In 2023, Chuck Schotten, pictured with his wife, Susan, launched the Michigan Cancer Support Network. The nonprofit provides rides to and from medical appointments for cancer patients, along with wigs and counseling services, all at no charge.
By: Mark Vest | Farmington Press | Published January 22, 2025
FARMINGTON/LIVONIA — After being diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2021, Livonia resident Chuck Schotten said that he and his wife, Susan, “went through a ridiculously hard time in our lives.”
According to Schotten, he wasn’t sure if he was going to live or die.
He said that he had three surgeries and went through about 25 chemotherapy sessions over the course of four months.
Despite those challenges, good news was on its way.
The same year that he was diagnosed, after having his bladder removed, Schotten received a call from a doctor informing him that he was cancer-free.
For as much of a relief as that was, Schotten’s personal journey helped him realize some of the challenges that cancer patients face.
He recalled that more than anything, he wanted to come alongside other people who are battling the disease.
A conversation that he had helped him understand how he could do just that.
“I remember I was at a meeting at our church and some guy was asking me about what I had been through,” Schotten said. He goes, ‘You should open a 501(c)(3),’ and I go, ‘I don’t have the money for that.’ He goes, ‘I’ll pay for it.’”
Following that conversation, on Nov. 1, 2023, the Michigan Cancer Support Network was launched.
Schotten honed in on a way that the nonprofit can be of assistance.
“In talking with some of our cancer social workers, more than anything they said the No. 1 need for people that are poor, for people that are in need, is transportation,” he said.
A big role that Schotten plays for the nonprofit is transporting cancer patients to and from appointments in a van that has a wheelchair lift.
He said that there are also five other volunteer drivers that have been assisting him, with each using their own vehicles and paying for their own gas.
Only one patient is transported in a vehicle at a time.
“The main thing behind that is they don’t get stuffed in a van with a bunch of other people that might be sick, because their immune systems are compromised when they’re going through treatment,” Schotten said.
Aside from rides, the nonprofit also pays for professional Christian counseling services for those who want it, along with wigs and head coverings, all at no charge.
During the course of their journey, Chuck and Susan have also come to realize the importance of providing support to the caregivers of cancer patients.
Although Susan was already an experienced nurse, after Chuck’s diagnosis, her role as a caregiver took on a very personal meaning.
“I was his wife, but I became his nurse, and that was where the struggle started,” Susan said. “I was doing what I would normally do with a patient.”
Susan recalled that at one point she took a month off of work to help care for Chuck.
“During that month I took care of him, I was up 24/7, which took a toll on me,” Susan said. “I became depleted and depressed. I had to go for counseling.”
When some individuals from the church they attend offered to give Chuck rides to his appointments, Susan said that was “huge.”
One of the benefits of the rides the nonprofit offers is the opportunity it provides caregivers to take time for self-care.
Aside from that perk, caregivers are also offered free counseling services.
From Susan’s perspective, not everybody is aware of how challenging it can be for cancer patients to get rides to appointments.
“I think most people assume that insurance is paying for the rides or they have multiple family members that can take them, and not everybody has that, and that’s what we’re finding out,” she said.
Schotten said that he was a personal trainer for 21 years prior to being diagnosed.
“When I decided to run this foundation I wanted to put my entire being into this, so I took down my website for the personal training,” he said. “I still train about, probably, 10 client hours a week. That helps me pay bills. We’re in a position where we own our own home and we don’t have a great need of a lot of money, which is a good thing because I’m not making a lot of money right now.”
With word getting out about the services offered by the Michigan Cancer Support Network, Schotten said that the phones are starting to “blow up.”
One person who has benefited from the nonprofit’s work is Ferndale resident Mallory Moore, as Schotten has provided her rides to appointments.
“It’s been helpful and uplifting and encouraging,” Moore said. “I don’t know how to explain it. It’s not just a ride, it’s Chuck Schotten. He’s a really personable guy.”
Moore’s aspiration is for others to help put Schotten in a position to assist even more people.
“I know that he needs volunteers because he can’t do everything and be everywhere,” she said. “I’m hoping that he’ll be able to garner volunteers and donations so that he’s able to navigate the whole thing, as opposed to being overwhelmed or not being able to service everyone.”
The work that he has been a part of has helped Schotten see the world in a different way.
“I found after we opened the 501(c)(3) that there’s a whole segment of society that kind of falls through the cracks, and they’re not noticed,” he said. “They’re almost dismissed by society, and those are the people that we help. Right now it seems our main clientele, our patients, are elderly women that are poor, in a lot (of) cases don’t have a car, and have no one in their life. Some of them don’t have family.”
Since the nonprofit has begun, more than 260 individuals have been given rides.
Schotten estimated that he works, on average, six days per week.
“Sometimes it doesn’t feel like work because you’re relating to these people,” he said. “They almost become like family to you.”
The Michigan Cancer Support Network works out of an office located at 22882 Orchard Lake Road in Farmington.
Although individuals are offered Christian counseling services, according to Schotten, “We will help anybody.”
Aside from individuals not having to pay for services, Schotten said that they don’t have to prove that they are in “financial straits.”
“I just want that one moment that we can pick that cancer patient up and maybe for the next four hours, the caregiver gets to stop thinking about cancer and they can do a little bit of self-care,” he said. “And the person with cancer gets to sit in a vehicle with me or one of our volunteer drivers, and one of the things we learn to do is be a good listener. Some people just need to talk about it.”
Although assisting others isn’t always convenient or easy, Schotten is of the opinion that it is beneficial for individuals to do things in their lives that are uncomfortable.
“My whole world existed at the end of my nose for so long,” he said. “I think a lot of us live that way. As long as we’re good, as long as our circle of people that we hang out with are good, then life’s good. This really forces me, every day, out of my comfort zone.”
From Schotten’s perspective, the challenges that he has been through have helped lead him to a positive place in his life.
“I knew that I wanted to help people, and for the first time in my life, really (feel) like I’m exactly where God wants me to be,” he said.
For more information about the Michigan Cancer Support Network, or to volunteer or make a donation, call (248) 482-8300 or visit mcancersupportnetwork.org.