Other Voices

After Charlotte Palmeri was diagnosed with cancer in 2013, she thought, “I wonder how long until I can help someone.” Inspired by a verse in Ecclesiastes, about how farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant, Palmeri founded a support and prayer group for women with cancer in 2015. She named it In His Presence. The group this month moved from meeting at Hamilton Union Presbyterian Church, where Palmeri is the church organist and choir director, to the Lynnwood Reformed Church to be accessible to those who can’t manage stairs. The group has sent out over 700 cards, often handmade, each with heartfelt messages, to people suffering from cancer. In this week’s podcast at AltamontEnterprise.com/podcasts, Palmeri describes some of the many ways she has helped others. This includes helping those she is close to — being with a friend as she breathed her last breath — and helping those she doesn’t know; she plays music for a weekly luncheon at St. Peter’s Hospice and has organized faith retreats — the first featured a Christian magician and the second a Christian ventriloquist. “When you give, you get so much back,” says Palmeri. She also advises: “Take a bad experience and use it for good.”