‘It’s a holistic approach,’ The Breast Cancer Foundation opens La Maison Rose

The Breast Cancer Foundation is opening its very first Maison Rose in North America.

Inspired by a European model, La Maison Rose in Montreal will echo the foundation’s ultimate mission of being there before, during and after breast cancer for the women and their loved ones, by offering access to free services such as personalized advice from professionals and access to reliable resources throughout their journey.

“What I discovered in France is that the caring is part of the curing, unlike here in Quebec and that’s what made me think we have to add the caring part to the trajectory,” said Karine-Iseult Ippersiel, the president & CEO of the Breast Cancer Foundation.

“It’s a great day for us as I said we’ve been dreaming about this for a long time. We’ve been working at it and hoping to bring it to this day.”

The project has been in the works for the last five years, and thanks to millions in donations, La Maison Rose and its various services are open free of charge to women affected by breast cancer.

“We’ll have conferences, whether it’s on immunotherapy, whether it’s on anxiety and the worry of the comeback of the cancer, all these will be addressed through different conferences every month.”

On top of educational conferences, there will also be ateliers, discussion groups, and specialized care services with counselors and nurses, as well as weekly yoga sessions adapted for the women’s needs.

“In a yoga class, we’re going to encourage that feeling of community, of support, being very flexible. If somebody needs just to take a break or to rest, it’s fine. So, it’s not a place to stress about learning something new,” explained Laura Hernandez, a yoga program director at La Maison Rose.

“When people come here and they’re in front of you and you can just see the relief even if it’s just for a moment – just break that stress, break that moment of so much going on and just be able to breathe, deliver something of quality.”

They even plan to add a nutritionist and a sexologist to the team of staff and volunteers already working at La Maison Rose.

“Volunteers will be here with some staff as well to welcome the patients or those affected by breast cancer into the La Maison Rose to refer them to the various books, we have various programs we offer or just to have a chat with someone welcoming about breast cancer,” said Ippersiel.

For now, they’ll be open once a week, but their goal is to be open every day of the week by September.

“The calendar is live on our website, under Maison Rose, you can see everything that’s coming for the months to come,” said Ippersiel.

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