God puts people where they need to be

Saturday, November 26, 2022
Photo Provided

Melody Chailland knows struggle.

The 48-year-old Poplar Bluff native knows love, as well.

She loves God, her husband Luke, her children and those four furry dogs that roam their home.

She loves her friends.

And she loves her job.

It’s more than a career for her.

It’s a calling.

And a blessing.

And at first, she wanted none of it.

After all, she was happy at the Greater Poplar Bluff Area Chamber of Commerce.

“I had good benefits, great working conditions and I liked what I was doing,” Chailland says. “God has a way of changing your mind.”

Chailland is the United Cancer Assistance Network (UCAN) of Southeast Missouri executive director, a title she lives daily.

Since May 1998, the non-profit, community-donations-funded organization has assisted thousands of Butler and Stoddard County residents with cancer diagnoses as they walk what clearly are difficult paths.

UCAN fills the financial gaps that are too great to leap for many cancer patients. Treatments require time off from work; time to rest and heal; rides to and from doctors; and often a lack of pay becomes incredible burdens when bills arise.

UCAN subsidizes patients during those trying times. It offers rides from home to treatments and back; money for mortgages or rents; cash for utilities and food; just about anything necessary including wigs and turbans.

All with no financial support from any entity; all funded by the generosity of the community.

“I’ve never had anybody tell me ‘No’,” Chailland says. “People are so good to us.”

But perhaps most importantly, UCAN provides a sense of humanity for the desperate; helping hands and encouragement during what are for many, their darkest hours.

“I love my job,” Chailland says. “It breaks my heart a lot.

“I watch cancer patients struggle,” she continues. “But when we make that difference and they ring that remission bell, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

And despite the heartbreak of watching those folks she serves sometimes pass, in spite of the evil that is cancer and its equally wicked endgame, Chailland is thankful for the opportunities.

So more than a decade ago, she was serving her sixth year at the Chamber when two friends, Dr. Ben Adkins and Missouri House Rep. Jeff Shawan, approached her with a request to join, maybe lead, UCAN.

Or, an order, depending on interpretation.

“They told me ‘You need to be on this board,’” Chailland says. “I was on the Chamber board.

“I was in Rotary,” she adds. “They (UCAN) were struggling to raise money. There were people already involved, and they were passionate about it; they loved it. They just didn’t know how to reach people.”

That’s when another friend tugged at her sensibilities.

“Dennis Hanes,” she says. “UCAN and nine more non-profits each received $1 million from Kay Porter’s estate.

“Dennis came to me and said, ‘We have this money,’” she explains. “’We aren’t raising any. At the rate we’re spending, we’ll have zero money in five years and we’ll dissolve.”

Which Chailland agreed would be a shame, but she just wasn’t interested.

Or, so she thought.

“They couldn’t find anybody to work for the money,” the director notes. “And the more I tried not thinking about it, the more it weighed on me.

“And it weighed on me,” she emphasizes. “And it weighed on me some more. It just kept weighing on me.”

Then, still moments became beckonings, she discovers.

And her brick wall of doubts crumbled.

“God has a way of changing your mind,” Chailland repeats. “One day I messaged Jeff.

“I told him, ‘I will throw my hat in the ring for UCAN,’” she adds. “He replied almost immediately, ‘Can you meet me for lunch tomorrow at Tio’s?’ So I did.”

What waited for her wasn’t just her friend, she says.

“The whole board of directors was there,” Chailland gushes. “I just wanted to talk about it.

“There sat 10 very excited board members,” she continues. “And a lot of prayers.”

Like Chailland says, God has a way of changing your mind.

“I’ve never looked back,” she says. “I’m thankful every day I wake up at 6:30.

“I set my clock for 7:07 a.m.,” she explains. “Because I know at 7 a.m. I’ll be sitting at my desk, and it’s time to be still. It’s time to listen.”

So in addition to God, her husband, the kids and the canines, Chailland is thankful for every new day, for the people she meets along her way, and for the opportunities that certainly are in store.

“I’m so thankful for them,” she says. “I’m thankful for these people who have been with me for years, and for the people we’re able to help.”

Giving Tuesday will be recognized this year on Nov. 29, offering a chance for “generosity to change the world,” as it has already done in our community through this organization.

Giving Tuesday was started in 2012 and has since become a global movement to inspire and celebrate generosity, according to supporters of the annual effort.

If you would like to help support UCAN and its many opportunities for service, call 573.776.1892; visit the website, https://poplarbluffucan.org; or see its Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/groups/458301045561 .

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