Area cancer survivors have access to a free strength-and-wellness program designed specifically for them thanks to a partnership between the Olympic Peninsula YMCA and Olympic Medical Center.

The 12-week program — Exercise and Thrive — is available to all adult cancer survivors, 90 days out of cancer treatments.

Exercise and Thrive is open to the community at no cost and is funded in part by the Y’s annual Power of Community Campaign and a grant from the United Way.

The ultimate goal of the program is to help survivors develop their own physical fitness regimen and become lifelong exercisers after the program ends.

The 12-week session will be from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays beginning Monday, April 3, at the Port Angeles YMCA.

For more information about Exercise and Thrive, call Mikki Hughes, health and well-being coordinator at the YMCA, 452-9244 or email mikki@olympicpeninsulaymca.org.

Contact Karen Rushby, physical therapist at Olympic Medical Center specializing in cancer rehabilitation, for a consultation and to receive a medical screening/permission form; her contact number is 417-7116.

Participants in this program must be 18 years of age or older, 90 days out of treatment and have medical clearance.

A similar 12-week session in Sequim is ending soon; locations alternate seasons throughout the year, YMCA officials said.

The curriculum was developed by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle after what the center identified as gaps in support for cancer survivors after treatment.

Fred Hutchinson reached out to YMCAs to deliver the program in communities across the country.