We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Chandler Stancliff. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Chandler below.

Alright, Chandler thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How’s you first get into your field – what was your first job in this field?

My story of getting my first job in the nonprofit world is probably a little different than most.

My dad was diagnosed with a rare brain cancer in 2014 when I was just 19 years old. The next few months were some of the toughest times I have ever had to experience. I took a break from school so that I was able to help take care of my dad. Just 8 short months after my dad was diagnosed he passed away.

The things that my family went through during this time were so challenging and we just knew we wanted to give back in some way and give back to organizations having to do with cancer because we had just been affected with losing my dad to cancer. We came across the ‘CareBOX Program’ 10 months after my dad passed and wished we had discovered this while my dad was sick because all of the supplies would have been so helpful. We knew first hand how expensive supplies were getting when you were having to run out every couple of days to buy something new or more of something that you had just run out of.

I knew at that moment that this was the place I wanted to work! As my mom applied for a volunteer position to be a CareDRIVER (where they actually deliver the supplies to the patient), I was applying for an internship at CareBOX Program. I was hired just a couple weeks later in early January! From there I worked my way up from being an unpaid intern to working part time as a Program Assistant, then eventually getting a full time position as the Program Coordinator and now I am the Executive Director!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Chandler Stancliff and I am the Executive Director at CareBOX Program. My story on how I got here is a little different than others. I will share a little bit about how I got involved with CareBOX Program and why it’s so important to me!

In July 2014, I received the scariest phone call of my life while I was at work. My mom called and told me that my dad had just had a stroke and they were rushing him to the emergency room. I rushed out of work and met them at the hospital. By the time I arrived there they were preparing to take him back to surgery. We got a few minutes to tell him how much we loved him and then sent him off. After they took my dad to the operating room, they took us to the ICU waiting room and we waited for what felt like HOURS. Finally, a nurse came and took us back to see my dad. The surgery had gone well, but he was still pretty sedated from just having a brain surgery so they kept him breathing tube on a breathing tube so he would not be able to talk to us.

My dad began to recover very fast. He moved from ICU to IMU to a rehab facility to regain his strength before he would be able to come home. Three weeks after his stroke he was released from the rehab facility to come home. It was such a good feeling to see him progress so fast and be able to gain most of his strength back and see him walking again and just happy to be home.

But, in August, just a little less than a month after his stroke, my dad began to decline very quickly. We did not have any idea what was going on so we rushed him to the emergency room to run tests and to do another CAT scan of his brain. Once in the ER, it felt like forever for the test results. The doctor finally came in and told us they had found a tumor in his brain on the CAT scan and they wanted to do a biopsy to see if it was cancerous. The following morning we were back in the ICU waiting room once again waiting for the surgery to be done. We thought it would take a short amount of time, but it was much longer than we thought. When the doctor finally came in, he told us the biopsy showed the tumor was cancerous. They had removed as much of the tumor as they could, it was a rare form of brain cancer called Glioblastoma. I was in total shock and extremely upset. The only thing going through my head was “This could not be happening, everything was just fine!”

After finding out my dad had brain cancer, my entire life changed. I was now juggling school and helping to take care of my dad. After finding out that this cancer is terminal, one of the most aggressive cancers there is, and the median survival is only about 15 months. We decided to do the standard of treatment which was radiation and chemo for six weeks. After doing the standard of treatment, we had to wait about a month to do another CAT scan to see if the tumor had shrunk. At this next CAT scan, we found out that chemo and radiation did not work and that a new tumor had grown. More devastating news that we did not want to hear. My dad started to decline quickly and I decided that I could no longer continue school and take care of my dad. I decided that being with my dad was more important, so I dropped my classes that semester and focused on being with my dad and making the most of what time I had left with him.

About eight months after his diagnosis in March 2015, the day before his 56th birthday, my father lost his battle.

This led me into getting involved with CareBOX Program in January 2016, just 9 months after losing my dad to cancer. After learning what CareBOX Program did, I knew I had to work there. Every single day I do the work I’m doing for my dad and I can’t imagine doing it any other way. I was so greatly impacted by cancer and I know first-hand how important CareBOX Program is to patients and this is why I do it!

Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?

Honestly, I think about this so often. I think about if my dad would not have gotten sick how different my life would be! I don’t think I would be working in the nonprofit world, let alone making an impact! I don’t exactly know what I would be doing but I know it probably wouldn’t be involved with anything cancer related because that was something that was never a topic in my life until my dad was diagnosed and my family and I were directly impacted.

I would have probably completed my degree and gone off to do something in events – as this is something that had always interested me and what I first started at CareBOX Program as (an Event intern). I was so young at the time that things changed so quickly that I don’t know if I would have changed my mind on what I wanted to do since I was just barely getting started in school.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy for reaching new patients is working with Oncology centers in the Greater Austin area. Our main referral program is through the oncology centers directly. CareBOX Program has made great connections with the local oncology centers in town such as Texas Oncology, Baylor Scott & White Cancer Center, Dell Children’s and Seton Infusion Center. They are constantly referring patients to us and we work with the cancer centers and the patients to get any missing forms signed off so we are able to provide them with the much needed essential care supplies to have during their treatment.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.CareBOXProgram.org
• Instagram: @careboxprogram.org
• Facebook: @CareBOX PRogram
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/carebox-program/
• Twitter: @CareBOXProgram
• Youtube: @CareBOXProgram

Image Credits
The first 2 pictures are of my family with my dad (My Mom, My dad, My brother and me). One was taken before he was diagnosed and one after on our last Thanksgiving together as a family!) The rest are patients of CareBOX Program that we have gotten to serve! :)