Meet Sam, our Director of Programs. Sam leads the team that trains volunteers, makes matches, and provides support for cancer patients, caregivers, survivors and more. She works closely with our Allies of Hope partners across the nation and is a passionate advocate for our Hope Check volunteer continuing education program. She joined the CHN team in early 2020, but has been making an impact for those diagnosed with cancer for quite a few years now.
Sam has a flair for life. Growing up she was interested in everything. She liked marine biology, she dabbled with teaching, thought about nursing, and landed on psychology. At her core, she wanted to connect with people.
Sam began her career in a reproductive clinic where she worked her way from the front deck to PACU Coordinator. Her next position marked her move to the world of oncology. In her years as a chemo unit coordinator, Sam noticed that where she had expected a grim atmosphere, she found was a tremendous amount of hope.
Sam was doing “amazing work” and was sharing her bubbly personality with those that needed it most. She enjoyed the connection she could make to the patients that entered her floor.
She was laser-focused on patient care – helping her team to remain concentrated on the lives they were touching. “I wanted to be sure that ‘Mary and Joe’ never became ‘our 10.30 and our 2.30.”
Sam heard about Cancer Hope Network through a close friend of hers. And just like that Sam found the next step in her journey. We are “the place where she belongs.”
She began her work with us as a Programs Coordinator, describing it as “back to the basics for human interaction,” where every call, email or chat leaves her feeling inspired. Today, as she coordinates the team serving at the front lines of that inspiring interaction, she remains deeply inspired by the attitudes that our Support Volunteers have as they work to bring hope to newly diagnosed patients and their caregivers.
