Labor, Funds Donated By Bucks Community Members Help Open Cancer Support Center

BUCKINGHAM, PA — An all-inclusive wellness and support center for cancer patients in Bucks County will open its doors on Wednesday, after a year of planning and fundraising to make community member Corinne Sikora's dream a reality.

Kin, as the wellness center is now known, is free to patients and their family or caregiver, and is supported by donations from the community.

The 5,000 square foot space provides a warm, welcoming retreat: featuring a kitchen to support a nutrition program, a lounge living area, four practitioner rooms, a large event and support group space with a library, a dedicated fitness studio, and over 2,200 sq ft. of outdoor living space complete with gardens, built-in seating, and a labyrinth.

Whilst battling brain and breast cancer, Corinne Sikora outlined all the details for the non-medical support center before she passed on Nov. 25, 2020. Kin's leaders emphasize that the center does not exist in her memory, but because of her vision.

The center will begin onboarding guests Wednesday, with a soft opening that will extend through mid-January, when services are set to begin.

Kin's staffers and founders are grateful for how the community rallied around the center.

"In February of 2021 we announced our intentions via a press release, then a speculative budget was created that informed our fundraising goals which were met by July, raising $245,000," Keith Fenimore, a founding member and the executive director of Kin, said. "In August we secured our location, renovations began in September and our doors will open in December. This was no small feat but it proves with the support of a strong community, anything is possible.”

Individual Community members in Bucks County along with local businesses donated hundreds of thousands of dollars and countless hours of time, talent, and materials to the project:

• Hendrixson’s Furniture donated all the Center’s furniture.
• Indigenous Ingenuities is building a Zen garden and labyrinth which will provide 2,200 sq ft of outdoor space (coming Spring 2022).
• Organnons Natural Market is providing all the organic food and juice.
• JR Maxwell Builders and Mink Run Millwork donated the kitchen.
• Jarrett Vaughan Builders built the custom welcome center and storefront.
• Gina Alvarez and Stefan Boublil are providing ongoing design and marketing services and building a new website.
• Green St. Real Estate is offering $120,000 in-kind donation.
• Michael J. Brooks Esquire is donating legal services.
• Archetype Advisors/Yacht CFO provides financial advisement.
• Ralph Fey Architects donated architectural services.
• Marble Source Inc. donated countertops.
• Greenleaf Nursery donated the interior plants and garden wall.
• Doylestown Bookshop hosted a book drive for the library and is donating 10 new books per month.
• The Larder is donating an unlimited supply of tea.
• Facenda Renovations donated the plumbing work.
• Nickum Schneider Electric donated the electrical work.
• Tom Adams Windows and Carpets provided the kitchen floor and fire door.
• Thomas Woollam & Steve Feevish painted the main living room, kitchen and the bathroom.
• Bill Vandergrift Appliances provided all the kitchen appliances.
• Stone Hill Contracting donated the reverse osmosis drinking system.
• Bucks Digital is donating all the printing.
• New Hope Carpet Cleaners will maintain the carpets as a donation.
• CP Printing Solutions is providing marketing and promotional materials.
• Mr. Mom’s Housecleaning Cleaning will clean the Center once a month as a donated service.

"Kin’s goal is to be a comprehensive retreat, as we strive to enhance the lifestyle of our guests
during their cancer journey," representatives wrote in a news release. "We’ll do this through unique offerings that will include date and family nights featuring live music, gardening, crafting, knitting and book club. We’ll also host a series of non-cancer centric events and cultural activities provided along with services people would expect like support groups, integrative services, therapy and fitness."

Kin’s slate of programming has been in development and will be accessible via the website in late January.

The Center has a large stable of experts and practitioners who are donating their talents to guests by offering services, teaching classes, running support groups, therapy sessions, and workshops. The experts and practitioners all have extensive backgrounds working with cancer patients and are licensed and accredited.

All guests have enrollment access, on a first-come first-served basis.

Services include:

• Reflexology
• Yoga
• Meditation
• Oncology Massage
• Esthetician/Facials
• Chiropractic
• Acupuncture
• Reiki
• Nutrition and Dietary
• Ballet (modified)
• Barre3 (modified)
• Pilates (modified)
• Zumba (modified)
• Dance Therapy
• Tai-Chi

The Nutrition program pairs top local chefs with nutritionist and dieticians who present live
cooking demonstrations. Following the cooking event, guests will be given ingredients to take
home and replicate the meal they were taught.

Kin is also working to form sponsorship and resource-sharing relationships with all healthcare providers in the area. Grand View Hospital and Fox Chase Cancer Center Buckingham have already joined as official Sponsors, and representatives are in dialogue with Trinity
Health and Penn Medicine about sponsorship.

Kin has an annual donor program, and accepts gifts by PayPal online or by check made out to Kin and mailed to: 2325 Heritage Center Dr. Suite 113, Furlong.

Representatives said they are also seeking additional Founding Partners, which comes with naming rights and a $100,000 donation.

Kin is run and operated through a newly formed non-profit, Main St. Missions 501(c)(3), and has an Executive Board led by Keith Fenimore, Dr. Shelly Hayes, Nancy Catricks, and Kristina Fenimore. The Board is assembling an Advisory Committee made up of locals with expertise across multiple areas. These Committee appointments will be announced early 2022.

Get important Bucks County news straight to your inbox when you subscribe to Patch.