A cancer survivor’s sisterhood reaches beyond Cleveland

My Sister’s Keeper, a US nonprofit founded by breast cancer survivor Sherri White, has expanded from supporting women with breast cancer to helping women with all types of cancer. White says the organization assists more than 100 women at a time, with about 40 volunteers.

White was a 32-year-old single mother of three when she was diagnosed shortly before Christmas in 2011. She underwent surgery and chemotherapy and was declared cancer-free, but remembered how isolated she had felt during treatment. Well-meaning comments from friends and family had often left her less willing to confide in them.

In 2018, she founded My Sister’s Keeper in Cleveland, Ohio. Its “big sisters” are cancer survivors paired with newly diagnosed women, offering understanding grounded in their own experience. Monthly meetups include art and meditation, while other support includes help paying bills.

The nonprofit also tackles a practical barrier to care: childcare. Its Waiting Room Watchers program provides trained companions for children in hospital waiting areas while mothers receive treatment. The program began in Cleveland and has expanded to Oklahoma City. Chapters of the wider organization are also developing in Oklahoma and South Carolina.

For White, the work goes beyond getting through treatment. It is about helping women maintain a sense of self and find connection during cancer and afterward.