Although it is challenging for me to work with others who have cancer considering I am a cancer survivor as well, I still try to find joy in each day and will not let cancer stand in the way of my happiness. It really has a lot to do with the very powerful tool we all have which is our attitude.

I have found three quotes on the Internet from unknown authors that perfectly sum up how I feel about happiness.

~”When I was 5 years old, my mom always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I did not understand the assignment, I told them they did not understand life.”

~”I think we like to complicate things when it is really quite simple; find what it is that makes you happy and who it is that makes you happy ad you are set. promise. “

~”We tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.”

I am so excited about this growth step for HEAL and not only do we have a larger space to grow our programs and our mortgage payment is actually lower then our rent payment was. This means we will have even more money to put into HEALing House programs!

I am in awe of the number of volunteers and hours that have gone into creating this Habitat for HEAL.  One of our moms said it best in a thank you to us:

“You all have really given me some hope that there is a rainbow at the end of my storm.” - Pam

We look forward to seeing our HEAL families and supporters at our new home!

To see pictures of the new house visit our photo gallery page.

A highlight for me this year at the Fairytale Tea was announcing three students to receive the Laura Mylonas Scholarship.  The 1st place winner this year was Marios Mylonas.  He is a graduating Senior at Desert Mountain High School and happens to be the son of Laura for whom HEAL named the Scholarship Fund.  It was very touching that Marios was selected for his hard work in school and baseball as well as his moving application and essay.  He speaks of how watching his mother through her cancer recovery and ultimately losing her battle made him desire to be a more positive person, more like his mom.

He could not attend the Tea because he was Captain of the DMHS Baseball Team and they were in the play offs, he also had to get ready for Senior prom that same night.  I am sure his mother must be very proud to see the wonderful young man he has become and living life to the fullest. HEAL is very honored to help Marios in the next chapter of his life with a $2,000 Scholarship that came from fund raising efforts.

The Fairytale Tea was a huge success and Licensed to Bling did an amazing job of bringing out fun new styles for the fashion show which featured HEAL moms and their daughters as models. The competition is quite fierce and our table hostesses did an outstanding job decorating their tables. Denise Lewandowski’s Mad Hatter Table won “Best in Show”  and Ruthie Cohen’s 101 Dalmatians Table won the table that best coordinated to their theme.  Colleen Katz and her 3 Little Pig table won a catered tea for their table guests for being the table which raised the most money for HEAL for the 2nd year in a row.  Due to the efforts of 270 guests we now have $20,000 to put towards our mission of support for Arizona mothers with cancer.

(Pictured top right is Gracie Daniels, Lauren Daniels, tea table guest Lindsey who donated money from her Bat Mitzvah for her seat at the Fairytale Tea, and HEAL recipient Rhonda Ross. Bottom right is HEAL moms and volunteers.)

I am so grateful to Chris Thomas and Nikole Stahl for choosing HEAL to receive a portion of the proceeds from their production of SHOUT!  This was a dance musical that Chris Thomas wrote, produced and choreographed and the cast was simply amazing. They had two sold out shows on April 9, 2011 at the Mesa Arts Center and it truly was entertaining from beginning to end.

I was so inspired to watch this group of young talent and to see how you can achieve greatness when you follow your dreams and do not let obstacles and fear come in the way of your vision.

I feel this way when I think about HEAL. Sometimes we just have to forge on and follow our instincts and say “yes”. I am glad I did and I have great joy in knowing that nearly 500 mothers recovering from cancer have had some relief from what was just an idea that became a true labor of love from the entire community.

Pictured from left to right:  HEAL founder Lauren Daniels, SHOUT! cast member Jared Johnson, Kayli Daniels, SHOUT! cast member Alyssa Johnson, Sean Daniels and Gracie Daniels.

It is certainly a festive time of year!  The holidays make us grateful in many ways and heighten our senses. I have spent the last few hectic weeks feeling very blessed and I am frequently amazed at the outpouring of generosity to our HEAL Families.  This past month we have watched so many different groups come together to make for a joyous holiday for our moms and their families. Each little piece makes such a big impact because it shows the level of care and concern of a supportive community.

Starting all the way back in the summer Connie Alman and a group of ladies hand made stockings with love for all of the children attending the Holiday Party. 70 stockings were distributed on December 18th. Mike and Marianne Mazzella scheduled a festive party for their friends and family and each of their guests brought 4 dozen cookies that were packaged up for the families to take home to enjoy. BASIS School and National Charity League, Sonoran Centennial Chapter Class of 2011 and 2012, the Mccarville and Kramer families adopted children for our Wish Upon a Star Program. One of last year’s recipients payed it forward by bringing several bags of toys for the kids.

HEAL’s Holiday party was sponsored by NAIOP Developing Leaders, Commercial Real Estate Development Association.  They had gifts for every child in attendance and a gift card for each mom. Additionally, they adopted some of the children for our Holiday outreach and supplied all of the crafts and volunteers for the party.

I arrived a bit late to the party and was overcome with emotion when I walked in and saw the party in full swing.  Families were visiting with each other, kids were playing and making crafts. Hot coco and cider was delivered to our gusts of honor, s’mores were being made and we had a special visit from a very cool, converse wearing Santa. One of our recipients summed this up best:

To everyone at HEAL!!!

My name is Gina and I was able to attend the Holiday party! I wanted to thank you all so very much from the bottom of my heart for making what has been a very unpleasent year end with such joy, love and happiness. I have never attended a party with HEAL before so didn’t really know what to expect. My babies and I had such a wonderful time!! they had a blast making the picture frames, eating cookies and drinking hot chocolate. They also loved making the smores!!! My baby Aaron was at first scared of Santa but by the end took his picture with him and could not stop talking about Santa and how he loves him. Me and my kids had such a wonderful time and we thank you for such a wonderful and fun party! I havn’t even said anything about the gifts yet!!! OMG!!! I thought each of my kids would get a little gift from Santa and I was so happy for that but when I saw the bags of wrapped presents and the huge box (for baby Aaron) I just wanted to cry!!! That was such a blessing!!!! Please, please!!! let the people that adopted my family know how extremely thankful and greatful I am for all that they did to make my babies Christmas so very special!!! I hid most of the gifts and put a few under the tree and they are so excited about those and don’t even know about the hidden ones. Thank you all again so very much for blessing me and my babies with all that you have done and did! We almost didn’t make it out there due to car issues but I am so glad we were able to borrow a car and go to the party. after seeing how much fun it was, it would’ve been sad if they couldn’t have been there to enjoy everything and your Santa helped Aaron with his fear of Santa. He loves Santa now!! LOL!!! It’s great!!  With so much love and gratitude, thank you all soooo much from my family, Gina, Gudelia, Andrew, Gia, Martin & Aaron!!!