About Us
Who We Are
To Life! provides personal support, empowers informed decision-making, and enhances quality of life for anyone affected by breast cancer in New York’s Capital Region. Since 1998, we’ve served as an independent, community-based resource — not a hospital, not a treatment center, but a place where people facing breast cancer can find the information, connection, and services that clinical care alone doesn’t cover.
Our Story
To Life! was founded in October 1998 by Mara Ginsberg, after her own breast cancer diagnosis.
As she went through consultations about treatment and therapy, Mara found that services for breast cancer patients were limited, fractured, and hard to locate. She met other women who felt the same way: overwhelmed by their diagnosis, unsure what questions to ask their doctors, sometimes embarrassed to ask at all, and uncomfortable shopping for prostheses and wigs in medical supply stores. What they needed was a competent, sympathetic source of information, guidance, and support — something beyond what a medical office could offer.
Mara created To Life! to be that place: a welcoming setting where people can get the information they need to make informed medical decisions, learn how to talk with their families about what they’re facing, and find support services like wig and prosthesis fittings. And because early detection saves lives, To Life! has always made community outreach and breast self-exam education a priority.
In Mara’s own words
“Unlike the vast majority of breast cancer patients whom the disease takes by surprise, I had plenty of warning: both my mother and her sister died of it at age 44. When that other shoe dropped with my own diagnosis at age 37, I launched into action. I researched diligently, interviewed doctors, visited clinics, talked to friends and strangers. Even so, I found that information about the disease, treatment options, post-treatment problems and ancillary services such as prostheses and wigs was either inadequate or very difficult to find. I wondered, how do other women do this? Emotionally overwhelmed, weakened by the treatments, isolated by a disease that can be uncomfortable to talk about, how do those women cope? The answer distressed me. In addition to fighting the disease itself, breast cancer patients must wage another battle of gathering information from diverse sources, trying to sort it out and make sense of it and hoping to find some kindred spirits to share the burden along the way.
While in treatment and back at work after my surgeries, I began to think about how to fill the enormous gaps in services to women with breast cancer. I had a good sense of what had to be done. I just needed to figure out whether I could do it, financially, physically, emotionally and without shortchanging the most important people in my life—my husband and two young children. I left my dream job with the New York State Attorney General and devoted myself to developing a package of services I knew thousands of women in my community need and deserve.
In October 1998 I launched To Life! It is deeply gratifying to me that To Life! has struck such a responsive chord in our community. We are beginning to see tangible changes in the quality of health care in the region. By educating patients and encouraging them to advocate for themselves, To Life! equips cancer patients to act as partners with their healthcare providers. Area physicians attest that To Life! has made a definite and positive impact on patient care. Patients are routinely referred to To Life! by doctors and nurses and, most tellingly, breast cancer survivors who have benefited from its services.”
— Mara Ginsberg, Founder
What We Do
For those affected by breast cancer in the Capital Region, To Life! provides personal support, empowers informed decision-making, and enhances quality of life. We do this by:
- Facilitating community support groups
- Providing individualized guidance and mentoring
- Delivering reliable, unbiased information and resources
- Presenting dynamic educational programming
- Offering personalized fittings for mastectomy products and wigs
- Developing community partners
Who We Serve
Breast cancer doesn’t affect one type of person, and neither does To Life!. Our services are open to everyone in the Capital Region touched by a breast cancer diagnosis — women and men, at any age, of any race, gender identity, sexual orientation, or income level.
We’re working to make that true in practice, not just in principle. Breast cancer has long been associated with a narrow slice of the population, but the reality doesn’t match that image. Black women face a higher incidence of aggressive breast cancer subtypes and a higher mortality rate at every stage of diagnosis. Men are diagnosed with breast cancer too, though it’s rarely talked about. Our goal is to reach every community in the region where breast cancer touches lives — not only the ones that have historically found their way to us — and we’re expanding our outreach so that the people who need us most know we’re here for them.
Our Values
The following values inform our work:
Accountability
We hold ourselves personally and collectively responsible to do right and adhere to ethical principles in an environment of openness and honesty.
Community
We bring people together to foster connections among those impacted by a breast cancer diagnosis.
Integrity
We operate with a moral compass that has the best interest of the survivor community at heart, leading us to deliver reliable and trusted information.
Compassion
We bring people together to foster connections among those impacted by a breast cancer diagnosis.
Forward-Thinking
Our programs and services reflect current innovations in breast cancer care.
Inclusivity
All Capital Region residents are served regardless of age, religion, race, sexual orientation, gender, or financial status.
Dignity
We offer services from the perspective of those in need.
Personal
Our priority is to offer a personalized and warm approach tailored to each individual’s needs.
Safety
We provide a peer-to-peer refuge that nurtures fellowship and trust.
Unbiased
We present credible information and options, instilling confidence and supporting individual choices and holistic approaches.
Our vision is a Capital Region where everyone affected by breast cancer has access to a trusted, independent community resource for comprehensive information, education, and support.