Carrie Madrid

The CARE Project, Inc. (TCP) was created out of my own lived experience. I was diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer in 2012 after just turning 41 years old. I was a divorced mom of three living paycheck to paycheck and cancer certainly wasn’t in my budget. Even with good medical insurance, there are added expenses such as countless copays, supplies, and everyday expenses that become luxuries when not working full time while in treatment. It was only 1 year into my own diagnosis that I realized there was a gap in resources for both women AND men diagnosed with breast cancer. You could find a support group or prosthesis at various nonprofits, but not impactful financial support for everyday living expenses and medical expenses while in the thick of treatment. I often met other patients who were foregoing a chemotherapy or radiation treatment because they had to choose between a $100 copay for treatment or $100 worth of groceries. I didn’t create TCP to replace or duplicate what other nonprofits were already doing, but to fill in the gaps. We would be survivor found, led and run and I would not take a salary to do so.

Over the course of 8 years, I realized I was most helpful to the terminally-ill, end stage patients than I was with the newly diagnosed. I decided to get formal training and become certified as a CareDoula through the School of Accompanying the Dying. This title is also referred to as a Death Doula. I am the on-call Death Doula for The CARE Project, Inc., and for hire outside of that through my small business, Care and Beyond Consulting, LLC.

Formal training is crucial in most instances of supporting those with a cancer diagnosis, but having lived through it is even more valuable. I believe this is what sets me and my businesses apart from others.