The future is hope for this
philanthropy leader — and grateful patient

City of Hope is fulfilling its promise to provide Orange County with groundbreaking scientific research and leading-edge cancer therapies close to home. Sarah Sasman, senior executive director of philanthropy for City of Hope Orange County, doesn’t just understand this need — she’s lived it.

 

Sasman was the fourth OC employee hired to the team overseeing the renowned cancer research and treatment organization’s expansion into the region. She is also a patient who was given preventative treatment for breast cancer at City of Hope’s Duarte campus. After that “truly life-changing” experience, she’s more committed than ever to act with speed and focus to help bring the expert, compassionate care she received at City of Hope to her friends and neighbors in Orange County.

 

“I had a highly specialized physician who saw me as a human being and as a partner,” she said. “Together, we made decisions that led to me being cancer-free today.”

 

The close relationships Sasman formed with the members of her care team were an essential part of the personalized care that empowered her to be an active participant in her treatment.

 

Sasman said she felt valued and reassured when her caregivers identified the particular challenges she faced fighting cancer as a single mother, and they worked tirelessly to ensure she had the necessary support systems in place.

 

“Their approach said to me that these are my friends, and they are invested in my outcomes; they were interested in caring for me as a whole person,” Sasman said. “They saw me as Sarah: a mother, a daughter, a community member, someone who was driving up from Orange County and needed to decompress after a lengthy commute when I walked in the door.”

 

 

City of Hope’s development and operation of Lennar Foundation Cancer Center in Irvine, and the expansion of its Orange County network of advanced cancer care and research, address challenges like those experienced by Sasman. “My breast care is going to be with City of Hope Orange County going forward. I’m very excited to have our comprehensive cancer campus close to home and to be able to receive the kind of care there that our community needs — City of Hope’s care — when it opens in 2022,” she said.

 

As the new year gets underway, Sasman is eager to grow philanthropic support for City of Hope Orange County.

 

“City of Hope is at the center of so many exciting breakthroughs,” she said, “and I have the unique opportunity to collaborate with our physicians and our scientists, having conversations about how we advance cures. I then have the honor of meeting with individuals and companies in our community who feel like they can do more for people with cancer. Out of those conversations come life-changing investments to accelerate City of Hope’s vision of eradicating cancer and creating healthier communities. That’s why I’m here. I want to help make City of Hope’s vision a reality.”