Debbie Mantini and Steve Cino’s superpower is simple but impactful.
It’s empathy.
Every time they don their green vests emblazoned with the Wellspring Niagara logo – like superheroes changing into their capes – they’re signalling to patients at the Walker Family Cancer Centre (WFCC) that they have plenty of empathy to offer.
Mantini and Cino are volunteers with the Niagara Health-Wellspring Niagara Partnership in Cancer Care, a joint venture aimed at enhancing patient well-being by integrating hospital-based treatment with support services in the community.
The partnership celebrated its first anniversary in April, with its success attributed to the compassionate approach Mantini, Cino and other volunteers bring to their weekly shifts at the WFCC.
Together, they offer emotional support to reduce isolation, share free community-based services offered by Wellspring to help patients and families navigate the daily challenges of a cancer diagnosis, and provide peer support to create a sense of belonging.
Their expertise, particularly when it comes to offering peer support, is rooted in their own experiences with cancer. Both Mantini and Cino are survivors who are well acquainted with all the feelings a diagnosis, treatment and caregiving can conjure.
“There’s isolation that sometimes happens with this journey,” Cino says. “There’s lots of stress on patients and their caregivers. Wellspring has a strong community vibe and if we help connect them with that vibe, it’s a good thing.”
During their shifts, Mantini and Cino can be found in treatment waiting rooms. Their approach is gentle. It starts with asking people if they know about Wellspring Niagara and if they’re interested to learn more.
Wellspring Niagara is part of a national network of cancer support, offering free programs and services – no referral needed – to anyone impacted by cancer at any stage of their journey.
“There’s isolation that sometimes happens with this journey. There’s lots of stress on patients and their caregivers. Wellspring has a strong community vibe and if we help connect them with that vibe, it’s a good thing.”
Sometimes Mantini and Cino encounter people already involved with the organization, so they help pass the wait for treatment by talking about the programs they’re involved in. Other times, it’s a brief introduction that includes offering a small heart crocheted by Mantini, which she calls a pocket hug, and a pamphlet with more information.
All the time, though, there’s relatability rooted in the duo’s own experiences and the support they got from Wellspring through their illness. They celebrate last treatments with Niagara Health patients and provide comfort through other milestones in the cancer journey. And they leave the door open to anyone who’s not up for that initial conversation.
“I always say, ‘We’re always here, so if you have questions, please ask,’” Mantini says.
In the year since the program launched, Wellspring Niagara has been a welcome addition to the care provided within the WFCC, says Tracy Fazzari, Director of Patient Care, Oncology and Palliative Care.
“This partnership is appreciated for the additional layer of support it provides to both our patients with a cancer diagnosis, as well as their loved ones,” Fazzari says. “This team of volunteers works to be present, in the moment, listening to the needs of our patients, offering emotional guidance, and informing them of community services that can help transition their care. In combination with excellent medical and supportive services at the WFCC, the Wellspring volunteers help transform the care we provide at Niagara Health. This is truly a people-first focus.”
The anniversary marks more than a year of collaboration, says Ann Mantini-Celima, Wellspring Niagara Executive Director. It marks a year of patients and families feeling less alone.
“When people receive exceptional medical care at the Walker Family Cancer Centre alongside Wellspring's community-based programs, we close a critical gap in the cancer journey,” Mantini says. “Wellspring Niagara volunteers like Debbie and Steve embody exactly why this partnership works – compassion, community and a shared commitment to those navigating cancer.”
The benefits of the partnership extend as much to Mantini and Cino as to the patients they meet.
Cino, who started and regularly monitors his cancer journey at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, recently finished radiation treatment at WFCC. He appreciated the professionalism of care closer to home, which is a sentiment echoed by the many patients and families he interacts with as a volunteer and one Cino shares with new patients.
“That’s that confidence I feel in coming here, not only helps me, but it helps the people I interact with,” he says.
Every time Mantini and Cino can extend compassion and understanding to others, there’s also a sense of giving back to a charity that has done the same for them in their own journeys.
“Sometimes, when I hand a heart and information to people, they say, ‘You don’t know how much I needed this’ and I say, ‘That makes my day,’” Mantini says. “When they say, ‘Thank you for talking to me. I feel like you understand,’ that makes me feel better because I know what it’s like to go through it.”
