Background Statement
In 2014, the nonprofit Blueprints of Hope sprang to life in Durango, Colorado. Living in a rural, under-resourced community, we recognized that supportive care services for people with cancer were fragmented, if they were available at all.
We began seeking ways to remove barriers to timely access to cancer care and pinpointing resources that would meet the needs of the people we serve. Soon we realized these services could be readily accessed through a community-based nurse navigation program. The staff and volunteers of Blueprints of Hope felt strongly these services should be available to people who were experiencing any season of the cancer journey. As an adjunct to our navigation program, Blueprints of Hope envisioned a simple, interactive website - a connecting point - which would provide local and regional cancer information. This website would be an easily accessible link complementing cancer and post-treatment survivorship care for individuals, families, friends, caregivers, and their care providers in Southwest Colorado.
In 2023, Blueprints of Hope became a full network partner of Cancer Support Community, the largest professionally led nonprofit network of cancer support worldwide, and was formally renamed Cancer Support Community Southwest Colorado.
Though we have partnered with Cancer Support Community, we continue as a local independent nonprofit, and all monies raised go toward providing programs and services to the Southwest Colorado communities we serve.
Since 2014, first as Blueprints of Hope, and now as Cancer Support Community Southwest Colorado, we have served as a cancer support organization working to improve the quality of life for individuals facing cancer in Southwest Colorado. All services offered are completely free of charge for anyone, at any age, facing any type or stage of cancer, and are for the entire family.
From the beginning - through navigation, education, supportive care programs and advocacy - we have aspired to help improve the lives of individuals living with and beyond cancer.