We recently connected with REBECCA BOUMSTEIN and have shared our conversation below.

REBECCA, appreciate you joining us today. How’s you first get into your field – what was your first job in this field?

I am a two-time teenage cancer survivor. I was diagnosed at age 16 and relapsed at 19. As a junior in high school, I underwent nine months of chemotherapy. At age 19, about to enter my sophomore year of college, I relapsed and needed surgery as well as another five months of chemotherapy.

The hardest part of my cancer experience was definitely the hair loss. It was obvious that my hair had fallen out and it was really the only way that people knew I was sick. My bald head would’ve made me stick out like a sore thumb in a crowd. So wearing a wig was life changing for me. I was lucky that my family was able to afford a real haired wig. However, I realized that not all families were as lucky and that in many cases, buying a wig for medical hair loss is not covered by insurance companies.

That is when I had the idea to start the Hair For You Foundation. I wanted others to feel the deeply positive impact I felt from being able to wear a wig. I wanted to help others to feel a sense of normalcy when almost nothing was “normal” about their life while going through cancer treatment. The Hair For You Foundation was founded in 2002 through the hospital I was treated at and we became our own entity in 2013. We distribute funds to assist in the purchase of a wig, due to medical hair loss, to children 18 years of age and younger being treated in the state of Illinois. Our wish is to increase confidence in one’s outward appearance and to help provide the inner-confidence needed as they face each day. We hope to improve their overall well-being while experiencing an overwhelming and difficult time in their life.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a nurse practitioner in pediatric oncology. When I started college, I wanted to be a teacher and received a degree in elementary and special education. When my cancer relapsed, I knew that oncology nursing was my true passion. I went back to nursing school and then started working as an oncology nurse and eventually went back to school to become a nurse practitioner.

I run the Hair For You Foundation on the side. Almost all of the applicants that apply to our foundation have a cancer diagnosis and even with insurance, cancer care can be expensive. We hope that the assistance we provide to families for the purchase of a wig helps to ease the financial burden of their child’s treatment and increase the confidence in one’s outward appearance and helps provide the inner-confidence needed as they face each day. We hope to improve their overall well-being while experiencing an overwhelming and difficult time in their life.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your firm or practice?

Lucky for us, this non-profit did not require any funding to start since we went through the hospital I was being treated at. We initially used my end of chemotherapy party to ask for donations instead of gifts to start raising funds. When we decided we wanted to become an official non-profit organization and a separate entity from the hospital, it was all about networking. Through word of mouth, we were able to find a law group that did the legal work to register our non-profit at no expense to us. This was huge as we were a very new organization, had a very small budget and most important, wanted to put our fundraising efforts towards being able to help people purchase wigs. I believe networking and telling your story is so important. You never know when the right set of ears will hear your story and want to be involved.

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

I would 100x over choose to become a nurse if I had to start over. I truly found my life’s passion in nursing. I’ve known forever that I wanted to work with kids but it took my cancer relapsing to realize that I wanted to work with kids in a different capacity than as a teacher. I have been fortunate to meet some of the strongest kids and families I know, who truly make lemonade out of lemons. There are so many patients and families I will never forget and have helped shape me into the nurse I am today. I’m inspired by my patients everyday. I also am fortunate to work with caring and compassionate team members. I was so nervous and scared to go back to nursing school after graduating with my degree in education but now I can’t picture doing anything else.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.hairforyoufoundation.org
• Instagram: HairForYouFoundation
• Facebook: Hair For You Foundation
• Linkedin: Rebecca Boumstein
• Twitter: HairForYouFoundation

Image Credits
Mitzvah Photography