In 2012, Tarah Green was in her final semester of graduate school when she was diagnosed with Stage IV ovarian cancer. Surgery and chemotherapy followed, and while it was an incredibly difficult journey, she was buoyed by a broad network of friends and family. A pastor’s kid who had been involved in several churches during her formative years, Green had connections across the country. Flowers and cards poured in while her tight-knit family and graduate-school cohort supported her locally.
As she endured chemotherapy, her background in child welfare made her especially attentive to the struggles of those around her.
“When I was going to treatment, I recognized some of the familiar signs of people who were struggling and needing support and resources,” Green said. “I would take five to 10 care packs with me Bto treatment and hand them out. That’s kind of where it got started.”
The care packs offered more than fuzzy socks, lip balm and a handwritten note. They were a tangible expression of human connection: I see you.
The response was so powerful that Green kept going.
“I was running it out of my house, out of my closet,” she said of those early days. What began with care packs for fellow chemotherapy patients in 2013 officially became the nonprofit Tenaciously Teal in 2014. The early decision to distribute care packs became a model for an organization built around making cancer fighters feel seen and supported.
The organization’s programs eventually expanded to include Brave Shaves and Empowerment Shoots.
Hair loss can be one of chemotherapy’s most visible and emotionally difficult side effects. Green envisioned Brave Shaves as a way to give patients back some agency over chemotherapy-related hair loss. “It’s a way for people to feel empowered to tackle hair loss with bravery, on their own terms, with the support of friends and family,” she said.
“One of my favorite parts is seeing kids see their parents being so strong and so brave,” Green said. “It just kind of flips what cancer brings into a family environment. This is something we can all do together and face together in an environment where you feel empowered, strong and confident.”
Empowerment Shoots provide professional makeup and portrait photography, giving patients another way to reclaim some of the agency lost to cancer and its treatment. Green said she loves the little exchanges that happen during the shoots. “We recently had a little 5-year-old who, when her mom finished getting her makeup done, said, ‘Mom, you look so new,’” Green said.
In recent years, Tenaciously Teal has broadened its mission. Cancer creates needs that medicine does not solve: Treatment can require long drives, particularly in a rural state, while lost wages and mounting expenses can make day-to-day necessities harder to afford. Tenaciously Teal helps fill those gaps by providing gas and grocery gift cards, along with additional financial assistance through a board-designated fund.
Recently, the organization learned about a woman fighting cancer who was also caring for her granddaughter, who was on a defibrillator. When the family faced having its electricity disconnected during the summer heat, Tenaciously Teal scrambled on a Friday afternoon to intervene.
“Being a smaller organization, we can respond quickly to needs, and we do try to do that,” Green said.
She serves as founder and CEO alongside just two additional full-time employees, who oversee programs and operations. But while Tenaciously Teal may be small, its reach is substantial: Since its inception, the organization has distributed 55,000 care packs nationwide. It has also provided nearly $500,000 to Oklahomans fighting cancer, helping local families shoulder the financial burden of treatment.
Tenaciously Teal’s work remains rooted in Green’s own experience with cancer, a firsthand understanding that continues to shape the organization’s work.
“Unless you’ve been that person in that chair, you don’t know how much suffering is tied to the diagnosis and how it impacts not only your physical health, but your mental health and your confidence, how you view yourself and your family and kids,” Green said. “It’s a ripple effect.”
More than a decade after Green began handing care packs to strangers in the chemotherapy room, that ripple continues to spread.
Those who want to support the mission can join the Care Crew with a monthly gift starting at $10, enough to sponsor one care pack each month. Upcoming fundraisers include Taking Aim at Cancer on Oct. 30 and Mahjong & Mistletoe on Nov. 15. For more information, visit tteal.org.
This article appears in Thunder Season Preview.