PART III

By Michelle Meza with Melbra Watts

My son was going to college, and I was seeing my breast doctor and rambling on about my empty nest when she said ‘Why don’t you volunteer? You have time on your hands. Look into something you’re passionate about.’ I’d always volunteered and asked myself ‘what am I passionate about?’ And I realized it was staring me in the face—women’s health. I feel that my journey came full circle when I actually started to look for a place to volunteer.

I looked at multiple places here in the Bay Area, but I really loved the mission of the Charlotte Maxwell Clinic. What touched me was the story of how the Charlotte Maxwell Clinic came together. These women loved their friend so much that they rallied around her and were uplifting her to have the best treatments that they could possibly give her, and she was doing the same thing looking at research of what she could do to have a better quality of life and treatment and healing. That struck as a personal note to me; it touched my heart. Unfortunately, she did pass away but it was such a special story.”

Visiting the clinic, you instantly feel welcomed, loved, accepted. You’re not looked at any different from the color of your skin or your economic situation. Just, ‘we’re here to help.’”

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I didn’t choose to become a driver; it was given to me.

In my role as a driver for the Charlotte Maxwell Clinic, I feel patients are super excited to have someone who is compassionate and empathetic. Sometimes we talk about recipes and sometimes we talk about their previous experiences not related to cancer and that’s great because it’s like having that driver be your ‘friend’ for the moment to take your mind off having treatments.

Maybe that person is having a bad day. I try to put myself in their shoes—if somebody were picking me up, what would I like somebody to do for me? ‘Would you like me to put some music on for you or would you like me to put the heated seat or AC on?’ And even if they don’t feel like talking, that’s totally fine. Perhaps they need a moment of silence, and this is for them to have their peace and get ready to have their treatment. I’ve always tried to make the patients feel welcome and as if they were a friend or family member.

I’m super passionate about working in the nonprofit world helping women any way possible. Being underprivileged and a woman of color is hard enough and to have health situations on top of that is even harder.

Charlotte Maxwell is a beacon for women who are going through their cancer journey, and that’s what drove me to volunteering with the clinic and that’s why I’m still there. I believe in the Clinic and think that somehow an endowment needs to come their way. The Clinic is a diamond in the rough; it’s helped so many women.

For the past 30 years, Charlotte Maxwell Clinic (CMC), the Oakland-based nonprofit women’s clinic, has been supplementing Bay Area low-income women’s standard cancer care with complementary therapies free of charge—including acupuncture, herbs, homeopathy, massage, guided imagery, movement, nutrition advice, and self-care education.

These services are made possible by a network of dedicated volunteers that include practitioners of holistic modalities, language interpreters, and drivers who use their own vehicles to transport clients to and from their CMC appointments.

Michelle Meza has been a driver with CMC since 2017. Melbra Watts is the executive director.

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