These strong women give up their time to support each other and many others through an annual consignment sale.
In 2016, Taliesha Cash, the founder and Executive Director of Sisters CANcervive, received the news that no
one wants to hear when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Cash chose a naturopathic path for her treatments and had surgery. She then experienced recurrences in 2018 and 2020.
After her first diagnosis, “I felt depressed and alone, and I didn’t want to talk about cancer,” Cash recalls. But she quickly realized she wasn’t alone—many women were fighting the same battle, and some didn’t have the benefit of the family support Cash enjoyed. Deeply spiritual, Cash turned to her faith and felt God leading her. “God prompted me to do something to use my voice to help others,” she says.
So in January 2018, Cash founded Sisters CANcervive as a 501©(3) and a place where women battling cancer could come to talk and walk with others going through the same thing. “We give people a place to talk and ask questions,” Cash says. “We chat 24/7 on Facebook Live.”
Today there are chapters across the country including almost 200 women. The local group meets monthly by either ZOOM and in person or both. Once Cash began to meet more women battling cancer, she realized the needs went beyond just simply needing a place to talk. “We learned people had needs that weren’t being met,” she says.
The group started providing rides to treatment and meals for patients’ families and paying copays for women who couldn’t afford their appointments. In 2022, Sisters CANcervive helped 83 families with meals (meals are typically purchased per the family’s preference and delivered); provided rides to 12 doctor’s visits; and paid three copays.
In order to fund these efforts, Sisters CANcervive now hosts a pop-up consignment sale twice a year at Empowerment Word Church in Alabaster. Last year, they raised $10,546.75 for their various efforts.
The women also try to find ways to help members just relax and enjoy life. They’ve done two Pink weekend retreats in Destin, Florida, to celebrate life. “We rent a beach house and let the ladies relax and enjoy,” Cash says. And in October, 27 ladies went on a pink cruise together.
“We’re trying to make sure people go to their doctors’ appointments, get their health checks and mammograms, and can afford their copays,” Cash says. “We come together to help, and everyone has a voice.”
Cash is working to turn around the statistics for African American women with cancer. A disproportionate number of African American women—almost 40 percent—don’t survive a cancer diagnosis. “We’re trying to turn those statistics around,” she says. Even so, Sisters CANcervive isn’t just for African American women. “It’s for any woman who’s in the battle,” Cash says.
Cash has been married 24 years to her husband Charles Cash and has kids T.J. Harris, Kennedy Cash, Braxton Cash, and twins Denver and Dawson Cash who are seniors at Hoover High School.
“I would love for this Foundation to be out of business because cancer is curable,” Cash says. “But until that time, we’ll keep working.”
