Dear Friends,

It's astonishing that the holidays are upon us and the year is drawing to a close. We hope you and your loved ones are enjoying festivities and are looking forward to a fresh start in the new year.

This Holiday Edition of our newsletter includes some HERS updates and, most importantly, a heartwarming and hope-affirming account of how our programs supported a patient in need of compassion and empowerment.

Staff and Facilities News

New staff member Kaylin joined the HERS team as our Breast Care Support Specialist at our Fremont location. She's tasked with supporting our direct patient services team. Victoria and Connie, our newest Breast Care Specialists, have settled into their roles nicely at our San Leandro and Livermore locations. Lastly, we bade farewell to staff members Gita and Rebecca.

We're pleased to announce that by early February we'll unveil a third fitting room at our Fremont location -- an upgrade that will allow our team to serve more patients and reduce appointment wait times, too!

2025 People with Purpose Gala

Looking further ahead, we'll host our 16th Annual People with Purpose Gala on Saturday, March 29th at the Casa Bella Event Center in Sunol. Our ticket platform will be live soon. Links and our 2025 HERS Awardees will be shared next week!

Year-End Giving

Lastly, this is a time when we make our last fundraising appeal of the year -- a final push to ensure that under-served patients may continue receiving the products they need and deserve in the coming months.

Read on for a beautiful patient story featuring "Anna," a patient who persevered through her illness and other serious life challenges. With the help of donors like you, the gift of post-surgical products is helping Anna to pursue a brighter future with confidence and dignity.

With all best wishes for a healthy and happy holiday season,

Tina and the HERS Team

Tina Fernandez

Executive Director

Our patient “Anna” was seen by our team for the first time this year. A layoff several months prior to her visit had devastating financial consequences, including the loss of her studio apartment.

As if these circumstances alone weren't stressful enough, Anna's was further challenged by a breast cancer diagnosis. Despite her circumstances, she is thankful she was supported through surgery by friends and church members and is hopeful she can find new job and stable housing.

During her visit, Anna tearfully shared that her breast asymmetry was impacting her ability to confidently present herself to not only friends and family but to potential employers. A candidate for our Assistance Programs, Anna received bras and a breast prosthetic. Her face lit up when she saw her reflection in our fitting room and proclaimed that wearing her prosthesis made her feel "like herself" again.

Our products provide physical healing and relief; for example, compression garments keep lymphedema at bay and post-surgical vests provide supportive compression as patients heal.

Similarly, breast prosthetics improve balance and posture but they serve a purpose that is equally important as physical health improvements -- prosthetics empower patients to move through the world with confidence and dignity.

Please join us in helping many more patients like Anna as they navigate their healing journey.

If you wish to donate for the first time or make another donation before the year's end, you may do so securely online via PayPal. If you wish to donate by check, please mail it to our Fremont program location. Thank you.

HERS Breast Cancer Foundation

2500 Mowry Avenue, Suite 130

Fremont, CA 94538