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 carla@smithcenter.org.
You will receive the Zoom information no later than the morning of your program.
Featuring Cara Scharf, Charity Sade, Erin Price, LICSW, OSW-C, Kimberly Parekh, and Tyler Jachetta. Hosted by Lisa Simms Booth.
Smith Center 25th Anniversary Conversation Series
Signature Programs: DC Young Adult Cancer Community
The year 2021 marks the 25th anniversary of the founding of Smith Center for Healing and the Arts. In celebration of this momentous achievement, we are launching a series of special conversations. Across the course of the coming year, members of our Smith Center family will join us to reflect upon Smith Center’s roots, examine its present programs and impact, and imagine what the future may hold for us at Smith Center and the larger world of integrative healing.
Our next collection of conversations, focused on Smith Center’s Signature Programs, will resume on Monday, October 25th from 6 – 7:30 pm (Eastern Time). Highlighting our DC Young Adult Cancer Community and programs, we are honored to welcome a few of our young adult cancer survivors: Cara Scharf, Charity Sade, Erin Price, Kimberly Parekh, and Tyler Jachetta. The panel will be interviewed by Smith Center’s Executive Director, Lisa Simms Booth.
We hope you will join us for the conversations in this special series. Please feel free to circulate this announcement and share with others the details of this upcoming conversation.
This program is being offered to support Smith Center’s 25th Anniversary. Participants are encouraged to donate $25 (or whatever amount you can afford) to support our work.
Smith Center’s 25th Anniversary Conversation Series will be hosted throughout 2021.
Selected Themes:
- Visionary Leaders in Integrative Care
- Smith Center’s Signature Programs
- Participants’ Perspectives
- Envisioning the Future
All donations for the 25th Anniversary Conversation Series will support Smith Center’s 25th Anniversary Fund. Suggested Donation: $25.
Cara Scharf
At age 21, right after graduating college, Cara learned that she had the BRCA 1 gene mutation, which she was tested for because of a strong family history of breast and ovarian cancer. At age 25, her first screening MRI picked up stage 1 triple-negative breast cancer, which she treated with a double mastectomy and chemotherapy. Ten years later, at age 36, Cara feels fortunate to remain cancer-free and to have space and time to reflect on her experience and how it changed her understanding of her life, her relationships, and the world. In the past ten years, Cara participated in and led many young adult-focused support communities through organizations such as Young Survival Coalition, as well as co-founded her own support community in her hometown of Philadelphia called Young Adult Cancer Connection. Her day job is Assistant Director for Community-Based Learning at Drexel University, where she helps college students develop identities as active and engaged citizens, but she considers her most important work to be organizing around social justice issues in her community. In her free time she enjoys exploring Philadelphia’s parks and cultural assets, listening to Broadway musicals, and playing her ukulele.
Charity Sade
Charity Sade is an up and coming comedian from Indiana, but has resided in Washington, D.C. for the last 8 years.
She has performed across the country, and won a new comic competition at Greenwich Village Comedy Club. Within her first year of comedy, Charity made her festival debut at the 2018 DC Comedy Festival as well as the Chicago Women’s Funny Festival.
She has always used humor to get through difficult moments in her life, including her breast cancer diagnosis at age 27. On stage, she takes her difficult life experiences and turns them into relatable, humorous tales. Her comedic superpower is her ability to make you simultaneously laugh and cringe.
Charity is the creator and founder of Comedic Relief: Coping Through Comedy. You can catch Charity hosting, producing, and performing on shows across the DMV.
Erin Price
Erin serves as Smith Center’s Director of Young Adult and Psychosocial Support Programs. She is trained in Integrative Patient Navigation, a Project LEAD graduate, and holds a Masters in Social Work. A ten-year+ breast cancer survivor, Erin is passionate about providing support and community to other cancer survivors, especially young adults. She works with Smith Center’s DC Young Adult Cancer Community and is also actively involved in the cancer community through the Association of Oncology Social Workers, the Young Survival Coalition, the Georgetown Breast Cancer Advocates, and the National Breast Cancer Coalition.
