Celebration of Hope

FRIDAY

JUNE 6 | 2025

9:00AM – 3:30PM

Free Admission | Suzanne Morgan Center @ Ridgeland Mansion | All Welcome

4100 Chamounix Drive Philadelphia PA 19131
Join us for an inspirational and educational event for patients, caregivers and survivors.  Keynote speakers and breakout sessions will empower patients to take an active role in treatment decisions, practice daily self-care and access to local cancer resources.  

We hope to see you soon.

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KEYNOTE PRESENTATIONS

Heather Wright ND FABNO

Heather Wright ND FABNO

Natural Therapies:

Enhancing Wellness & Managing Side Effects

Rebecca Narva

Rebecca Narva

NIA

Isabel Knight

Isabel Knight

The REAL Prom Queen of Advance Care Planning Documents: The Advance Directive!

Samantha Sosalski, CRNP

Samantha Sosalski, CRNP

Holistic Palliative Care: Pain, Symptom Management, and Emotional Support for Cancer Patients and Families

Tim Conniff

Tim Conniff

Your Comfort Zone is No Joke! 

Program Agenda

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9:00am

Registration

Complimentary breakfast & beverages

Resource and Vendor Exhibitors Include:
  • Exact Sciences
  • Regeneron
  • VIST Thompkins Bank
  • Merck
  • Jefferson Health
  • Fox Chase Cancer Center
  • Seed Integrative Health
  • Penn Medicine
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9:30am

Welcome

Kelly Harris | CEO

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9:40am – 11:00 am

Natural Therapies:

Enhancing Wellness & Managing Side Effects

Dr. Heather Wright, ND FABNO

Join Dr. Heather Wright, ND FABNO for an informative workshop exploring natural therapies that can support oncology care. This session will cover strategies to enhance vitality, reduce treatment side effects, and the role of supplements. Dr. Wright will also provide practical advice on what you can do at home to support your journey toward healing and well-being“Wellness begins with self care and awareness, and grows—like all things in nature—when nurtured.” -Dr. Wright 

Dr. Heather Wright has been working for 18 years in the clinical and supportive care of patients and families affected by cancer. Dr. Wright is a naturopathic doctor who was trained in internal medicine at Clayton Hepburn Medical Center in Upstate NY and completed fellowship training and board certification in integrative oncology in Philadelphia PA in 2011. Dr. Wright founded Goodapplewellness.com in 2018 – a telehealth practice created to empower patients through education on nutrition and advanced natural therapies to support their goals in health.  

Dr. Wright is also research director for KNOWintegrativeoncology.org, a non-profit educational database of published human clinical trials in integrative oncology. KNOW is a resource to enable clinicians to quickly review data on natural therapies in cancer care and to engage in discussions about integrative therapies with patients.   

In addition, Dr. Wright serves to uphold the mission of several boards including The Cancer Support Community of Greater Philadelphia, and Cancerchoices.org.  Dr. Wright believes all people diagnosed with cancer should have access to providers with expertise in nutrition and natural therapies as part of their cancer care team. 

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11:45AM-12:15AM

Breakout Sessions

We will contact you before the event to confirm your breakout session.

    – NIA

          Sponsored by The Bob Brockman NIA Fund
Rebecca Narva

NIA is all about moving your body to music. Practice incorporates mind, body, and soul as you engage the mind and forget you’re even exercising! This class will focus on gentle movements that can be completed sitting or standing. 

Rebecca Narva has many chapters of learning and teaching. She has an MA in Theater Education; has taught school K-8, worked as Healthcare Chaplain and is a certified Hendricks Somatic Coach. Now a certified Nia Black Belt, Rebecca has been working with group dance and fitness for nearly 30 years. She is dedicated to the Nia Technique because it benefits all of our being through the expression of body, heart and mind. Also, a mom and grandma, Rebecca’s lifelong purpose is to help us realize and experience our basic goodness. 

    – The REAL Prom Queen of Advance Care                                                Planning Documents: The Advance Directive!

Isabel Knight

If end of life planning were your high school prom, your will is almost certainly the prom queen everybody talks about. But have you heard of the advance directive, the document that lays out your wishes for what happens if you become incapacitated and cannot communicate your healthcare wishes? I would argue the advance directive also deserves a seat on the throne. Penn Medicine reports that two thirds of U.S. adults have not completed an advance directive or designated a healthcare agent and though it’s something we often do not like to think about, the consequences for not having one can be even more dire than when you don’t have a will.  
Yes, it can be a pain in the butt to have your money go through probate or to have your kids fighting over who gets your prize collection of federal duck stamp contest entries, but it can be straight-up traumatic for a person to have to decide whether to take someone off a ventilator or to keep someone on a ventilator (or make decisions about other life-sustaining treatment) when they are obviously suffering if they never had a conversation about it.   
EVERYONE should have an advance care directive, no matter how old, no matter how healthy, and in this session we will talk about how you can create one for yourself, along with tips and tricks for how to start the conversation with someone you love who might not want to have the difficult conversation.  

Isabel Knight is the Founder of The Death Designer, a company that provides end of life planning services, including funeral and vigil planning, digital account password management, advance directives, and assistance with reconciling fears of mortality. She takes a human-centered design approach, with a focus on promoting individual autonomy, sustainability, and home deathcare options. Her goal is to create a more humane and equitable end of life experience for all. 
 
She is also the President of the National Home Funeral Alliance and a board member of the Funeral Consumers Alliance of Pennsylvania. She helps doulas and end of life businesses create a more inclusive and accessible experience for their clients through human-centered design workshops and also creates online courses and offers freelance graphic design work. You can find her on Instagram at @thedeathdesigner.

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12:15PM - 12:45PM

Lunch

Complimentary lunch & beverages

Resource and Vendor Exhibitor Tables Open

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1:00PM- 2:15PM

Holistic Palliative Care: Pain, Symptom Management, and Emotional Support for Cancer Patients and Families 

Samantha Sosalski, CRNP

Samantha Sosalski, CRNP, dedicated Palliative Care Nurse Practitioner, will explore key aspects of pain and symptom management, while emphasizing the importance of emotional support throughout the cancer treatment journey. Attendees will gain valuable insights into holistic approaches to care that address the physical, emotional, and psychological needs of patients, enhancing the quality of life during challenging times.

Samantha is a nurse practitioner who specializes in oncology and palliative care at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine. She completed her Bachelor of Science in nursing at Drexel University and then earned her Master of Science degree at The University of Pennsylvania. She holds a national board certification with the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) as an adult-gerontology acute care nurse practitioner. Her many years of experience as an oncology nurse led her into her current role as a palliative care nurse practitioner. She has a strong interest in providing holistic care with a focus on pain and symptom management and providing emotional support to patients and families during cancer treatment and at the end of life.

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2:15PM-3:30PM

Your Comfort Zone is No Joke!  

Tim Conniff

Your Comfort Zone is No Joke!” inspires attendees to get out of their comfort zone, challenge adversity and engage in positive self-talk. Tim Conniff is an award-winning keynote speaker and stand-up comedian who lives in Doylestown.  Tim produces, performs or speaks at over 100 events a year. He’s a regular at both Comedy Cabaret locations in Bucks County and produces a monthly show at FZ Works in Yardley. Tim will get you laughing and connecting with your tablemates all while encouraging self-exploration towards individual goals.   

Tim Conniff is an award winning keynote speaker and stand-up comedian who lives in Doylestown.  Tim produces, performs or speaks at over 100 events a year.  

He’s a regular at both Comedy Cabaret locations in Bucks County and produces a monthly show at FZ Works in Yardley. Tim also fundraises for many great organizations in the tri-state area. 

Tim’s keynote talk “Your Comfort Zone is No Joke!” has inspired audiences across the US to get out of their comfort zones, overcome failures and to avoid negative self-talk. 

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3:30-3:45PM

Closing, Thank you & Evaluation

 

Thank you to all of our sponsors:

Jonathan & Leah Marks
Marcie Kennedy
Amy & Robert Silverman
Comcast
Jackie Allen
Linda McKenna
For sponsorship opportunities, please email Cindy Epstein.