This event will be held in-person at Hope Connections for Cancer Support in Bethesda, MD. Please register below to attend.
In Partnership with Hope Connections for Cancer Support, Life with Cancer and Smith Center for Healing and the Arts
Join other young adult cancer survivors for an in-person meet up.
Hope Connections, Life with Cancer, and Smith Center are hosting an in-person get-together for young adults who have been diagnosed with cancer. This gathering is an opportunity to connect with your peers who truly get this experience. Come for good conversations, fun, and light refreshments.
Social Distance and Mask Policy
For this event, we will be outside the entire time and encourage participants to maintain adequate physical distance during the program. We encourage those who are unvaccinated to wear a mask while participating. For those that are vaccinated, masks are optional based on your comfort level.
Part 3/3. If you would like to join this program series, please email programs@smithcenter.org.
You will receive the Zoom information no later than the morning of your program.
with Elizabeth Belanger
A cancer diagnosis can completely turn your life upside down and leave you trying to understand who you are and what is important. Join us on a three-part creative venture to help narrate and make sense of your cancer experience.
During this program, we will discover how to choose music that represents your life or cancer experience and that looks towards the next steps in your journey. You can expect sessions to assist in creatively processing the emotional and physical tolls that cancer can take on every aspect of your life. Each session will provide space to share in community and think about how to express your experience.
In our first session, we will discuss key moments and feelings in our journeys. Then, each of us will individually be tasked with creating a collection of 7-14 songs (an album) of our journey from diagnosis into the future of survivorship.
In our second session, we will get our creative juices flowing by developing album art that represents our albums. And finally, in session three, we will come together as a group and share in art and story.
Come ready with a passion for music and art and some self-reflective time for out-of-group activities. Everyone with a story to tell is welcome!
Life Soundtrack will be hosted in three parts. Participants are encouraged to attend all three sessions to get the most out of the program series.
Program series dates:
- July 19 & 26, 3:00-4:30pm ET
- August 2, 3:00-4:30pm ET
Suggested Donation: $10/session or $25/series
About Elizabeth Belanger
Elizabeth Belanger is a social work intern for Smith Center while she is getting her Masters of Social Work at Simmons University. Elizabeth has previously worked with survivors of domestic violence and youth in Ward 8, providing strengths-based and trauma-informed care. After graduating, Elizabeth looks forward to working as a clinical social worker here in DC providing accessible mental health services to those who have experienced trauma.
Part 2/3. If you would like to join this program series, please email programs@smithcenter.org.
You will receive the Zoom information no later than the morning of your program.
with Elizabeth Belanger
A cancer diagnosis can completely turn your life upside down and leave you trying to understand who you are and what is important. Join us on a three-part creative venture to help narrate and make sense of your cancer experience.
During this program, we will discover how to choose music that represents your life or cancer experience and that looks towards the next steps in your journey. You can expect sessions to assist in creatively processing the emotional and physical tolls that cancer can take on every aspect of your life. Each session will provide space to share in community and think about how to express your experience.
In our first session, we will discuss key moments and feelings in our journeys. Then, each of us will individually be tasked with creating a collection of 7-14 songs (an album) of our journey from diagnosis into the future of survivorship.
In our second session, we will get our creative juices flowing by developing album art that represents our albums. And finally, in session three, we will come together as a group and share in art and story.
Come ready with a passion for music and art and some self-reflective time for out-of-group activities. Everyone with a story to tell is welcome!
Life Soundtrack will be hosted in three parts. Participants are encouraged to attend all three sessions to get the most out of the program series.
Program series dates:
- July 19 & 26, 3:00-4:30pm ET
- August 2, 3:00-4:30pm ET
Suggested Donation: $10/session or $25/series
About Elizabeth Belanger
Elizabeth Belanger is a social work intern for Smith Center while she is getting her Masters of Social Work at Simmons University. Elizabeth has previously worked with survivors of domestic violence and youth in Ward 8, providing strengths-based and trauma-informed care. After graduating, Elizabeth looks forward to working as a clinical social worker here in DC providing accessible mental health services to those who have experienced trauma.
This program is being offered virtually through Zoom. In order to participate and receive the Zoom link, register by clicking the RSVP button above or by emailing programs@smithcenter.org.
You will receive the Zoom information no later than the morning of your program.
with Melanie Edwards
Singer, songwriter and musician, Melanie Edwards, recently launched Musical Mending Workshops which can be curated for any specific healing modality, be it collectively or individually. The workshops help with memory, cognition, expression, general wellbeing and are just plain fun for participants.
In addition, the classes focus on teaching techniques to manage grief, anxiety, depression and many more ailments by administering sonic techniques to relieve stress, help find inner peace and express authenticity. She often uses different instruments & singing skills to activate relaxation, calm the mind and nourish the soul. This is not about performing or being a professional singer, but rather a shared experience of collective sound healing in the present moment for the whole family.
Participants are free to join or simply observe in shared space, as well as bring their own mantras, words or poems to self-reflect and express via musical mending.
Suggested Donation: $10
About Melanie Edwards
Melanie Edwards is an award-winning singer, songwriter, pianist, violinist, music practitioner and tv/film composer. She holds a master’s degree in music from The Savannah College of Art and Design and was awarded the Artistic Achievement Fellowship to secure her MFA in Musical Theater – Performing Arts at SCAD. Furthermore, she was a Morehead Scholar Nominee at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she secured a BA in broadcast journalism, furthering her news career as a Carolina Week Reporter and later becoming a weather anchor for local news in eastern North Carolina. Likewise, she was the NCSU’s Department of Nuclear Engineering Investigators’ Program Award Recipient in Nuclear Technology at North Carolina State University where she focused on nuclear engineering and physics. Additionally, she holds a BA in Spanish from Universidad de España, in Sevilla, Spain. Melanie is certified in Mental Health First Aid USA by the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare and has 27 years experience as a performing artist and expressive, musical healer with several partner charities and organizations, such as: National Theatre DC and Smith Center for Healing and the Arts. She recently started a healing arts business providing “Musical Mending” workshops and services to nursing homes, assisted living quarters, hospices, hospitals and many underprivileged communities. In addition, she is the resident pianist for Clyde’s Restaurant and has performed at Gypsy Sally’s, The Henley Park Hotel, Beacon Bar and Grill and Peruvian Ambassador Castilla’s Residence in Washington, DC. She is also a regular performer at Rockwood Music Hall, in New York City.
https://www.melanieedwardslabs.com/
This program series is being offered virtually through Zoom. In order to participate and receive the Zoom link, register by clicking the RSVP button above or by emailing carla@smithcenter.org.
You will receive the Zoom information no later than the morning of your program.
with Elizabeth Belanger
A cancer diagnosis can completely turn your life upside down and leave you trying to understand who you are and what is important. Join us on a three-part creative venture to help narrate and make sense of your cancer experience.
During this program, we will discover how to choose music that represents your life or cancer experience and that looks towards the next steps in your journey. You can expect sessions to assist in creatively processing the emotional and physical tolls that cancer can take on every aspect of your life. Each session will provide space to share in community and think about how to express your experience.
In our first session, we will discuss key moments and feelings in our journeys. Then, each of us will individually be tasked with creating a collection of 7-14 songs (an album) of our journey from diagnosis into the future of survivorship.
In our second session, we will get our creative juices flowing by developing album art that represents our albums. And finally, in session three, we will come together as a group and share in art and story.
Come ready with a passion for music and art and some self-reflective time for out-of-group activities. Everyone with a story to tell is welcome!
Life Soundtrack will be hosted in three parts. Participants are encouraged to attend all three sessions to get the most out of the program series.
Program series dates:
- July 19 & 26, 3:00-4:30pm ET
- August 2, 3:00-4:30pm ET
Suggested Donation: $10/session or $25/series
About Elizabeth Belanger
Elizabeth Belanger is a social work intern for Smith Center while she is getting her Masters of Social Work at Simmons University. Elizabeth has previously worked with survivors of domestic violence and youth in Ward 8, providing strengths-based and trauma-informed care. After graduating, Elizabeth looks forward to working as a clinical social worker here in DC providing accessible mental health services to those who have experienced trauma.
This program is being offered virtually through Zoom. In order to participate and receive the Zoom link, register by clicking the RSVP button above or by emailing programs@smithcenter.org.
You will receive the Zoom information no later than the morning of your program.
with Terry Conroy, RYT500
This yoga class combines gentle yoga postures, including some extended holds, to awaken your mind, body and spirit, and prepare you for your day. Students will be asked to focus on how each posture feels in their body, bringing mindful awareness to their practice.
Much of the morning stretch practice will be done sitting or lying on a mat. Chair practice can be accommodated. All levels welcome.
Beginning in September, Wake-Up Morning Stretch will be offered on Mondays from 10:30-11:30am ET.
Suggested Donation: $10/session or $25/month
Our programs are also open to the community, and tailored to meet the needs of people affected by cancer. Classes and workshops are free or low cost on a pay-as-you-can basis, ensuring that our programs are accessible to everyone.
In addition, our yoga classes are listed with the National MS Society and we welcome patients and caregivers of those with multiple sclerosis to our gentle yoga classes.
About Terry Conroy, RYT500
Terry Conroy, RYT500, has been a yoga practitioner for over 15 years, and a yoga teacher for over 10 years. Terry’s teaching provides a combination of mindfulness, meditation, and yoga postures appropriate for any body type or physical condition. Terry believes that yoga is about what you can do, not what you can’t. Her goal is to help others feel grounded, strong, and confident. Her yoga specialties are chair, gentle mat, and yin. Her motto is, “If you can breathe, you can do yoga.” Terry is certified in Yoga4Cancer, Yoga4Trauma, and Yoga Nidra.
This program is being offered virtually through Zoom. In order to participate and receive the Zoom link, register by clicking the RSVP button above or by emailing programs@smithcenter.org.
You will receive the Zoom information no later than the morning of your program.
with Terry Conroy, RYT500
This yoga class combines gentle yoga postures, including some extended holds, to awaken your mind, body and spirit, and prepare you for your day. Students will be asked to focus on how each posture feels in their body, bringing mindful awareness to their practice.
Much of the morning stretch practice will be done sitting or lying on a mat. Chair practice can be accommodated. All levels welcome.
Beginning in September, Wake-Up Morning Stretch will be offered on Mondays from 10:30-11:30am ET.
Suggested Donation: $10/session or $25/month
Our programs are also open to the community, and tailored to meet the needs of people affected by cancer. Classes and workshops are free or low cost on a pay-as-you-can basis, ensuring that our programs are accessible to everyone.
In addition, our yoga classes are listed with the National MS Society and we welcome patients and caregivers of those with multiple sclerosis to our gentle yoga classes.
About Terry Conroy, RYT500
Terry Conroy, RYT500, has been a yoga practitioner for over 15 years, and a yoga teacher for over 10 years. Terry’s teaching provides a combination of mindfulness, meditation, and yoga postures appropriate for any body type or physical condition. Terry believes that yoga is about what you can do, not what you can’t. Her goal is to help others feel grounded, strong, and confident. Her yoga specialties are chair, gentle mat, and yin. Her motto is, “If you can breathe, you can do yoga.” Terry is certified in Yoga4Cancer, Yoga4Trauma, and Yoga Nidra.
