Isabel Guillen survived cancer but lost her father to it.

In his honor, she runs “Chavelyta’s Pink Hood,” an organization that provides donations and hosts events in support of families fighting cancer.

On a Sunday evening, Guillen pulled up to a residential neighborhood in Commerce and parked her black Chevy pickup truck. She was meeting with one of her clients, a family who lives in the neighborhood.

Olga Macias, who was diagnosed with cancer, was standing with two of her children at the driveway. Eventually, a third child and her husband joined them. There were school supplies on the back of the pickup truck for Macias’ children.

“I feel very good, very grateful that she took the time to bring us things for the children and for their school,” said Macias in Spanish. “It saves money.”

That’s important for cancer victims because treatment can get pricey, even with insurance.

“Care for cancer survivors accounted for an estimated $137.4 billion in medical care expenditures in the United States in 2010,” according to the National Cancer Institute.

The financial troubles are just the start. Guillen said she understands emotional, physical and other struggles of cancer-stricken families since she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010. 

She informally started helping others like her then but officially formed “Chavelyta’s Pink Hood” a few years later after she suffered another blow: Her father passed away, also from cancer.

She said he had colon-rectal cancer, leading her to become so depressed that she languished on her couch.

“After going through my depression, I think [my father] came into my dreams. I just felt him,” she said.

Guillen said she felt her father’s presence during that time, pulling her up from the couch and guiding her to form the group and she is awaiting 501(c)(3) nonprofit status for it. 

On the day of Guillen’s visit, as Macias’ children each grabbed a free backpack and filled it with pencils, notebooks and other supplies, she encouraged them to take as much as they want.

Donors “gave me donations to give,” she told them, shining a flashlight on the supplies to allow them to see. “That’s what I’m here for. To give them.”

Later, outside a Starbucks, sitting on the back of her truck, she explained how “Chavelyta’s Pink Hood” got its name.

“Chavelyta,” is a nickname Guillen’s parents called her. As she got older, she was embarrassed by it and hated the nickname. But after her father passed away, she embraced it. She said she added ‘Pink’ because she’s a breast cancer survivor and “hood” because she grew up in Boyle Heights.

She focuses on serving families from lower income households; communities she said are “sometimes forgotten.”

Along with donating school supplies, the single mother of four throws multiple “pamper” events, which she started doing before her dad died. Her next pamper event is on Oct. 4. It will feature a henna artist, a raffle, and makeup artists. These events include free meals and goodie bags for cancer victims.

“Social support is a very essential part of recovery and making it through the treatment,” said USC Professor of Psychology and Preventive Medicine Beth Meyerowitz, during a phone interview. “There’s a lot of literature to underscore the importance of support from people who really get what’s going `on for you.”

Guillen also throws a couple of “pamper” events in November for Thanksgiving. Her father was hospitalized during the first Thanksgiving event she held. While accompanying her father in the hospital, Guillen told him the Thanksgiving event was in his honor, and she’ll do it every year in his honor.

And she did. As part of the event, she gives away gift baskets named after him: “Don Rogelio’s Thanksgiving Gift Baskets.”

This story was originally published in the print edition of the University Times on Sept. 3, 2019.

Community News reporters are enrolled in JOUR 3910 – University Times. They produce stories about under-covered neighborhoods and small cities on the Eastside and South Los Angeles. Please email feedback, corrections and story tips to [email protected].