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Wellness Place provides local route to treatment
Wellness Place co-founders Linda Murphy of North Barrington and Myrna Porter of Barrington. | Lee A. Litas~Sun-Times Media
Wellness Place
1619 West Colonial Parkway, Palatine.
(847) 221-2400, www.wellnessplace.org
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The event: On the 70th anniversary of the classic film “Casablanca,” the Wellness Place, a cancer education and support center in Palatine, offered some 180 guests a passport to Morocco with a 1940s-inspired theme for their ninth annual benefit held Aug. 25 at the Chicago Symphony Center.
The location, which sees many an orchestra, was chosen as a metaphor for the network of professionals offering support at the Wellness Place to those impacted by cancer. What started as meeting between friends Linda Murphy and Myrna Porter has grown since 1998 into a best practices organization that provides support to some 8,000 individuals locally.
Cause célèbre: “Tonight we are here to raise awareness and funds to help people in our community find the best way possible to face their cancer and to do it with grace and grit,” said Wellness Place oncology clinical specialist Katherine A. Scortino. “I am so proud to be a part of Wellness Place. We do some really amazing things there.”
Those things include a wide spectrum of stress and pain reduction services like yoga and art therapy, educational programs for the whole family, support groups, personalized individual counseling and assistance for children.
When an individual is going through a cancer treatment, said executive director Pamela Reiss, “most people are looking for services that are obtainable close to home or within a 15-20 mile radius.”
But despite a local presence, “The biggest problem we have is not enough people in our community know what the Wellness Place does,” said board member Peter Economos, a Vince Foglia Commitment and Loyalty award recipient.
Last year, 1,400 unique individuals came through the Wellness Place a total of 6,700 times.
“It’s very positive thing to be in our community,” said supporter Jodie Barbera.
Bottom line: The event raised nearly $100,000 for Wellness Place programming.~.
