Dorothy: [00:00:00] After losing both of her parents and experiencing her own breast cancer, Marva Skinner joined Angels Surviving Cancer. In this episode, you’ll learn how she found a renewed sense of purpose through her involvement, and as a breast cancer survivor, Marva’s purpose, Marva’s purpose guides her in navigating others through their breast cancer journey. You’ll hear why Angels Surviving Cancer is not just an organization, It’s a life line offering mentorship, financial assistance, scholarships, and organizing events to honor and support breast cancer patients and their families.
Like so many others in this podcast, Marva’s story underscores the critical role of community. It’s a reminder that behind every breast cancer diagnosis, there’s a person in need of support, understanding, and hope. When you subscribe to our show, you help us grow. Someone [00:01:00] you know may need to hear this story. So please, share with your family and friends.
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Marva, it’s so nice to have you here with us today. Thank you so much for coming in. And I know that you’ve been a part of Angels Surviving Cancer. So tell us about the time when you joined them. And I think they had just gotten started. Is that right?
Marva: Yes. The organization was formed in 2011. I was diagnosed with cancer in the latter part of [00:02:00] 2011. But I became a part of the organization in 2012. I knew about Ms. Workcuff because we go to the same church, and my mother, breast cancer had been in my family. My grandmother had breast cancer on my mother’s side, and also my mother. So when Ms. Workcuff had wrote a little book about breast cancer, I had bought it for my mom.
And then, at the age of 60, when I found breast cancer, came to the organization, it was a really rough time. In ’11, I lost my mom. I found out I had breast cancer in December. In February, I lost my dad. So Angels were something to give me purpose and hope through my breast cancer, which is what we, which is what the organization strives to do to every young lady or every lady that’s going through breast cancer. [00:03:00] So then, like I say, in 2012, I joined the organization. In 2013, I was made vice president, and I’ve been the vice president since.
Dorothy: Oh, my goodness. So you experienced them before you joined them and became part of them.
Marva: Yes.
Dorothy: And you knew what it was like to be on that side.
Marva: Yes.
Dorothy: Of really being lost.
Marva: Lost.
Dorothy: Yes. Was your treatment long? Hard?
Marva: Well, I guess my treatment wasn’t that long. It was long, but it wasn’t that hard, and then, I guess that’s because I had watched it between my mother and my grandmother. Because my grandmother came to MD Anderson, and she stayed with me, because I was already in Houston. My parents, my hometown is a little town out of East Texas, around Palestine.
So, but my mom did her [00:04:00] treatments and stuff at home. So, to know about breast cancer, it’s not like a person that just Out of the blue, get a breast cancer thing, I had been around it for quite a few years and I knew what the treatments were, and to a certain extent, and what to expect. So my battle wasn’t that hard.
Plus also, I was 60 years old. My children were grown. I don’t have myself and my husband to worry about. That’s a big difference. That’s why young ladies that’s going through breast cancer. I like to let them know that they are stronger than they ever realized that they are. Because not only are they having to battle with their health issues, they’re having to worry about being a mom for young children.
Dorothy: Oh, that’s true.
Marva: And that’s a great, great responsibility and burden as well.
Dorothy: Right, and as women we often put ourselves [00:05:00] last.
Marva: Yes.
Dorothy: And for sure, when you’re a mother, you’re taking care of everybody else. Yes, absolutely.
Marva: Yes.
Dorothy: So now tell us a little bit more. How big is this organization? Do all members mentor up or support a individual or many individuals? I know you were Vanessa’s. Are you other people’s Angels? Can I sign up to be an Angel?
Marva: Yes, yes, yes, you most definitely can. And sign up to be an Angel. Uh, but yes, our organization is about, uh, we have roughly 100 members that are cancer survivors. And then we have roughly about 50 members That what we call Guardian Angels. And those are people that just like to support the Angels or support people’s that’s going through, uh, care and love and encouragement, enrichment, [00:06:00] enlightenment, and educate is what we try to do. We try to educate. There are whatever person need is that come to us. If it’s inhumanly possible, we try to meet.
There are all kinds of ladies that have different Angels. There’s always someone to listen. There’s always someone to give support to if needed. There’s doctor’s visits, hospital visits, babysitting children. If it’s at all possible, however we can be of assistance to a person, a lady, a young lady that’s going through, those are the organization’s goals and those are things that we strive to do.
Dorothy: Oh my gosh, I have so many questions. So, I remember when I was talking with Vanessa, uh, you even picked her up and took her to [00:07:00] some doctor’s appointments, and that’s one of the support?
Marva: I took Vanessa to most of all of her doctor’s appointments. When she was in the shelter, I would have to go meet her because I never knew where the shelter was.
We had, I would meet her at a little gas station. She would come through rolling the baby and stuff. I’d keep the baby while she’d go through her chemo and stuff. Then once we became, she became— out of the shelter and moved into the little apartments at the Star of Hope, I still would take her to whatever apartment she need.
Even if the kids need to go to apartments. After she got a little worse, she broke her arm. So, I still had to go, had to go to the doctors to take care of the broken arm. But, uh, and I’m, Vanessa, yeah. To me, I’m not, we do as an organization [00:08:00] take care of women. There are other women that we take care of. But to me, Vanessa became my daughter because I looked at what she was going through and I saw all the amazing strength that she had in order to do that.
Because like I tell everybody, it’s easy when you don’t have that much to deal with. But when you’re trying to deal with not necessarily having a place to call your own, two children, a illness that you don’t know how it’s gonna go, and then the treatment for the illness making you even sicker than the illness sometimes, That’s a strong person.
Dorothy: It sure is. And she was coming out of a bad relationship as she describes it. And that in itself [00:09:00] takes a lot of courage. And it’s a huge transition, you know, just to go from one way of living to another. I loved what you said about skills and helping women acquire skills. You know, there’s so much that Women don’t even know it’s around.
I mean, they don’t even know how to access it. And especially when you’re in a bad spot. Yes, so true. So for y’all to come in and say, here’s, here’s some way you can learn to deal with this.
Marva: Yes.
Dorothy: That’s important. That’s something that lasts a lifetime.
Marva: Yes.
Dorothy: Yes, yes. And I, I, now tell us about the other programs. I know you have a monthly— Is it a monthly or bimonthly prayer meeting?
Marva: Um, we have a, we have a monthly meeting.
Dorothy: Mm-Hmm.
Marva: Uh, yearly. We have our annual prayer breakfast, which is where Chris and them, we first met Vanessa. Uh, and [00:10:00] at our prayer breakfast, we honor at least five women that are going through breast cancer with school aged kids.
Uh, we make them feel special, we give them an extra financial blessing in order to do something with their children, because cancer is a family disease. So in order for the mom to be able to do treatments and stuff, that’s something she done had to neglect for her children. So we try to give them something so that they can go do something for the children to feel like, you know, we haven’t just been neglected all together. We understand this. Um, and we also give scholarship to four kids that have lost their parents to breast cancer or their parents cancer is going through breast cancer that senior year. It is one of our greatest fundraisers and one of the greatest things that we are proud of.
Dorothy: Oh, it should be, Yes.
Marva: Uh, there’s [00:11:00] been, you know, over the past 10 years, there’s been at least 50 women that we have, to some degree, we helped more ladies than that during our year, but that we have made as honorees that have, most of them have gone on to do well or are doing well. We’ve lost a few along the way, because, you know, only God knows our time. And, but, you know, we think, and as an organization, and we hope and pray that during that time, we have made it a little easier for those ladies that’s going through.
Dorothy: And is this primarily women in Houston?
Marva: Primarily women in Houston.
Dorothy: But anyone—
Marva: can call and ask.
Dorothy: And you can—
Marva: We have a website that they can go on and they can fill out. And if it’s anyway, we’ve [00:12:00] gone as far as Beaumont to help a lady or to uh, Texas City. Uh, but it is basically the surrounding areas. And I won’t even say there was a lady in Fort Worth at one time that we had. Yes.
Dorothy: So, just knowing you’re there, though, is a help in itself.
Marva: Yes.
Dorothy: Knowing there’s someone you could call and just talk to that has been there, understands it. But, you know, Vanessa says it took a little while for her to get, I don’t want to say warmed up to you, but. To understand that there’s someone that could care about her, you know, how, how did you make sure she knew that without pushing her away? That, that could have happened.
Marva: Well, I treat Vanessa and, I mean, all the young ladies, I just stop and think how I would like to be treated. And that’s the wisdom that the Lord has given me. [00:13:00] So, I always try to treat them that way. I try to be listening, understanding, not demanding, you know, just to let you know that I’m always there.
Dorothy: You know, being there is sometimes all we can do.
Marva: Yes it is.
Dorothy: And it means so much when you’re in trouble and you need to know that—
That
Marva: you have someone there that’s— cares. And it’s there. I understand. Yes.
Dorothy: Marva, you truly are an Angel. And I am so, uh, grateful that you could come and talk about Angels Surviving Cancer. And people can go on the website and we’ll have that information in our show notes. Uh, so anything else you want to make sure our listeners know about the organization going through cancer?
Marva: With God, all things are possible. First of all, but then with [00:14:00] going through cancer can be a little rough depending on your body and the journey everybody’s journey is gonna be a different journey. None of us are gonna have the same journey. We move— all we hope for is the same outcome and that’s a longer better life and that along the way we learn and meet people to enrich that life and make it greater for us.
There are so many things and so many ways that we can help each other. And by helping each other, listening to each other, being there for each other, and as far as Angels, we’re always looking for more people that’s willing to help. So is that we can do more help. Uh, like I say, our prayer breakfast this year is in June. It’s June the 22nd. [00:15:00] We have a bowling thing coming up in March. It’s March the 24th. That helps funds the scholarship for the five students that we like to give every year. Um, and There’s, I mean, I don’t know how to ask or how to say that help is always needed in order to help people.
Dorothy: I think you’re saying it just fine. Yes, you’re an organization that helps women. And the only way you can do that is with people helping you. Yes, and we totally support everything that Angels Surviving Cancer is doing. And we know that the more the community knows about you, the more they’ll be there to make sure you’re strong and, and all the people that you’re helping have that, have that— it’s truly a blessing. It truly is. You know, I, like I said, everybody needs an Angel no matter what you’re [00:16:00] going through.
Marva: That’s so true. That’s so true. So Angels needs Angels too.
Dorothy: That’s right. That’s right. Oh, thank you so much for being with us here today. I, I appreciate it beyond anything you can imagine.
Marva: No, I would like to thank you and The Rose. I thank you all for the people that you bring to us in order to help us, in order for us to help them through the journey after you all have done you all’s part. Um, and I am just grateful for the relationship that we have, and I hope and pray that it only goes bigger and better from here.
Dorothy: Oh. Wonderful. Wonderful ending. Thank you so much, Marva. I know it will.
Marva: Thank you.
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