When Kayla Susick was recognized with breast most cancers in April 2024, her focus wasn’t on the deteriorating deck or unsafe fence that surrounded her Clark County house. It was on beating the illness.
At 36, Susick is a single mom juggling most cancers therapy whereas elevating her 3-year-old twins, River and Marcella Susick. When her growing older fence lastly collapsed in February, it turned clear one thing needed to be executed.
That’s when Michelle’s Love — a Scappoose, Ore., nonprofit that helps single dad and mom battling most cancers — reached out to Rick’s Customized Fencing & Decking for assist. The corporate repaired Susick’s fence for free of charge. Now, Rick’s has gone a step additional, donating a full rebuild of Susick’s deck.
“To try to find a balance between caring for yourself and making sure your kids still get to have a life that isn’t just dedicated to their mom’s illness — it’s a lot,” Susick mentioned. “When I was first told to contact Michelle’s Love, I almost didn’t. It’s never been something that I’ve done — reach out for help. But cancer forces you to be humble in that way and to ask for help.”
The undertaking kicked off Thursday afternoon at Susick’s house, with three of Rick’s group members — Fernando Garcia, Nathanael “Woody” Hayford and Miguel Moreno Lule — main the rebuild, which is able to take two days to finish.
The rebuild is a part of Rick’s Customized Fencing & Decking’s ongoing Group Help Drive. The initiative, which launched in 2020, has supplied $250,000 in labor, supplies, and funding to households and nonprofits in want throughout the Pacific Northwest.
“This is something that has been near and dear to my heart,” Rick’s Advertising Director Taylor Stanley mentioned. “Kayla is just trying to build a normal life again, and we get to have just a small part in helping with that.”
Navigating the analysis
Susick was recognized with breast most cancers after she felt a lump below her armpit. At first, she nearly wrote it off, considering it was only a swollen lymph node from being sick.
Michelle’s Love has labored carefully with Susick since then. It receives referrals from oncology social staff, which is how Susick turned linked with the nonprofit.
The nonprofit’s namesake, Michelle Singleton, was a 32-year-old mom of 4 — and founder Andy McCandless’ finest buddy. She died from most cancers in 2005. McCandless started by serving to mothers in Phoenix earlier than shifting to Portland.
The nonprofit has helped 267 households and supplied over $1 million in help because it started in 2012, McCandless mentioned.
Michelle’s Love has coated six months of mortgage funds for Susick, supplied common house cleansing and delivered meals to her all through her restoration.
“That’s how it started: I lost my best friend to cancer,” McCandless mentioned. “There’s a lot for the cure, but there’s not so much for the here and now. The stars just kind of aligned on this.”
Michelle’s Love’s companies are restricted to folks who’re single and dealing on the time of their diagnoses. Round Christmas time, McCandless requested Susick if she needed to be on an inventory to obtain Christmas presents. Susick declined as a result of she already had acquired presents from different relations.
As an alternative, Susick jokingly requested McCandless, “Can you wrap a fence and stick it under the tree?”
McCandless replied, “Let me look into it. No request is too big.”
Proper earlier than the twins’ birthday in February, Susick’s fence utterly fell, which is when McCandless reached out to Stanley.
With out hesitation, Rick’s Customized Fencing & Decking stepped as much as restore the fence — and later the deck after seeing how unsafe it was.
“This is just the cherry on top,” McCandless mentioned. “When you have a friend or family member that is diagnosed, you may feel like you can’t do enough for them. But you have to remember that something is better than nothing.”
Susick, who teaches third grade at Hazel Dell Elementary Faculty, has additionally skilled generosity from her colleagues. Vancouver Public Colleges has a program wherein workers can donate their sick time to others, which is precisely what Susick’s colleagues did for her.
As a college trainer, Susick mentioned she was accustomed to offering acts of companies and giving herself to different folks’s kids. That every one modified when she was recognized.
She needed to as an alternative learn to grow to be a recipient of that generosity and kindness, she mentioned.
“It is a whole different experience when you choose to parent by yourself and you’re in a career of caregiving. You forget sometimes to ask for help and let others encompass you,” Susick mentioned. “This has been a reminder that it’s not just about being the good, but allowing the good into your life and being a gracious acceptor of those gifts.”
Rick’s Customized Fencing & Decking is trying to broaden its attain by partnerships and volunteer efforts with organizations reminiscent of St. Jude, Make-A-Want, Affect NW and Second Harvest.
Michelle’s Love will proceed supporting households navigating most cancers however wants help from the neighborhood to take action, McCandless mentioned. To donate to Michelle’s Love or volunteer with the group, go to michelleslove.org.
Susick, who now has one spherical of chemotherapy left, is wanting ahead to spending the summer season along with her kids on a brand-new deck, basking within the solar.
“What I’ve found is when you look for the light, there are gifts that come with cancer — if you allow yourself to see them and embrace them,” she mentioned. “I’m looking forward to finding out who I am post-cancer. It feels like an open door to a healthier version of me.”
