Celebrating more than 29 years of providing support, education and hope to people fighting cancer, the Cancer Support Community Valley/Ventura/Santa Barbara is an independently governed and funded non-profit and an affiliate of the Cancer Support Community. We serve more than 2,000 adults, children and teens affected by cancer each year with programs throughout Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties, and West San Fernando Valley. Programs are offered in English and Spanish and are all provided AT NO COST to our participants.
We are dedicated to helping local residents with cancer and their loved ones enhance their health and well-being through professionally led support groups, educational workshops, nutrition and exercise programs, and mind/body connection classes. In our Community, people affected by cancer learn vital skills that enable them to regain control, reduce isolation and restore hope, regardless of the stage of their disease.
“It is such a comfort to be with others who truly understand my experience in a way that my loving family and friends cannot. I learn so much from my fellow group members, of both a practical and profound nature. I give and receive support.”
– Participant, the Cancer Support Community
Our Beliefs Include:
- No one can, or should, face cancer alone.
- Many, many people recover from cancer.
- While we have witnessed many significant advances in treating this devastating disease, nothing takes the place of the power, inspiration, companionship, and connection that comes from community.
- Cancer patients can participate in their recovery along with their healthcare team.
- Family members and friends of an individual with cancer, including children, can also benefit from information and support.
- There is Hope.
“Cancer patients who participate in their fight for recovery, along with their healthcare team, will improve the quality of their lives and may enhance the possibility of their recovery”
– Harold H. Benjamin, Ph.D., founder of the Cancer Support Community
The Cancer Support Community Valley/Ventura/Santa Barbara provides professional programs of emotional support, education and hope for people affected by cancer at no charge so that no one faces cancer alone. We serve West San Fernando Valley and Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties. Our main office is in Westlake Village with a satellite in Winnetka and offsite programs in Sylmar, at Olive New UCLA Medical Center, and in Ventura, at Ventura County Medical Center. We are proud of our hospital partnerships with the Cancer Resource Center at Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura and at the Cancer Center at St John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard and St John’s Pleasant Valley in Camarillo.
Our programs provide a full-range of support and education for adults and children with cancer, their loved ones, and caregivers. Programs are provided in English and Spanish and include in orientation, groups for cancer survivors, family groups, groups for people beyond the day-to-day fight, cancer specific groups such as brain tumors, gynecological cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, Leukemia/lymphoma and melanoma. We also offer Kids and Teen Circle for children and teens affected by cancer, bereavement groups, and a buddy program.
We service over 40 Southern California cities including: Agoura Hills, Oxnard, Calabasas, Santa Barbara, Camarillo, Canoga Park, Simi Valley, Carpenteria, Sherman Oaks, Encino, Sylmar, Tarzana, Los Angeles, Thousand Oaks, Malibu, Valencia, Newbury Park, Oak Park, Van Nuys, Ventura, Newhall, Westlake Village, Winnetka, and Woodland Hills.