Beauty runs much more than skin deep

Rebecca Malone

Friday, Dec. 28, 2001 | 3:20 a.m.

Some might think that two women who between them have battled breast cancer, lung cancer, polio, domestic abuse and a run-in with a car might be ready give up on the world.

Not Sandra Jackson and Mimi Williams. They are using humor and each other's support to face each new obstacle.

One of those struggles is to keep their health education organization, Courage Unlimited Inc., above water.

"We are actual survivors, and that makes us different from other organizations," Williams said.

"It takes courage for us to put ourselves out there, and this group allows us to show the heart of Las Vegas," added Jackson.

The two finish each other's sentences and excitedly interrupt the other with stories and laughs.

Courage Unlimited was founded by the two women in 1998, with a goal of providing information and support to people experiencing cancer or other life-threatening illnesses.

The two speak from volumes of personal experience. Williams, 62, battled polio as a child, and as an adult suffered domestic abuse and two bouts of breast cancer. Jackson, 52, has had breast cancer twice, as well as lung cancer, and as a teen she was hit by a car and run over by a truck. Both are cancer free or in remission.

"We are taking anger and making it positive," Williams said. "If you want to live, you have to go out and fight."

Since its beginning, the group has published one magazine a year in October, which is breast cancer awareness month, produced a television show for nine months, organized a weekend retreat each year and have taken a shot at hosting a radio show.

"The magazine, Essence of Beauty, was the beginning of our relationship," Jackson said, looking at Williams. "It started as a cancer survivor forum, but now it covers much more. This year we have stories on HIV and Alzheimer's disease."

Jackson said she started the magazine to express how she was feeling and to provide a place for others to share their stories. The magazine led to the TV show, which was launched in 1999, with Williams and Jackson as the hosts.

"Health shows are usually scary or boring, but ours was really fun," Williams said.

They decided not only to address their illnesses head-on, but also other issues that are important to them, such as racism. Williams is white, and Jackson is black.

They told viewers that no matter what they look like on the outside, people are all made up of the same organs and can all suffer from the same diseases, Jackson said.

"What is the color of your cancer?" they asked their viewers.

"Cancer knows no color; I am an honorary black person," Williams said.

"And I am a honorary white person," Jackson said. "We are trying to erase the ignorance of support. We should be known as the rainbow coalition because we have a little of everyone."

Their show covered issues that others might have been afraid to address, such as prosthesic breasts and bras, and made people feel comfortable talking about them, Jackson said.

"I once joked about doing the show topless when the ratings were down, because we match. I am missing my right breast -- I've had reconstructive surgery -- and Sandra is missing her left," Williams said.

Williams and Jackson believed the TV show was valuable to getting important information to the public, but could not afford to keep it going. They realized they had to keep their name in the public, so when the opportunity came in February to Jackson to be a guest host on KCEP 88.1-FM, she did her homework to provide an informative show, Jackson said.

Since that guest appearance, Jackson has been hosting her own radio show each month, with a promise of continuous shows throughout the next year, she said.

Even with the shows and magazines, their group is running out of sponsors and money since they lost the American Cancer Society funding because of what Jackson characterizes as political reasons. Jackson and Williams said they get donations from various places, but most of the money comes out of their pockets. And it's running thin.

The 2002 Essence of Beauty Upbeat Retreat, open to adults only, is the current project they are trying to fund.

"At the retreat we share a lot of information and knowledge, we cry and laugh and have a good time," Jackson said.

They are looking for volunteers and sponsors to help put on their June retreat, which will focus on educating and providing support to participants.

Anyone wishing to volunteer services, attend the retreat, be a sponsor or make a submission to the magazine should contact Jackson at 390-5898, or e-mail her (courageunlimited@juno.com).

"We are survivors. When you are talking to us, you're talking to people who have been there," Williams said. "There is nothing else out there like this."

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