Organizational History
{how we got started}
At age 19, Doug Ulman was preparing for his sophomore year at Brown University. He was a healthy, active college student and Division I soccer player One event would change his life forever. During a routine jog, Doug began having problems breathing, something that was not unusual since he had suffered from asthma as a child. But this was different. After an ER visit, a consultation with a family physician and a CT scan, and ironically unrelated to his allergic breathing problem, Doug had surgery to remove a tumor from a rib in his back. Following several pathology consults the tumor was determined to be malignant. Cancer changed the course of Doug’s life.
When Doug returned to school in the fall of 1996, after his cancer diagnosis, he faced a wide range of unanticipated hurdles. He could not find information or support programs that addressed the myriad of issues that he had to deal with such as questions of nutrition, physical activity, relationships and dating, the emotional upheaval of facing his immortality, and a return to the classroom, among other concerns. Frustrated by the lack of resources and literature to speak to the unique needs of young adults affected by cancer, Doug and his family created The Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults to fill this gap.
When Doug returned home for the Thanksgiving holiday, the Ulman family and close friends gathered around the dining room table to talk about what they could do to help Doug and others in a similar situation. The first priorities for the group were finding a way to educate and connect young adults in addition to fundraising to finance the projects for this cause.
The UCF began as a program of The Wellness Community, under the name The Ulman Fund of the Wellness Community-Baltimore: Supporting Young Adults Affected by Cancer. This collaboration enabled, the Ulman family to immediately start creating and administrating support programs and raising funds to maintain them. At the same time they began the process to obtain their own 501c3 designation. In 1997, the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults was founded as an independent organization.
In its early days, the UCF created a web site, contacted social workers, formed support groups, and developed and collected a body of literature that would assist young adult cancer survivors and their loved ones. These activities were largely the result of grassroots volunteer support. Family friends and community members gathered regularly in the Ulman home to perform all the tasks, both large and small, that went into starting the organization.
Not long after the UCF was founded, Doug received two melanoma diagnoses. Doug’s survivorship continued to provide motivation for the UCF to serve as a voice for this young adult population. It was realized that there were many other young adults experiencing the same challenges as Doug– relationship changes, difficulty navigating the healthcare system, and strug¬gling to communicate with their healthcare team– and that the UCF was in a position to help.
The Ulman family found the activities of the UCF to be both rewarding and therapeutic; assisting young adults affected by cancer and serving as an outlet for the intense emotions that they were feeling.
Over the course of the next decade , the UCF expanded its reach to provide young adults and their families with a unique and comprehensive system of support. The UCF growth has resulted in many programs and services available across the United States including a nationally distributed booklet, “NO WAY, It Can’t Be” - a guidebook for young adults facing cancer, a nationally recognized scholarship program, and multiple fundraising initiatives to support these programmatic efforts.
Though the UCF has grown exponentially over time, the foundation of community, collaboration, and advocating for change on behalf of young adults has remained the cornerstone of the organization and is evident throughout the strategic plans for the future.