ACS Reach

If you have breast cancer, you may want to connect with someone who has “been there.” Through the American Cancer Society Reach To Recovery mobile app, you can match with a breast cancer survivor and have an online chat. Our volunteers provide support to help you cope with treatment, side effects, talking with friends and family, working during treatment, and more. Volunteers do not provide medical advice. Reach To Recovery is a free program available to adults 18 and older who are living in the United States. Reach To Recovery supports people wherever they are in their cancer journey. • Facing a possible diagnosis of breast cancer • Recently diagnosed with breast cancer • Considering or have had a lumpectomy or mastectomy • Considering breast reconstruction • Have arm swelling (lymphedema) from treatment • Undergoing or have completed treatment Who can join as a volunteer? Reach To Recovery volunteers are breast cancer survivors who have been trained by the American Cancer Society to provide peer-to-peer support to those facing breast cancer. Volunteers must complete required training before joining the program. Volunteers provide support, but they do not provide medical advice. What information is required to join? Peers and volunteers provide their name, email address, and state of residence to create an account. In addition, peers complete a section called “Find a Reach To Recovery Volunteer” with the diagnosis and treatment information that is most important to them. Volunteers create a profile with their own diagnosis and treatment information. How do peers find a volunteer? A peer’s preferences are compared to the volunteer profiles. For example, if a peer would like to chat with a volunteer who had a mastectomy, they can select that in their preferences. Peers can review the profiles of the volunteers who best match their preferences. How do peers connect with volunteers? After reviewing volunteer profiles, peers can send an online chat request to one or more volunteers. The volunteers can accept, decline, or propose a new time for the online chat. Volunteers typically respond within 24 hours, although it may occasionally take longer. Who can see my information? Program participants in other roles can see your profile information. For example: If you are a peer, volunteers will be able to see the information you provided in the “Find a Reach To Recovery Volunteer” and “Tell Us About Yourself” sections. If you are a volunteer, peers will be able to see the information you provided in the “Your Diagnosis and Treatment Experience” and “Tell Us About Yourself” sections. Will other participants see my personal email address? Your contact information is not visible to other Reach To Recovery peers or volunteers. All scheduling and online chats are done on the Reach To Recovery website. Although other participants will not send messages directly to your personal email, you will receive email notifications from the Reach To Recovery web site about new messages, chat requests, and reminders.