It all began with Amanda.
“She was the first person who ever taught me about cancer,” says Debbie Magwood, co-founder of the West Island Cancer Wellness centre.
“I watched her live with it, laugh with it, cry with it, and experience it. And, unfortunately, die of it.”
Amanda was seven years old.
Amanda was the daughter of Magwood’s best friend. Watching Amanda’s brave fight with cancer was an experience that would stay with Magwood for the rest of her life. And it’s an experience that would come back to her forcefully when she was diagnosed with cancer in her early twenties, shortly after Amanda died.
Suddenly Magwood was dealing with cancer from a different perspective. “At that moment, you’re going through the medical system, and you start to notice that there’s gaps in it,” says Magwood. Magwood’s journey within the medical system was a long one - her cancer went into remission and then returned before she was able to beat it.
Magwood’s experience taught her that the “gaps” in the medical system stemmed from a focus on the disease, not on wellness. “Wellness” is the concept of, “teaching people that are living with cancer how to feel empowered - how to survive with cancer, how to live with it, how to work with it,” explains Magwood.
Now in her forties and cancer-free for many years, Magwood has made it her mission in life to fill those gaps. Last year she teamed up with longtime friend, Jill Boileau, to create the Wellness centre from scratch. The two have known each other 15 years. Both are married mothers of two. Together, were to embark on a remarkable journey.
Boileau has her own history with cancer. While she has never suffered from the disease, “everybody in my family whom I’ve lost, I’ve lost to cancer,” she says. That includes both of her parents, all her aunts and uncles, and a cousin who was in her forties. Boileau also lost her high school best friend to cancer. When Magwood approached her with the idea of starting the Wellness centre, Boileau jumped at the opportunity to help a good friend’s dream come true.
The women jumped in with both feet. They soon quit their jobs - Magwood was a hospital psychologist, and Boileau worked in the field of communications and non-profit work. Creating the centre became their new full-time job.
Its creation was a daunting task. They were immediately faced with a mountain of paperwork, and an immense amount of research was required.
“It’s kind of funny - when we called the government to find out about starting a non-profit centre, they said that normally, it takes 18 months,” recalls Magwood. “And we kind of looked at each other and said, ‘Well, they haven’t met us yet!’.”
She was right - within four months, the centre had its charity status.
Speaking with the two women, it's not hard to understand how they were able to overcome these obstacles. While they are both friendly and courteous, it's clear that when it comes to causes that matter, they won't take no for an answer.
Magwood and Boileau attribute their success to hard work and stubbornness, but say that the biggest reason the centre was able to get off the ground so quickly was that its services were so needed by the cancer community.
The Wellness centre opened its doors in October of 2009, although it had already been assisting many patients through a pilot project for months. “The need was so great, we couldn’t wait,” says Boileau.
Magwood handles the centre’s programming, and Boileau handles fundraising and communications. Their personalities are well-suited to their roles - Magwood speaks in the quiet, soothing voice of a therapist, while Boileau has a raucous laugh and bubbles with enthusiasm when describing planned fundraising events.
Today, the centre aims to treat the mind, body, and soul of cancer patients in a way that hospitals don’t. Services offered include yoga, tai chi, counseling, cooking classes, and art therapy. The centre also helps the family and friends of cancer patients to cope with the effects of cancer.
The centre is located on a quiet stretch of the lakeshore inside a cozy house with a wraparound balcony and a large, beautiful garden (the centre offers gardening classes, and the organic produce is used for cooking classes. The house’s rooms are flooded with light, and a calm, soothing atmosphere pervades throughout.
Other women move in and out of the room during the interview. Magwood and Boileau explain that the Centre is largely run by volunteers. One volunteer's story truly stands out for them.
"This young woman had breast cancer, and wanted so much to become a volunteer," says Magwood. The Centre has a policy that no patients can be volunteers. "We want them to focus on their own recovery," says Magwood.
But this woman was determined. As soon as she was cancer-free, she returned to the centre and asked once again to volunteer. She was welcomed with open arms, and Magwood and Boileau think that her goal of volunteering at the centre may have motivated her during her recovery.
It's easy to see why patients feel so at ease here. Everything in the centre is designed for comfort - the colors are soothing, the couches are comfy, and the air is noticeably free of perfume or chemical odors.
Everything was also free - each piece of furniture, fitness equipment, or computer hardware has been donated. “Our donors have been incredibly generous,” says Magwood during a tour of the house. “We couldn’t have done this without tremendous support from the community.”
The centre receives no government funding, and relies exclusively on fundraising and its donors. Hundreds of donor names are written on the over a dozen framed lists that hang on the wall by its entrance.
Today, the centre helps over 125 cancer patients and their families. Everyone is welcome - “No one is too old, too young, or too sick to come here,” stress Magwood and Boileau.
And no medical referrals are needed. “Just pick up the phone and call us,” says Magwood. “If we don’t offer the service you need, we’ll refer you to a place that does,” adds Boileau.
The centre is looking forward to expanding ints services this year. Magwood and Boileau make a formidable team - it seems as though when these two women put their heads together, there's nothing they can't do.
More than two decades after Amanda’s death, the centre is helping another seven-year old girl who is fighting cancer. Both Magwood and Boileau say her story stands out for them.
“When she came here, she was so scared, holding onto her mother’s leg,” remembers Magwood. “She was so fed up with hospital situations, and she thought this would be another.”
But after exploring the house and playing with the toys and art supplies in the children’s room, her mood changed. “She said, “Mommy, I don’t want to leave!”, says Magwood with a huge smile. “That was always our goal, to make this place feel like a home for people.”
“Later on, she was doing art therapy one day,” says Boileau. “She had to make drawings in different boxes - ‘this is your “Sad” box, this is your “Scared” box’ - and when she got to the box for “Joy”, she drew a picture of our logo.”
Both women are obviously touched, and pause. “That’s the first time I’ve told that story without crying,” says Boileau. There is no question that, given these two women’s remarkable commitment to helping cancer patients, that her tears were tears of joy.
