Signy Novak, founder of the MAID Family Support Society, at her home in Burnaby, B.C., on Sept. 3.Jennifer Gauthier /The Globe and Mail
The organizer: Signy Novak
The pitch: Founding the MAID Family Support Society
A couple of years after Signy Novak’s father was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2014, doctors told him the cancer had spread and he began thinking about medically assisted dying.
David Novak had been a neurologist and he’d spent years treating people with terminal brain tumours. “He would always say that he believed in euthanasia,” recalled Ms. Novak, who is a nurse in Vancouver.
When medical assistance in dying, or MAID, was legalized in 2016, Ms. Novak thought her father might use it. He was suffering excruciating pain and didn’t want to be a burden to his family. “He wanted to die on his own terms,” she said.
Dr. Novak died on July 25, 2018, and while there had been support for him throughout the MAID process, several family members struggled. “It was a big one for a couple of them to get their heads around,” Ms. Novak said.
Her father’s death prompted Ms. Novak to search for services to help families going through MAID. “Everybody told me, ‘go ahead and set something up,’” she said.
In 2019 she launched the MAID Family Support Society which offers peer-to-peer counselling. MFSS has 70 volunteers across the country and the charity has helped around 500 people so far.
The society has gone from assisting a couple of people a week to fielding calls every day. It’s also published The Many Faces of MAID, a compilation of reflections from 17 people.
All MFSS volunteers have experienced MAID and the organization is careful about matches. For example, volunteers who lost spouses are matched with someone whose spouse is going through MAID. “Having a sort of neutral third party to talk about these really big emotions that you go through is very helpful,” said Kelley Korbin, who is a volunteer.
Ms. Novak has begun to step back from the charity although she remains on the board. She’s hoping to raise $50,000 to fund a paid position.
But MFSS will always be a labour of love for her. “I am overwhelmed,” she said of the charity’s growth. “I haven’t had to push anything. It’s almost like this is supposed to happen.”