About Us

Quick Facts

What is a Susan’s Retreat?
For two or three days, a selected breast cancer patient and a companion of their choice are sent to a resort for some essential peace and positive focus. Reservations, meals and massages are all booked and pre-paid by the organization.  All efforts are made to create a healthful dose of solace with an eye toward healing the spirit.
Who’s Susan?
Susan’s Retreat is the legacy of Susan A. Nickerson, who was a woman of great personal style with a razor sharp mind, a keen eye for beauty, and a very generous and kind heart... [Read more, below.]
How many recipients have participated?
As of January, 2010, we have provided retreats for 31 recipients and their companions.
How do recipients benefit?
Susan’s Retreat’s unique form of cancer support aims to engage optimism. These retreats are lifting spirits, easing stress in relationships (the companions are often the patient’s caregivers), and giving people something to look forward to when they are dealing with potentially life threatening illness.
How are recipients chosen?
Recipients are referred to Susan’s Retreat through social workers at hospitals and cancer support groups in the Metro Boston area. 
How can I get involved?
You can participate in Susan’s Retreat Annual Walk (link to walk page) by becoming a team captain and recruiting other walkers, walking as an individual, or volunteering to help with walk logistics.  Please contact us if you would like to get involved.
Where can I send a donation?
Checks should be made payable to Susan’s Retreat, Inc. and mailed to:
Susan's Retreat, Inc.
13 Revere St
Jamaica Plain MA 02130
What is the tax ID number?
The tax ID number is:  20-5706949

[Top of Page]

Profile of Susan Nickerson

Susan’s Retreat is the legacy of Susan A. Nickerson, who was a woman of great personal style with a razor sharp mind, a keen eye for beauty, and a very generous and kind heart.  As a successful businesswoman in the hospitality industry, her company, Meeting Forum, hosted scores of meetings for some of the country’s leading pharmaceutical companies.  Susan was greatly appreciated for her ability to make large groups of guests feel welcome and comfortable.

During her battle with cancer Susan was very grateful to have access to a place of natural beauty, her home in Ipswich, MA, where she would go to clear her head and think positively, and she wanted others in the difficult predicament of breast cancer treatment to have that same opportunity. Susan left a Giving Fund to accomplish that goal.  Her end of life wish was to provide something pleasurable and uplifting to women and men battling this disease.

Susan’s family and friends are committed to seeing Susan’s vision for the gift of a retreat become a reality for as many recipients as possible.  Led by Susan’s brother, Casey Nickerson, we will endeavor to provide a time of respite to breast cancer patients to engage the spirit of hope.

In the words of her other brother, John:

"From a young age, my sister Susan took the caring and comfort of others to heart, beginning with myself.  When our mother died when we were youngsters, my older sister was there to tenderly help me with the transition.

After college she left home and her first stop was in the hospitality industry.  Working for Paquet Cruises on a cruise ship on the Mediterranean, Susan, who then was only in her early 20’s, became her ship’s social director.

From there she worked for a Boston-based company that planned meetings for its far-flung corporate clients.  There, Susan developed an uncanny sense for what makes people, who are a long way from home, happy.

Having visited with her at some of the largest out-of-state events (more than 450 people attending) after she opened her own meeting planning business in 1984, I can tell you that she knew how to please her audience.

The rodeos, balloon rides, galas, western nights, wine tours, gourmet tours and architecture walks (to name a few) were the glue that held these meetings, which lasted up to six days or more, together.

I know that Susan was determined, as her life was ending, to find something that could make a difference to those contemplating their own mortality. Her years in Ipswich gazing at the rich, green salt marshes and sterling water off her deck gave her the peace of mind that she needed between the doctors visits and the work she took so seriously.

Before she died, she told me that she wanted that deck and her Northridge Road cottage to become a place of solace for others approaching the same kind of life rending challenges she had faced.  Without the possibility of making that little house a destination for others seeking a place to gather themselves, friends and family pursued another way to realize her dream and formed Susan’s Retreat.

She would be so proud to see the foundation provide so much joy and comfort to those experiences life’s wrenching changes that breast cancer brings.  I see the foundation continuing my sister’s work."

[Top of Page]

501(c)(3) Status

Susan's Retreat, Inc. is a public charity and all contributions are tax deductible as allowable by law. Corporate Matching Gifts are welcome. Susan's Retreat, Inc. is exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and is registered in New Hampshire as a nonprofit corporation.      

[Top of Page]

Board of Directors

[Top of Page]

 

copyright 2009 Susan's Retreat, Inc | www.susansretreat.org