In May 2020, Fans for the Cure launched what was then a new program for the charity: an Online Men’s Support Group conducted on Zoom, which was then a relatively new technology for most of us. With the entire U.S. under various forms of quarantine at that time, the pivot to this and a handful of online programs enabled Fans for the Cure to continue to support men facing the challenges of a prostate cancer diagnosis, treatment, recovery, and/or survivorship.
Support Groups Today
The Men’s Support Group has grown in its five years to a community of over 400 registrants who continue to share experiences and knowledge with one another related to their individual journeys through prostate cancer. In November 2020, the charity added a Women’s/Caregivers’ Support Group, hosted by Karen Shaffer, which meets on the first and third Tuesday of each month.
Note: these support groups do not represent formal therapy or counseling. Fans for the Cure provides this platform as a way for groups of men to gather virtually and informally to share ideas and support one another as they deal with prostate cancer.
Our Next Meeting
We’re now holding online men’s support group video calls on a fortnightly basis. Our next online support meeting is scheduled for:
Thursday, January 9th, 2024 at 7:00 ET
Technical Guidance
Join Our Online Support Group
When gathering online, we will use the online meeting tool, Zoom. In order keep our Zoom calls as safe and welcoming as possible, we’ll use the following procedures for gaining access to our Zoom calls.
- To RSVP to attend our online support group, you will need to complete and submit the form below. If you’re not available for our next meeting, you can use the same form to ask to be kept informed about upcoming online support meetings. (For security and safety reasons, we need to be careful about who can access the call.)
- You will need to have a Zoom account to join the call. You can register for a free Zoom account on the Zoom website.
- For practical reasons, we are limiting the number of folks to any single meeting to 30 people. We will accept RSVP on a first-come, first-served basis.
- On the day of the meeting, those who have successfully registered for the online support group meeting will be sent the Zoom call link and password via email, at the email address used to register to attend. The Zoom call link will be emailed to those who registered about 30 minutes before the start of the meeting. SAFETY NOTE: Please do not share the Zoom link with anyone, and do not post the link on social media site.
RSVP Before 6 PM Please
Please RSVP to attend our Zoom meetings before 6:00 PM on the evening of the call. While we can still accept RSVP after 6:00 PM, those who RSVP after that time might experience delays in receiving the Zoom calls via email. (For RSVP received after 6:00 PM on the night of our meetings, we need to send the Zoom call invites by hand, rather than via our technology system.)
Help with Joining the Call
If you need help getting onto the Zoom call on the day of the Online Men’s Support Group’s meetings, you can email [email protected] or call 484-321-3148 for help. (Please note that this phone number is monitored only in the hour before and during the Men’s Support Group meetings.)
Didn’t Get the Zoom Link?
If you have not received the Zoom link for the support group call by 6:20 PM on Thursday night, please email us at [email protected] or call us at 484-321-3148. (Please note that this phone number is monitored only in the hour before and during the Men’s Support Group meetings.)
A Note about Online Safety
By now, we expect most folks will have heard of Zoom bombing. We’re eager to avoid this issue, and that desire is why we’re pursuing the workflow described above. We will be closely monitoring who we allow into our Zoom call. We’re not looking to exclude folks that we don’t know – yet, we’re serious in our efforts to avoid issues like Zoom bombing. Please understand if we ask you to verify your identity.
Questions?
If you have questions about our new online support group program, or are struggling to access our meeting, please contact us at [email protected].
