INCORPORATING THE WEST HEMPSTEAD BEACON VOL. 76 No. 20
Second Class Postage paid at Post office at Hempstead, N.Y. 11550
May 14 - 20, 2026
2 Endo Blvd, Garden City NY 11530
$1 per copy
Subscription $50
Caring for caregivers with Sunrise Assoc. Sunrise Association, medical center support families of children with cancer
become less frequent. She described the transition into survivorship as emotionally complicated for caregivers, many of The Sunrise Association in Oceanside whom spend months or years focused and Cohen Children’s Medical Center entirely on helping their child survive. “It’s as though these caregivers have expanded a program designed to support parents and caregivers of childhood can- just run a marathon and stopped cold,” cer survivors, bringing dozens of fami- she said. “They’ve been in constant lies together at Sunrise Day Camp— fight-or-flight mode. Once therapy stops, Long Island for the first joint “Closing there’s finally time to process the trauthe Umbrella: Caring for the Caregiver” ma, but there aren’t many programs symposium on May 3. focused specifically on the caregivers. The free event welcomed more than This program is about helping families 40 parents and caregivers process, reconnect and for workshops, discusmove forward together.” sions and peer support According to Fein sessions focused on the Levy, children returning emotional and mental to school after treatment challenges families face often receive structured after a child completes support through social cancer treatment. workers, psychologists While the adults and child-life specialists, attended the symposium, while parents are fremore than 160 children quently left to process participated in a companthe trauma on their own. ion Sunrise Sunday camp “The child goes back prog ram filled with to school and has a whole games, activities and reentry process,” she social opportunities. explained. “But nobody Dr. Carolyn Fein Levy, DR. CAROLyN FEIN LEvy actually helps the parhead of the Pediatric Head of the Pediatric Solid ents reenter their enviSolid Tumor Program at Tumor Program, Cohen ronment.” Cohen Children’s and a Children’s Medical Center The symposium aimed childhood cancer survito address that gap by vor herself, founded the program in 2024. giving caregivers tools for their own The initiative was established in memo- wellness while also helping them naviry of her mother, Paula Fein, in collabo- gate survivorship issues, including fear ration with Survivors Facing Forward, of relapse, emotional trauma and longthe hospital’s long-term follow-up pro- term effects of treatment. gram for childhood cancer survivors, led “There’s no more normal,” Fein Levy by Dr. Lenat Joffe. said. “Your life becomes a new normal, Fein Levy said families often lose a and it’s hard to share that with people critical support network once active COntinued On Page 4 treatment ends and hospital visits
By ABIGAIL GRIECO
agrieco@liherald.com
Noah Peretz/Herald
Cathy Buckley has been running Cat’s Meow Handmade art Jewelry, making all her pieces by hand, since 2013.
New crafts at farmer's market
Local Long Island brands get the spotlight By NOAH PERETZ nperetz@liherald.com
Crossroads Farm at Grossmann’s held its first artisan market of the spring season on Sunday. The market featured booths run by local brands, all of which used their crafts to alleviate personal struggles, which inspired the creation of their brands. Shamisa Élysée created Shea Élysée, a shea butter brand, motivated by her own struggles with skin conditions like eczema and der matitis. Élysée was interested in creating natural products, so she combined her hobby with her personal challenge to create the product. “I was prescribed a lot of harsh medication,” she said, “and it never worked.” Élysée, a 2025 graduate of SUNY Oswego, created the shea butter when she was a 17-year-old student in high school in Lynbrook. She and a niece were both dealing with skin problems, and her niece had aggressive allergic reactions to other medicines.
“I made this shea butter with the intention to alleviate pain from skin conditions, like the eczema my niece had,” Élysée recounted. “I like to take my own terrible experience and use it to help other people with the same skin problems.” The customer that Élysée said stood out to her the most was a man whose daughter had autism and was sensitive to most other skin products. “Her skin would crack and bleed because she wouldn’t use any other products,” Élysée said. “Her dad tried our shea butter on her skin, and she said she liked it. He told me, ‘She actually said yes when I asked her if she liked it. Her favorite word is no.’” Élysée’s sister, Samantha, is a nurse in a hospital oncology ward. “She says the hospital lotion doesn’t work on some cancer patients’ skin, so she uses our product,” Élysée said. “Doctors also need to wash their hands constantly, so our product works well for their dry skin, too.” COntinued On Page 3
E
very trauma changes who you are, but by connecting other families and reframing the experience, they can grow from it and help others.