Stepping Up

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Stepping Up is about three inspiring women who share their overlapping stories of survival and the wonderful ways in which they are helping others.

Guests: Joanne Ehrlich, Lori Villa and Jill Fader

Joanne Ehrlich, a 22 year cancer survivor, started a Foundation called Heel the Soul to help women going through serious illness treatment on their own.  Last year it was expanded to include men.  She and other volunteers sit with  patients and provide them comfort bags with items such as blankets, slippers, wellness services, meal deliveries, house cleaning, transportation and more. They provide more than 1000 comfort bags to patients a year.

Lori Villa is Program Manager of Patient and Family Engagement at Englewood Health. where she has worked for 21 years. She met Joanne after being diagnosed with breast cancer four years ago while waiting for radiation. She was a recipient of one of the comfort bags and is now an integral part of helping support other patients with her work in Patient and Family Engagement. Lori helped launch the first annual Walk for Awareness in 1999 with our third guest, Jill Fader. 

Jill Fader is a 22 year breast cancer survivor.  She and her husband, Paul Fader organized the very first "Walk for Awareness” in 1999 as a gesture of thanks for the care Jill received upon discovering that she had breast cancer. The Englewood Health Foundation’s annual Walk for Awareness mobilizes hundreds of participants each year and raises funds to provide uninsured women in the community with access to a range of healthcare services including mammograms, genetic testing and other screening and diagnostic testing at The Leslie Simon Breast Care and Cytodiagnosis Center.