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Luminaries is the first non-profit to deliver science-backed solutions through free self-care kits to cancer survivors' doorsteps. Their mission primarily focuses on supporting those facing financial hardship and health equity disparities. Survivors receive six wellness kits; one delivered every two months. So far, in just over one year of the program, more than 1,300 cancer Survivors have received free wellness kits across North America.
ASSETS
LAURA HENDRICKS
CO-FOUNDER, luminaries
BROCK HENDRICKS
CO-FOUNDER, luminaries
A YEAR OF WELLNESS KITS
EVERY TWO MONTHS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR-LONG PROGRAM, SURVIVORS RECEIVE A CUSTOMIZED KIT IN THE MAIL CONTAINING A FOCUSED WELLNESS ROUTINE, AND TOOLS TO ASSIST IN THEIR SURVIVORSHIP JOURNEY.
Luminaries Kits guide survivors through foundational practices that help them rebuild after cancer and find intention and presence in the habits they are forming on their survivorship journey. The solutions in the kits are intended to be tangible and hands-on solutions that can be incorporated into a survivor's daily life at home, work, play, and out in the world, such as water bottles, journals, food trackers, sleep masks, and more.
1 – SLEEP/REST
2 – GRATITUDE
3 – HYDRATION
4 – FUEL
5 – BREATH/FOCUS
6 – MOVEMENT
LAURA’S STORY
On February 2, 2018, Laura Hendricks’ life changed forever.
After an unexpected ER visit, Laura was immediately admitted to the hospital and remained there for the next six months. She is a survivor of an aggressive form of blood cancer (acute myeloid leukemia) through chemotherapy, full body radiation, and a stem cell transplant. Laura is a wife and a mother of three small children. She saw her children only a handful of times, and her husband acted as a single parent during her brutal treatment.
Since she started treatment and was admitted to the oncology unit, she was guided hour-by-hour on her road to recovery, and teams of doctors and nurses were saving her life (and a few miracles).
When she was finally released from the hospital, she was relieved to begin her Survivorship journey and was lucky to have a support system of friends and family to assist and encourage her. However, until you’ve been there, you have no idea what to expect or even ask for.
To say the least, Survivorship was not as elating as she had imagined. She felt lost, lonely, and confused. It is a very personal journey, but there is a desire to know you aren’t alone and others have the same struggles. She eventually came to the realization that by listening to her body and focusing on her own innate abilities, she could become more resilient - step by step and not chasing quick fixes. Now five years out of treatment herself, she believes that each of us can achieve more in Survivorship than we ever thought possible.
That is why Laura started Luminaries, an honest program that looks inward and revisits your own potential and abilities—built to make Survivorship more purposeful, less lonely, and by someone who continues down the same journey.
THE SCIENCE OF SURVIVORSHIP
The Cancer Survivorship Institute (CSI) of Northwestern University provides patients with a wide range of support services. In collaborating with CSI, Luminaries breaks the mold of traditional Survivorship care programs by delivering a curated kit to a Survivor's doorstep that entices engagement, excitement, and a positive mindset.
Luminaries uses a series of steps involving an attention, reward, and reinforcement loop. This system helps release dopamine and can act as an amplifier to change the wiring in survivors' brains, even lifting “chemo-fog” after radiation and chemotherapy treatment. And what’s so remarkable about leveraging the attention, reward, and reinforcement loop is that doing this process across various healthy practices can increase the rate at which “rewiring” occurs.
*Survivorship is on track to grow to 22.2 million by 2030
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