TRS Care Opens Its Cancer Care Boutique in Houston
TRS Care has opened its very own Cancer Care Boutique, where we offer a variety of wigs, breast prostheses, post-mastectomy recovery garments, compression wear and accessories for cancer patients and survivors. We hosted a VIP Pre-Opening Party for our patients and local nurses and oncologists to tour our facilities, learn more about our services, raffle giveaways, hear our panel of great speakers, and enjoy a fun night of painting a canvas to "swirl out cancer".
How it Started
Ever since the launch of TRS Care, back in February 2021, we had dreamed of an inclusive space for cancer patients to explore their post-chemo and post-surgery recovery care options.
We found a space for our Cancer Care Boutique in Stafford, Texas, luckily, right next to our community health clinic, and began working on it immediately! With no prior experience of interior designing and not enough funds to hire a professional, our staff hit up Pinterest and started pinning some ideas for our new boutique. Then came the designs, paint colors, furniture selections, lots of meetings between our team to ensure that we make this space as comfortable and friendly as we can for our patients. We had an amazing team of volunteers who spent weekends and after hours assembling and mounting all the furniture to make our vision come to life. We hand selected and assembled every single item that is sitting in our boutique right now from furniture to decor -- even the signs are handmade!
Our boutique goes to show when a community comes together for a cause, the sky is the limit.
The Event
The time came for our Pre-Opening Event. We scheduled it for July 2022. We had done all the preparations, sent out all the invitations, and were ready to welcome cancer patients and caregivers to this space.
But, unfortunately, COVID hit.
Most of our staff tested positive for COVID-19 at the time (everyone is okay, now!!). And unfortunately, due to the safety of our staff and guests, we decided to postpone our event till it was safe again.
We waited till September and decided to continue with our pre-opening event! We kept the guest list small, and invited some of our existing patients in the local area, their caregivers, nurse practitioners, and oncologists. On Friday, September 9, 2022, we officially celebrated the opening of our Cancer Care Boutique!
We kicked off the event with a short speech from our Director of Operations, Tabi, and a ribbon cutting ceremony. This project had been in the works for months, so you can imagine how excited we were to finally see it come to life.
Tours, Speeches, Food, and Fun
We were so excited to finally be able to show off all the work we had been doing at TRS. We started with a tour of the TRS Care Boutique and Fitting Room, talked about the services we provide, and showcased the products we carry. Our clinic staff then escorted our guests to our TRS Health Clinic and Pharmacy and talked to them about all the amazing work their team is doing.
After the tours, it was time to feast! We had prepared a delicious spread of sandwiches, chips and dips, and lots of desserts for our guests, and it was a big hit!
With food, we had a speech from Dr. Shagufta Naqvi, MD from Premier Oncology who spoke about adjusting to life after cancer, tips to fight fatigue, managing diet changes, and more. Joan Burnham, MSN, RN, from Houston Methodist presented information on financial resources available for newly diagnosed cancer patients and caregivers. We also had Aeliya Jaffar, a breast cancer survivor, speak about her experience through her cancer journey, tips and helpful resources she learned along the way.
P.S. Aeliya is a beautiful writer, and she is currently doing a series about her cancer journey on the TRS Care blog. Check it out here.
After the speeches, it was time for a fun paint night with Muhammad Shao Art, and the theme of the night was "Swirl Our Cancer". All our guests, staff, and even the Directors participated! We ended the night with drawing winners for our raffles and gave all our guests gift bags to take home! It was truly such a fun evening and a night to remember at TRS Care.
How it's going
Since the event, we have received so much love and support from our community for our boutique. We've had so many patients schedule appointments to get fitted for wigs and/or post-mastectomy wear. In the last two years, we have helped over 320+ cancer patients receive fully covered wigs and breast prosthesis/garments through their insurance and built a community of over 3,000 people. We've opened our very own Cancer Care Boutique in Houston, Texas. We've started a Quarterly Wig Giveaway Program based on your donations and support. We've started a Financial Assistance Program for patients who need help paying their co-insurance fees for a medical wig or breast prosthesis. And we've established a Wig Exchange Program, where former patients can donate wigs and current patients experiencing hair loss can request those wigs for free.
Thank you for all your love and support. This year has truly been a dream come true, and we can't wait to see what 2023 has in store for us.
Some more pictures from our event
A special thank you to Zam Clicks for beautifully capturing these pictures from the event!
