Reflecting On Our Mission
Inspiration is not garnered from the litanies of what may befall us; it resides in humanity’s willingness to restore, redress, reform, rebuild, recover, reimagine, and reconsider.
– Paul Hawken
In planning for 2022, the Gilda’s Club team took inspiration from our members, who role model daily how to face challenges while reimagining new ways to thrive boldly. As a result, for the first time, we launched a new year with two operating clubhouses, one physical and one virtual. We are now halfway through 2022, so it is a great time to reflect and celebrate how far we’ve come!
It was clear planning for this year that as cancer rates continue to grow in Minnesota, up to a projected 35,000 new diagnoses in 2022 alone (according to American Cancer Society projections), so must our efforts here at Gilda’s Club. Our mission, to ensure that all people impacted by cancer are empowered by knowledge, strengthened by action, and sustained by community, was taken to heart as we designed our 2022 business plan. We created our plan with goals that align with our organization’s strategic plan, specifying that we are to ensure that we offer a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment for all constituents. Based on system bandwidth and member demand, we set a stretch goal to reach more Minnesotans living outside a 15-mile radius from the clubhouse. We are halfway through 2022 and have increased the number of members residing beyond our physical boundaries to 47% compared to 37% in 2021! The data so far is clear. We are profoundly impacting and supporting more Minnesotans with access barriers than ever before.
Importantly, we are also maximizing our impact and influence this year by partnering with the University of Minnesota School of Medicine and School of Nursing on key projects related to expanding our rural support and developing a culture-specific support program series pilot. Shaunequa will elaborate on these exciting initiatives in her article. I highly recommend you check it out!
Gilda’s Club Minnesota 2022 goals also align with the Minnesota Department of Health’s Comprehensive Cancer Control initiative: Cancer Plan Minnesota 2025. Therefore, we are in sync with the MDH’s approach of conducting listening sessions and gaining community-specific feedback to ensure the process of crafting our internal strategy is congruent with the 2025 Cancer Plan Minnesota and, most importantly, is inclusive, open, and forward-thinking.
This initiative challenges organizations like ours, and individuals like you, in every sector and region of the state to step up and work together to make a difference for all Minnesotans. Thank you for helping Gilda’s Club Minnesota make critical strides to seeing all Minnesotans facing cancer are equitably supported by 2025!
We’ve come so far as a community this year, embracing new ways of offering support to our members and creating new relationships in the greater Twin Cities area – and none of it would be possible without you, our community members, partners, and supporters. So this summer, we invite you to join us again in person as we bring back our annual events gathering as a community supporting Gilda’s Club Minnesota’s mission, ensuring no one faces cancer alone.
With gratitude,
Katherine Todd
Executive Director
612-227-2147 main | 952-767-7620 direct
10560 Wayzata Blvd., Minneapolis, MN 55305
