From Cancer to Everything

Dear Commonweal friends,

Did you ever wonder how Commonweal ended up with almost 30 programs in so many different fields—environment, healing, youth, arts, polycrisis, integrative medicine, education, and more?

The answer? It is all sourced in our work with cancer. The Cancer Help Program, which started 41 years ago, was the direct inspiration for new programs over the ensuing four decades.

So, in hindsight, it almost seems inevitable that after a few years we would start asking: Why is there so much cancer these days? That question inspired us to focus on the connection between toxins and cancer, measuring the chemical burden in our bodies, and studying the effect of fire retardants, PFAS, and plastics on our health. And this led to programs in education, polycrisis, and more.

The effect that toxins have on our health—including chemicals, hormones, and endocrine disruptors—is real and complex. It affects cancer prevalence, fertility, child development, and mortality rates. These toxins enter our bodies through the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, and the clothes we wear.

This work in environmental health fields at Commonweal stretches back 30 years. In 1992, Michael Lerner, Sharyle Patton, and a Commonweal delegation attended the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro with 179 countries to address global environmental protection—leading to decades of Michael’s leadership in environmental health and Sharyle’s work in biomonitoring. In 1999, Commonweal Co-Founder Burr Heneman helped to ratify California’s Marine Life Management Act to shift protection efforts from single-species to entire ecosystems of marine resources. Also that year, leading scientists from around the world met at Commonweal to sign the Pacific Declaration, a framework to suspend genetic modification in agriculture. And then in 2002, the Collaborative for Health and Environment formed to build “a world free from environmental risks that harm our health.”

Our work with cancer patients is deep and soul changing. Our environmental health work is challenging and profound. We approach both parts of this intersecting work with a commitment to scientific research and inquiry, as well as an understanding of the heart and soul of healing. I am grateful that we can have a foot in both realms.

We hope to see you Sunday, May 31, for a special 50th anniversary event celebrating 50 years of healing ourselves and the earth with Michael Lerner at Commonweal:

          Sunday, May 31 | 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm PDT, followed by a reception and book release

            Deep Healing and the Coming Transformation of Human Consciousness

            Michael Lerner with Moderator Katherine Fulton

         [ Click here ] to join us at Commonweal or on Zoom (in-person seats are filled, join us on Zoom!)

With gratitude and love,

Oren Slozberg
Executive Director
Commonweal

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Art credit: Marla Pedersen, in Gallery Commonweal through June

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