After Christine Anastos was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016, she spoke with women who were suffering with cancer and listened to their stories.
Many of them had young children, so they didn’t have the luxury of taking a break and putting themselves first, said Anastos, who lives in Arlington.
Anastos, an environmental engineer, also realized that not everyone could afford the same programs she received at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute or its Zakim Center for Integrative Therapies and Healthy Living. She thought about the disparities within the health care system and considered what she could do to help others.
During the pandemic, when Anastos had time to walk along the beach and contemplate, she decided to act. Last year, she started Connect & Thrive, a public benefit corporation that helps cancer patients access support and healthy-living products and services that are not covered by insurance.
Friends and family can support cancer patients by purchasing e-gift cards and donating to crowdfunding campaigns, which are called Kitty Funds. The recipient can use the funds to buy services and products geared toward helping the mind, body and spirit, including counseling, meditation, music and exercise from over 500 partners.
One of the programs offered there is Sole Sisters, which helps women heal and find community support through walking. It was started by Laura Boulay of Minnesota, a friend of Anastos who is the founder of One Million Women Walking, a virtual women’s walking community.
“I would say the nature of that collaboration was really about solidifying the words around not only her journey to this place but how to make the words, the actual copy on the website, connect with women who are in this really incredible journey with cancer,” said Boulay, who helped Anastos create the messaging on the Connect & Thrive website.
The site has an “Educate” section that includes articles, research studies, videos, and podcasts about cancer diagnosis, treatment and recovery.
Boulay said she admired Anastos’ ability to jump into something new and her commitment to helping others.
“She’s unbelievably passionate about this work,” Boulay said, “deeply, deeply committed to easing someone else’s journey.”
Keira Kotler, a San Francisco resident and the CEO of Everviolet, an intimacy apparel company with pieces for women facing breast or gynecological cancers, is another vendor who works with Anastos.
Everviolet was born out of Kotler’s own experience trying to find comfortable clothing to wear while recovering from breast cancer treatment.
“She really gets the quality and the beauty of our collection and how much we’re making an impact in women’s lives,” Kotler said.
Kotler said she admires the amount of care Anastos puts into the vendors that Connect & Thrive partners with.
“Christine just puts her entire heart and soul into everything that she does, and she’s really creating this platform as something that other people can benefit from,” Kotler said.
Tommi Jaakkola, an electrical engineering and computer science professor at MIT, said he acted as Anastos’ sounding partner for ideas related to Connect & Thrive.
“I guess CAT is a culmination of that experience translated into action,” Jaakkola said, “and hopefully something that really makes a difference in people’s lives.”
Jaakkola said that Anastos has put a lot of work into CAT and puts 110 percent into everything that she sets her mind to. “CAT is a translation of all that motivation and inspiration into something that would benefit a much larger number of people,” Jaakkola said.