The Board of Directors of/Forest Moon: Celebrating Cancer Survivorship/ announced that Richard Ewald of Westminster West, VT has been hired as the organization's new Executive Director.
Ewald most recently was Director of Planning & Development at the Connecticut River Watershed Council, an environmental non-profit based in Greenfield, MA. Previously he was Community Development Director for the Town of Rockingham, VT.Ewald staffs Forest Moon's new office at 38 Park Place in Brattleboro with newly-hired Executive Assistant Carolyn Conrad.
"We are excited to have Rich lead Forest Moon into our next phase," said Anne Wibiralske, Board President. "With our founders moving on, we are fortunate to have someone with non-profit management experience as well as a long association with the organization."
Forest Moon offers free and low-cost programs to improve the quality of life of cancer survivors and their families, primarily in northern Massachusetts, southern Vermont and southwestern New Hampshire.Participants are introduced to therapeutic activities fostered through group learning and reflection in safe, caring and comfortable settings.Forest Moon's goals are to assist survivors and their loved ones in reducing anxiety, cultivating a greater sense of control, and achieving renewed purpose.
Every Forest Moon program is facilitated by a cancer survivor, leading to a greater sense of trust and intimacy among participants.Programs are confidential, and everyone is encouraged to participate at their own pace. Forest Moon was founded in 2004 by Cindy Blood and her husband Phil, of Guilford. As both of them experienced cancer diagnosis and treatment and lost family members to cancer, they discovered how little help was available to meet the special needs accompanying survivorship. And they were determined to address the challenges faced by those diagnosed with cancer and their families and friends, often contending with an uncertain future with little guidance.
As part of Forest Moon's transition, the board and staff are throwing a party for Cindy and Phil Blood in Whitingham on Saturday, September 29^th .
"It's hard to believe that it was eight years ago that Phil and I created Forest Moon," said Cindy Blood. "In the evolution of every nonprofit, there is a time for the founders to step aside and let new leadership shepherd the organization into a new phase of growth and maturity.With six years of successful programming, a new office, numerous healthcare partners, diverse and expanding funding sources, and nearly a thousand Forest Moon alumni, now is that time."
Forest Moon offers writing and yoga workshops in the fall and spring and, throughout the year, daylong and weekend retreats that help participants reduce emotional stress and develop positive habits in exercise and diet.Forest Moon provides programming for those with /any/ cancer diagnosis, and some programs focus on issues specific to women, to men, or for couples.
Among its signature programs is /1 in 8: The Torso Project/, in which women affected by breast cancer create plaster casts of their torsos and then decorate them in a personally meaningful way.The program was created by Pam Roberts, of Shelburne Falls, MA, who is Forest Moon's Program Director.
"I first came to Forest Moon as a participant in a writing group and later joined its advisory board at Cindy's invitation," said Ewald. "As a cancer survivor myself, I have both felt and witnessed in others the rich emotional and spiritual benefits of Forest Moon programs.I am proud to be working to sustain Cindy and Phil's vision and extend a hand to all cancer survivors in our region."
Ewald has lived in Westminster West since 1978 with his wife Gaelen, a nurse at Sojourns Community Clinic, Westminster.
Forest Moon programs have been sponsored through the generosity of funders such as the Gilder Foundation, the Redducs Foundation, the Byrne Foundation, the VT/NH Chapter of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Rays of Hope, the Vermont Community Foundation and hundreds of individual donors.Forest Moon also raises contributions during Brattleboro's Strolling of the Heifers as well as the Bridge of Flowers 10K in Shelburne Falls.