Women at Creative Healing Connections’ 2023 Arts and Healing Retreat show off their creations while at the Young Life on Upper Saranac Lake. At the top of the stairs is Johnna McDougall from Somabeats. She and her team facilitated the retreat with participants being women living with chronic illness. (Photo provided)

SARANAC LAKE — The leaders of the local wellness nonprofit Creative Healing Connections are seeking sponsors for women veterans and women who have fought or are fighting with cancer or chronic illness to attend their annual retreats this fall.

The organization usually holds the Mad Hatter’s Ball — its largest fundraiser — in November. But board members say they are moving it to next March this year, so they are reaching out to local businesses seeking $250 scholarships to allow all of the women who apply and meet the criteria to get financial aid for the retreats.

“Because when you are going through chronic illness and cancer, you don’t have extra money kicking around,” CHC Trustee Minda Briaddy said.

Board President Helene Gibbens said there are a lot of wellness retreats — most are not affordable. CHC focuses on women who don’t have the means to participate in these programs. They’ve had women who were homeless attend the retreats.

Gibbens said the majority of their attendees need a scholarship of some sort to attend. Half need a full scholarship.

The retreats are also capped at 12 attendees currently, and they want to be able to have more people attend.

Donations can be made at tinyurl.com/3496b8cy to by mailing a check to Creative Healing Connections, P.O. Box 165, Saranac Lake, NY, 12983.

At the retreats, wellness professionals, psychologists and CHC leaders lead attendees in dance, yoga and stretches sessions, essential oils instruction, journaling, and artistic creation through music and physical mediums.

Gibbens said chronic illness can be physical or mental.

Briaddy has seen all sides of the CHC organization. She was invited to be the honoree at the Mad Hatter’s Ball two years ago.

“It was one of the best nights of my life,” she said.

Gibbens said they look for “A woman who has battled a chronic illness … and who can be an inspiration to others,” as their guest.

Briaddy told the audience about her fight with cancer and said she still strongly remembers the standing ovation and love she felt surrounded by in the room.

She attended CHC’s next Arts and Healing retreat.

“It opened up parts of my that I did not know I needed opening,” Briaddy said. “There were things that were shoved down that needed to come out.”

She said she found a supportive environment where she could feel and say things that she felt she couldn’t in normal life.

“I had felt like a lot of my healing had happened, and then I realized that there was a deeper level of healing that needed to take place,” Briaddy said.

Briaddy was diagnosed with stage IV melanoma in January 2020. She is in remission now, but her battle included 11 treatments of immunotherapy and the side effects of extreme toxicity and organ failure.

At the retreat, they created flags that represented their journey and what they find healing. Briaddy said this is a physical “touchstone” that reminds her of the discoveries she made there. She said she keeps the flag in her laundry room because she’s in there every day.

When Briaddy attended the Mad Hatter’s Ball again last year, and was asked to be a board member, Briaddy said it was an easy decision.

Gibbens has been in the wellness field for 30 years as a massage therapist, yoga instructor and licensed forest therapy guide. It’s a “lifelong passion,” she said.

“When I find something that has been helpful and healing for me, I like to share it for others,” Gibbens said.

During the coronavirus pandemic, CHC started doing quarterly virtual sessions and has kept doing these. Gibbens said it is a way for the women to continue the connections they make at the retreats, keep in touch and maintain their support group.

Having a good support network is important to mental and physical health, she said.

Gibbens said healing is different than curing. Not everyone will “cure” from their illness, but they can live better lives.

The next Arts and Healing Retreat will be held Oct. 4-6 at the Young Life camp on Upper Saranac Lake. Registration is open at tinyurl.com/2tb99m37 and the financial assistance form is at tinyurl.com/mvnnyhm7.

CHC was founded 1998 by Fran Yardley and Naj Wikoff. With Gibbens and Briaddy being part of a relatively new board, they say they are looking to bring CHC into the next phase of its existence.