In the beginning ...
Judy Pearson
Founder
Award-winning writer Judy Pearson has an unwavering belief in two things: one, valuable lessons can come out of all journeys, even the difficult ones. And two, we all owe a payback to humanity. For her, those beliefs were made abundantly clear after her diagnosis and treatment for Triple Negative Breast Cancer. She was astounded that neither her body nor her mind returned to their pre-cancer space. Making sense of her cancer journey, and finding its purpose in her life, became her first goal.
Judy began a search for answers to her own physical and psycho-social issues, and an amazing trend appeared. Women cancer survivors around the country were doing great things, serving the social needs that spoke to them. They had created a “2nd Act” after cancer. Big, small, or free spirited … cancer related or not … they were volunteering. And Judy listened to hundreds of their stories.
Equally astonishing was the number of women who were stuck in the negative side of survivorship. Judy listened to their stories as well. She learned they weren’t alone.
Judy realized the women experiencing cancer’s negative effects needed the kind of inspiration and motivation she had seen in those who had already structured 2nd Acts. And suddenly the mission became clear: the single component missing from most support groups is how to change the survivorship question from “why me?” to “what’s next?”
And she discovered the researched health benefits of volunteering.
In 2016, after three years of research and refinement, A 2nd Act was born! The tapestry of love and hope are clearly and beautifully woven through the pages of this site. And because women survivors have unique needs, A 2nd Act is women-centric (although we welcome men to our all of our events!).
Here's How A 2nd Act Works
