Dr. Clare Ventre and Craig Carragan, Southbury
Following her chemotherapy, the couple opened Reflections Boutique to provide wigs for cancer patients
When her chemotherapy ended and her hair grew back, Dr. Clare Ventre had a pile of wigs, hats and scarves she no longer needed. Remembering how other women had given her their old wigs when she was undergoing cancer treatment, Dr. Ventre and her husband, Craig Carragan, came up with a plan to put the head coverings to good use.
The couple started Reflections Boutique at Harold Leever Regional Cancer Center where women can try on wigs in private and keep them free of charge. They then established a fund at the Connecticut Community Foundation to support their project.
”It’s a place for women to draw on the strength of those who have gone before them,” Dr. Ventre said. “It’s almost as beneficial for anyone who donates those items because it’s a way for them to say, ‘I’ve reached this stage where I don’t need this now, and I can use this to help somebody else’.”
Though the Carragans’ fund will keep the boutique stocked, the couple hopes women who use the service will also give back to it.
”We thought it would be great if we could create a network,” Mr. Carragan said. “That’s exactly what we did.”
