Contact: Megan Brown, CAE at megan@abcdmentor.org or (414) 410-3211
Milwaukee, WI & New York, NY — (July 14, 2025) — ABCD: After Breast Cancer Diagnosis and Young Survival Coalition (YSC) are excited to announce a partnership that connects young survivors and those living with metastatic breast cancer to trained peer mentors. This collaboration ensures more young adults impacted by breast cancer have timely access to free, high-quality, personalized peer support and resources that improve quality of life.
Research shows that peer support significantly reduces mental distress, including feelings of depression, anxiety, and isolation, while increasing resilience among cancer survivors. This need is especially urgent for young adults, as breast cancer is the most common form of cancer diagnosed in individuals ages 15 to 39, with an estimated 13,000 new cases in this age group each year.
By uniting their efforts, ABCD and YSC are expanding access to connection and support grounded in the lived experience of the young breast cancer community.
“Our expanded collaboration with YSC strengthens our ability to provide meaningful, individualized – and free – emotional support to young adults across the country,” said ABCD Executive Director Ellen Friebert Schupper. “Together, we’re making it easier for young people impacted by breast cancer to receive support from an ABCD Mentor who is just like them and has been comprehensively trained to listen, provide a safe space to share, and offer understanding and compassion.”
As an essential complement to medical care, peer-to-peer emotional support helps fill a critical gap for young adults navigating breast cancer — one this partnership aims to close through meaningful connection.
“YSC envisions a world where every young adult with breast cancer is seen, supported, and never alone. By referring community members seeking peer mentors to ABCD, a trusted partner, more support seekers can connect to immediate peer matching services”, said Amanda Nixon, YSC Director of Community Engagement and Empowerment.
About ABCD
Founded in 1999 by the late Emmy award-winning journalist Melodie Wilson Oldenburg, ABCD: After Breast Cancer Diagnosis inspires hope and transforms lives by providing FREE, personalized emotional support to anyone impacted by breast cancer, anywhere, at any stage. As a complement to medical care, ABCD matches people with a trained volunteer Mentor who has a similar lived experience, providing compassionate support based on diagnosis, treatment, age, and lifestyle. With a fully virtual platform, ABCD helps people worldwide, ensuring no one faces breast cancer alone. To request a Mentor, visit ABCDBreastCancerSupport.org or call 1-800-977-4121.
About YSC
Established in 1998, Young Survival Coalition (YSC) is a global nonprofit dedicated exclusively to young adults diagnosed with breast cancer before age 41 and their co-survivor support networks. Compared to older women, young women generally face more aggressive cancers and lower survival rates while remaining underrepresented in research studies. Breast cancer is also the most common form of cancer in women who are pregnant or have recently given birth. YSC brings young survivors together to face these challenges in a community of empowerment and support. Through educational resources and programming, annual conferences, and local and online support networks, YSC ensures no young adult faces breast cancer alone. For more information, visit youngsurvival.org.
