Serving the MPN cancer community with support services

As a small organization with limited resources, our goal is providing “easy access” to a growing network of organizations that provide services to our community.  Patients and caregivers are asking for more personal support with experienced mentors.  There’s nothing like talking with a fellow patient (or caregiver) who has walked in your shoes and understands the problems you are going through.

In order to better serve our growing community, MPN Cancer Connection and PV Reporter are partnering with Imerman Angels.

What is Imerman Angels?

Imerman Angels’ mission is to provide one-on-one support to cancer fighters, survivors and caregivers.  The organization was founded in 2003 by Jonny Imerman, who survived testicular cancer in his late 20s.  While he was frequently visiting hospitals and doctors’ offices, he noticed other people didn’t have the same support he had.  Although he had amazing family and friends who supported him throughout his diagnosis and treatment, Jonny was always wishing he had someone who had gone through his same journey and truly understood what it was like.  He founded Imerman Angels to match cancer fighters and caregivers with people who have gone through similar experiences.

The world of cancer is ever-changing and ever-expanding.  Since Imerman Angels’ inception, they have matched people with over 140 cancer types and subtypes, including MPNs and previvors, or people who do not have cancer but are at a higher risk.  They provide support to people of all ages, all genders, anywhere in the world, with any cancer type, 100% free.

The Process

The first step to requesting support as a Mentee, or offering support as a Mentor Angel, is calling Imerman Angels at (877) 274-5529 or visiting their website at www.imermanangels.org.

To begin the process, Imerman Angels collects information about your experience with cancer, either current or past, and some general personal information such as your gender, age, and location. Finally, they will ask what you’re looking for out of this experience and any specific requests you may have before we begin the matching process.  Each potential Mentee and Mentor Angel is engaged in this effort so Cancer Support Specialists can get to know them on a more personal level to facilitate the best match possible.

After collecting all of the information, Cancer Support Specialists search through Imerman Angels’ network of over 11,000 Mentor Angels to find the best, closest match for what the Mentee needs.  They take cancer type, stage, treatments, age, gender, location, lifestyle and other specifics into account when going through the matching process.

This process is extremely personal; instead of being matched by an algorithm or automated process, Cancer Support Specialists reach out to each Mentee and Mentor Angel directly to ensure that both accept the match and have the information needed to make contact.  Mentees and Mentor Angels manage their own relationships, but Imerman Angels will reach back out in a few weeks to make sure the match was successful and that they are happy with their new connection.

Each Mentee can have as many Mentor Angels as they need, and each Mentor Angel can mentor as many people as they can manage.

Imerman Angels by the Numbers

Imerman Angels is making a huge impact all across the globe.

• Imerman Angels has made over 46,000 matches in its 14 year history
• There are currently over 11,000 Mentor Angels in over 100 countries around the world
• The Imerman Angels network includes Mentees and Mentors with over 145 cancer types and subtypes

If you’re interested in seeking support as a Mentee, or providing support as a Mentor Angel, please visit www.imermanangels.org.