Today we’d like to introduce you to Claudia Gonzalez.
In 2002, Wayne McKinzie began Shine Therapy under the umbrella or services provided within Cancer Care Services. The Shine Therapy name came from ‘the change in the way the cancer patients’ eyes looked after receiving a massage.’ Their eyes had a ‘Shine’ to them that was not there prior to the massage.
Shine Therapy came about through his massage practice; folks with cancer showed up in his office and Wayne was not sure what to do for them or what NOT to do. He was asked and conducted a massage at a cancer retreat that necessitating his seeking more information and training.
TOO often patients are touched medically but not therapeutically. He created Shine Therapy as a nonprofit and provided the oncology massages for little to no cost.
Wayne wrote his own grants initially, approached attorneys and accountants to help him begin the Shine Therapy journey. He was met initially with resistance but following his passion, Cancer Care provided him space and this opened doors for funding.
Following the many testimonies his clients shared with others and their physicians, the practice grew. Funding from Susan G. Komen was granted, and his budget fluctuated from $25,000-$80,000 per year with adjustments in the number of massages provided based on funding.
Texas Oncology provided space and by 2007, Shine Therapy was the largest free-standing organization of its kind not affiliated with any hospital or medical organization.
We currently operate out of Texas Oncology Fort Worth and at the FitSteps for Life Fort Worth program at UNTHSC. We have four contract massage therapists on staff and an Executive Director.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I have been working at Shine Therapy for about two and a half years and I have witnessed several obstacles. We are a small nonprofit that seems to be the area’s best kept secret, but it is my goal for our awareness to grow. We need to educate not only cancer patients on the resources available to them, but also their healthcare providers, nurses, physicians, and social workers. Oncology Massage has only been a recognized discipline within the massage therapy world for about the last 15-20 years, so those that don’t know someone that’s had oncology massage doesn’t know about this resource. With the lack of awareness we have in our community, we lack a good donor pool. We also don’t have a large social media following, so we are tapping on the same small group of donors every time. I have made an effort attend local partner events, conference and symposiums to raise awareness of our organization and grow our following and pool of donors. I also held a large benefit concert in 2018 and 2019 not only as a fundraiser, but to bring awareness to our community of our services.
Currently, COVID-19 crisis has affected us in several ways. We had to close our doors and stop all services on March 18th and we will remain closed until it is safe to resume. We work with an at-risk population, cancer patients and survivors, and our therapists are also part of at-risks groups or caregivers to those at-risk. During this time, I have been working diligently behind the scenes to keep up grant submissions, continuing to manage communication with the therapists and our followers, and implementing a new CRM, Salesforce. We are still seeing expenses come out, but we are not bringing any funds in at this time. Normally, our clients would be asked to give a certain amount towards their massage based on their income, but we never turn anyone away. Our clients had already donated over $2,800 before we were forced to close. Not only are we missing out on their donations, but we anticipate that they will have further financial struggles throughout the year due to the COVID-19 crisis and they won’t be able to give like they did before, if at all.
Please tell us about Shine Therapy.
I am the Executive Director at Shine Therapy. Shine Therapy provides free or low-cost oncology massage and/or lymphedema therapy for cancer patients and survivors in Tarrant and surrounding counties. I manage the team of massage therapists, run our social media accounts, manage all communication with our followers, create and plan fundraisers, administrative tasks such as checking the mail and bank deposits, and much more. I am proud of the compassion we give to our cancer community. It’s easy for a cancer patient to feel like they’re just a number, to be overwhelmed during their journey, and to want to just shut down. We provide healing and nurturing touch that can not only help ease some of their symptoms secondary to their treatment like nausea, pain and range of mobility, but we also provide them with hope and ease their anxieties, even if it’s just temporary. We aim to bring back the SHINE to their eyes when they are with us. We are the largest free-standing organization of its kind not affiliated with any hospital or medical organization, and the only of it’s kind in the state.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Some of my favorite memories from my childhood are the summers I spent in Tulsa, OK with my aunt and uncle and my cousins. They didn’t have any children together, so they adopted 3-5 of us for a couple of summers. Our time was spent outside playing and enjoying nature, building and painting birdhouses and feeders, reading, going to the movies, and cooking. They encouraged ways for us to continue learning and constantly showered us with love. They have both passed away since. My aunt lost a length battle to ALS in 2013 and my uncle passed after his own battle with lunch cancer in 2003, so I’m very fortunate to have those memories with them.
Pricing:
- If they are within our guidelines, our clients qualify for free or low-cost services
- If they are outside of our guidelines, they may participate in our oncology massage program for $75/massage
Contact Info:
- Website: shinetherapy.org
- Phone: 817-372-8998
- Email: info@shinetherapy.org
- Instagram: instagram.com/shinetherapy
- Facebook: facebook.com/shinetherapy
- Twitter: twitter.com/shinetherapyfw
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