Love and Healing For Our Friend Joan Elsasser

A few months ago, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, our friend Joan Elsasser went to the ER experiencing severe pain in her back. After a detailed evaluation, she was admitted to the hospital and within the course of a few hours, received a diagnosis. Joan found out she had Multiple Myeloma, a cancer of plasma cells.

Battling a cancer diagnosis during a global pandemic has not been easy, but the Elsasser/Englebert family has been strong, tenacious and has met this cancer challenge with strength and hope. Cancer picked the wrong person to mess with!

For those of you who don’t know Joan well -- Joan is a born Philadelphian and she’s lived in Rittenhouse Square for the past 20+ years, most recently with her wonderful husband Matthew Englebert and their adorable and sassy 7-year old daughter Olive. Olive is in 2nd grade at Greenfield Elementary. Joan works for The Goldenberg Group, a real estate development company, and she’s also a talented realtor with Berkshire Hathaway.

This GoFundMe is a call to the community and all Friends of Joan.

Over the past many months, Joan has been receiving regular chemotherapy infusions at Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center, which have yielded a positive result. After much research and consultations with various doctors up and down the East Coast, it was decided that Joan would receive a stem cell transplant, which took place earlier this month. The procedure went well and Joan is now in a mandatory quarantine period while the stem cells work their magic.

The treatment Joan is receiving comes at a high cost. Out of pocket medical aside, there’s been loss of income and many other hardships that have resulted from Joan’s diagnosis.

Joan, Matt and Olive are the proudest of people and go out of their way, always, to help their friends, family and community. So now it’s our turn to give back, show some love and help this wonderful family as they maneuver this difficult chapter of life.

If you can, please help by donating to this community GoFundMe for Joan and her family. Share a positive comment and please share this link with others in the Philadelphia, Greenfield, Rittenhouse community. Everyone knows Joan and Matt and you’ve probably seen Olive at some point boppin’ around the neighborhood. This family has given so much to enrich the lives of the people around them - we - their community. And now, it’s their moment of need and your help is so greatly appreciated. THANK YOU!