from the wellness center project.

“Cancer patients often feel alone and isolated; despite all the support they received from loved ones, I know my mother and Diney felt that way,” Winters said. “At the wellness center, there will be a community of others in the same situation who can share their feelings and experiences. They can take advantage of all the services that will be available, but so can their friends and family members. That’s an important part of the plan.”

Call 732-263-0444 for additional information about the Northern Jersey Shore — Diney Goldsmith Center.