Guest Spotlight
Sonia Blanks and Michaela Evans
"Not a day goes by when we don't feel grateful and lucky for finding The Ballard House, an extraordinary healing haven for patients often fighting for their lives. Fighting cancer is hard enough, but fighting cancer more than 1000 miles away from home is even more challenging. Living in NC, without the help of The Ballard House (Cinco Charities), we would've never been able to support my mom's ongoing and long-term treatment with the best of the best at MD Anderson here in Houston.
When my mom was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer earlier this year, after we had just gotten past my fight with stage 1 kidney cancer, our world momentarily shattered. We felt defeated having to face cancer again, and to make things worse, this time at a much more advanced stage. Luckily, we quickly found hope at MD Anderson and knew this was the place for Mom to have the best odds of beating this ugly disease, no matter what it took to make it happen.
To complicate an already difficult situation, I unexpectedly lost my job the same week we received the formal diagnosis. Though the free time this unexpected change provides me is welcome and necessary to have the ability to stay by Mom's side throughout all of this, the financial strain, stress, and pressure it creates - isn't. With accumulating travel and medical costs, finding assistance and support from organizations like Cinco Charities is critical to enable us to weather this storm without the stress of finding accommodations for extended periods.
Much makes The Ballard House special, such as the outstanding facilities and amenities, caring volunteers and staff, and countless inspiring and motivating guests. We've made many friends and always feel welcome and safe. Being in a supportive and nurturing environment contributes immensely to positive outcomes, and we wholeheartedly believe The Ballard House plays a massive role in the strength and courage Mom continues to show weekly. Seeing the community give their time and resources has left a lasting impression on us, one we'll try our best to honor once we're past all of this by paying it forward. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for being such a bright light during some of the darkest moments for many of us, giving us hope, showing us kindness, and changing our lives forever."
-Sonia
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