When Clare Richardson was diagnosed with breast cancer during the thick of the COVID pandemic, the isolation hit her on all fronts. A former marathoner and triathlete, she was suddenly too depleted to work out and, with the world shut down, there was nowhere to go even if she could.

“I was just so grateful I could get treatment,” said Richardson, 70, who underwent a short course of chemotherapy followed by radiation. “Nothing was open. I even brought my own water.”

Eventually, she found solace — and strength — in the pool at the Jewish Community Center, water-walking her way back to fitness. One day, midstride, she heard the J was looking for a yoga instructor for cancer patients. Certified and eager, she applied and got the job.

That moment launched her into what is now the J’s Hamsa Wellness Community, where she found purpose, connection and a deep admiration for its passionate director, Debbi Braunstein. 

“Debbi is everything you’d want in a leader,” Richardson said. “She’s warm, sincere and embodies a spirit of kindness. She’s the consummate professional in terms of what she does. She has a real positive energy and is so empathetic.”

Others who work with Braunstein or have come to know her through the Wellness Center echo that praise. Her supervisor, Rabbi Brad Horwitz, chief Jewish engagement officer at the J, points to her meticulous attention to detail and the high bar she sets for herself and those around her.

“She walks the walk,” Horwitz said. “She cares about what she’s doing, in addition to bringing great skills and passion to that care. It’s not about the money, it’s not about the credit, it’s about the mission of what’s she doing.”

Braunstein joined the J in 2017 as program coordinator for Sharsheret Supports STL and was promoted to manager in 2022. That program is a community partner of the national Sharsheret Jewish nonprofit that offers education, emotional and financial support, and genetic counseling for individuals facing increased risks of breast and ovarian cancer.

The need is particularly acute in the Jewish community: Ashkenazi Jews, who make up the majority of American Jews, face a significantly higher likelihood of carrying a BRCA gene mutation: one in 40 women, compared with one in 345 in the general population.

Both Horwitz and Braunstein explain that Sharsheret Supports STL morphed into the Hamsa Wellness Community in 2023, with Braunstein as director.

Horwitz said, “Our Sharsheret program kept growing and expanding to the point where in conversations with Sharsheret National, it became clear we had to create our own separate entity here locally. We still provide the same services and share resources, but we do a lot of things beyond that.”

The “growing and expanding,” Horwitz said, is largely due to Braunstein, who in explaining about the Hamsa Wellness Center, likens it to a three-leg stool.

The first leg focuses on education, helping people understand hereditary cancer risks and how to mitigate them. The second offers direct support to those facing cancer, especially breast and ovarian.

“And the third leg is what I call the restoration leg,” Braunstein said. “And that’s where we are helping individuals regain a quality of life. Just because you ring the bell (to signal your cancer treatment is over) doesn’t mean the side effects of cancer or the effects of treatment go away.”

What sets the J’s program apart from other cancer support organizations, is its robust fitness center. She helped secure grant funding to train instructors to tailor classes specifically for those recovering from cancer.

The result is a slate of specialized programs under the Hamsa Wellness umbrella — such as Yoga for Cancer, Strength Over Cancer and Oncology Massage — led by professionals trained to work with the oncology community. Except for massage, all of these programs are free and open to both Jewish and non-Jewish cancer patients. 

One avid user of what the Wellness Center has to offer is Amy Burman. She was just 32 when she found a lump during a routine self-exam and was then diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer. Genetic testing revealed she carried the BRCA1 gene, which dramatically increased her cancer risk. She underwent a double mastectomy, chose to have a hysterectomy to reduce her risk of ovarian cancer and completed a course of chemotherapy.

But even after the surgeries and treatments, something was missing.

“I didn’t feel the relief you think you’d feel,” said Burman, a married school psychologist with a 4-year-old daughter. “I was looking for a way to connect with people who understood what I’d been through. And I wanted to build strength, especially after my hysterectomy, which my oncologist said was extremely important. I’d never done it before.” 

An online search led her to the Hamsa Wellness Community. She sent an email and was immediately struck by the warmth of the response from Braunstein.

“Debbi is really the heart and soul of this program,” Burman said. “She has this magical quality of making everyone feel special. She knows everyone’s name, everyone’s story.”

Burman soon joined Strength Over Cancer, the Wellness Community’s weekly 55-minute class, led by an instructor trained by the Cancer Exercise Training Institute. When she learned she could bring a “buddy” at no cost, Burman invited her sister to join her.

“I think that’s a real unique aspect of the program, that you can bring along a buddy,” she said. “It really helped me with accountability, plus it was something we could do together.”

Burman also joined the Breast and Ovarian Support Group, facilitated by the Wellness Community’s Kathy Bearman, a licensed clinical social worker trained in cancer support work. Burman wasn’t sure about group therapy — she had never done that before — but it ended up being something that she didn’t know she needed.

“That first session, I sat next to a woman who was my age and had been diagnosed with breast cancer,” Burman said. “Having that connection immediately, being in a safe space with people who understand what you’re going through, is really valuable and special. I also liked that Kathy lets the group run the show. Participants choose what they want to talk about that day.”

Braunstein knows firsthand how a cancer diagnosis can upend not just that person’s life, but an entire family’s. Her daughter, now 31 and healthy, was diagnosed with leukemia at just 4 years old. Years later, Braunstein became executive director of Camp Rainbow, a summer camp that supports children and families facing childhood cancer and blood-related illnesses.

In 2016, when her mother was diagnosed with a rare and incurable cancer, Braunstein stepped away from the camp to care for her. What Braunstein didn’t realize at the time was that she was facing her own health crisis: a noncancerous brain tumor. Though it didn’t require chemotherapy or radiation, she underwent two craniectomies to relieve pressure on her brain.

“With all this cancer, I reached out to a genetic counselor and learned there are members of my family who carry a CHEK2 gene mutation, which increases the risk of developing certain cancers, like breast, prostate and colorectal,” Braunstein said. “That’s why it’s so important to stay current. Geneticists are continually learning about new gene mutations related to increased cancer risks.” 

Once or twice a year, the Wellness Community brings in genetic counselors to talk about hereditary cancer. In May, more than 50 people came to a free event where specialists in gastroenterology and dermatology explained how BRCA and similar genes can raise the risk for cancers like pancreatic and melanoma. They also shared ways to assess personal risk and highlighted screening programs that can help catch these cancers early or even prevent them.

Braunstein, who’s now 65, is planning to retire later this year but not before the annual Lynnie’s Light event Sept. 10. The event honors Lynn “Lynnie” Isaacs Palan, a trailblazer in women’s health programming at the J. Palan, who passed away from breast cancer in 2018, was a key leader in both Nishmah: The St. Louis Jewish Women’s Project and Sharsheret Supports STL. She and Braunstein actually shared the role of program coordinator for Sharsheret STL when Braunstein first joined the J.

Even after retiring, Braunstein says she’ll stay involved with Beyond Pink, another Wellness Community program she helped shape. Held during Ovarian Cancer and Breast Cancer Awareness months, Beyond Pink encourages people to focus on their health with a morning of exercise and wellness classes, plus resources on everything from hereditary cancer risk and financial support to clean skin care and healthy eating.

There’s no question that Braunstein will be missed by many after she retires. Among them is Lynne Kipnis, a retired clinical psychologist who for more than two decades has focused much of her volunteer activity on educating the St. Louis Jewish community about hereditary cancer risks. She and Braunstein refer to each other as “partners in crime.”

“In a very quiet way, Debbi is really a visionary. Her skills are immense,” Kipnis said. “What she has done in terms of expanding the range of cancer support programs and services in our community is astonishing. She never turns down an opportunity to volunteer to spread the word about hereditary cancer risks. If you asked her where she volunteered this week or this month, there would be a whole list. 

“It may sound like a cliché, but whoever steps into her role will have some very big shoes to fill. She’s amazing.”