The Quebec Cancer Foundation and Fondation Virage are proud to announce that they have formed a partnership to optimize support for people with cancer and their loved ones. Their common goal is to facilitate access to services, offer a wider range of resources and improve response to the practical needs of the thousands of Quebecers living with cancer.
 
This partnership of services and long-term cooperation has been concluded to maximize the benefits of actions undertaken for the well-being of cancer sufferers in Quebec.
 
Partnerships are one of the key areas that the Quebec Cancer Foundation intends to develop to enable it to reach a greater number of people facing the disease.
 
Marco Décelles, Director General of the Quebec Cancer Foundation explains: “We have already worked with Fondation Virage for quite some time. Luce Sarrasin, one of our art therapists, has being giving talks and art therapy workshops at Fondation Virage since last summer. The new agreement will take our partnership to a new level, however.”
 
Joining forces with Fondation Virage will allow us to reach out to more Quebecers who require support throughout their treatment.
 
“ I have two cancers and I use the services of both the Quebec Cancer Foundation and Fondation Virage. For a year and a half, I attended the Quebec Cancer Foundation’s art therapy workshops two days a week. I was also lucky enough to have massages. At Fondation Virage, I did some writing and knew I could have a shoulder to cry on. These two foundations helped me to break out of my solitude. They helped me to get through my cancer. All I can say is that they saved me,” says Jean-Pierre Paquet, who lived through the ordeal of cancer.
 
The benefits of this collaboration are many: it facilitates access to a wider range of services specifically adapted to the needs of people dealing with cancer, it optimizes the use of funds set aside for developing these services, and it promotes cohesion between services developed in response to a broad spectrum of needs.
 
Optimizing support for people affected by cancer requires sharing expertise and tools, as well as reciprocity in promoting the activities and support services offered by each of the foundations.
 
Through this partnership, both foundations aim at establishing complementarity between their various services. Rather than duplicating services, the Quebec Cancer Foundation and Fondation Virage will amalgamate those they already offer and ensure that all new initiatives complement each other.
 
Referring clients to the other organization when the latter can respond more effectively to expressed needs is a practice adopted by both foundations, as organizing physical activities for the wellbeing of cancer patients. Since September 2018, the Quebec Cancer Foundation has been contributing financially to the yoga sessions offered at Fondation Virage.
 
This partnership also benefits cancer patients at the Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM), where Fondation Virage operates. CHUM, through its Integrated Cancer Center, has the mission of accompanying patients and their loved ones through the complex trajectory of oncology while prioritizing a comprehensive approach that takes the individual and their well-being into account.
 
Listening and mutual support are core values at both Fondation Virage and the Quebec Cancer Foundation. They demonstrate their commitment to supporting the community though their sensitivity and humanism, by improving their methods, by defending the interests of those affected by the illness before the local, regional and provincial authorities, and by mobilizing their forces to address major issues.
 
“Together we are stronger against cancer.” say the leaders of the two organizations.
 
The story of the partnership related by Dr. Jean-Pierre Guay, Marco Décelles and Marie-France Vachon:
 
​Dr. Jean-Pierre Guay is Director General of Fondation Virage.
Marco Décelles is Director General of the Quebec Cancer Foundation.
Marie-France Vachon is Co-Director of the CHUM Integrated Cancer Center