Hope Lodge is an American Cancer Society-sponsored place where people who are undergoing therapy for cancer can stay for free along with a caregiver.
It can be chemotherapy or radiotherapy or surgery or all three.
Hope Lodge is a home away from home for cancer patients that are outside of the Jackson area by about 50 miles.
It'll be a place for them to stay free of charge with a caregiver
and allow them to go through their treatment
without having to have the burden of, "How am I going to pay for a place to stay while I'm going through cancer treatments?"
Right now there are 32 operational Hope Lodges across the country.
The first one was founded in Charleston, South Carolina in the early 1970's.
The American Cancer Society identified a need for individuals who had to travel away from home and be gone away from home for an extended period of time.
And lodging was a barrier to them being able to complete their cancer treatment.
I think that a Hope Lodge in Jackson would really bolster not only what Mississippi already has in terms of their medical provision it might even expand beyond it.
Here in Mississippi obviously it's a very rural state and a lot of people live outside of the Jackson metropolitan area where our major cancer treatment facilities are located.
So, they may have to drive 50-60 miles one way to see their doctor or take their chemotherapy or radiation therapy treatments.
So, a lot of times that requires an overnight stay or an extended stay over a period of time.
The Hope Lodge is available for them to have a place to rest comfortably and peacefully if they have to be away from home during that time.
Hope Lodge benefits cancer patients and their families in a couple ways.
The first is that it provides lodging free of charge for the cancer patient along with their caregiver.
This alone is a huge benefit to cancer patients as they're going through treatment.
And, will not be burdened with the costs of having to pay for hotel lodging or an apartment which they have to stay.
We were coming all the way from Twin Cities for this newly developed rare treatment.
And, without this Hope Lodge, which I honest to God at the time had not heard of.
Without it, I don't know that I would have elected to do the treatment.
I probably wouldn't be here. I know I wouldn't be here.
Because if you didn't have that haven, that place to stay, it would have been beyond our financial reach.
It would have been...I think it would have been impossible.
Hope Lodge benefits patients and their families because it allows patients to be able to complete their treatment.
First and foremost, that's what the American Cancer Society hopes to accomplish by providing Hope Lodge locations in our communities.
Unfortunately, a lot of times individuals may come for one or two parts of their treatments and they never return because they don't have a place to stay
or they can't get there. So, first and foremost, we want to make sure more people are actually completing their treatment.
Secondly, we want to make sure that individuals who have to be away from home during that time
have a safe, clean, comfortable environment to stay in.
It benefits patients, obviously, but it benefits families, too,
because then your loved one isn't so far away, both on the patient side
and also on the family side.
Like I can go, my daughter could come to the Hope Lodge and see me, even when I was going through treatment.
She could be there and it could be, is like a home way from home.
A place that you feel comfortable enough to still have your family around and you're not stuck to a hospital bed.
And, you're not stuck to all the plugs and the wires and whatever when you do get a break from your treatment.
It impacts obviously the patient, but it really impacts the families, too, in an immeasurable positive way.
Hope Lodge will be located within very close proximity of the four major hospitals here in the Jackson area.
It will be across the street from and between Veteran's Memorial Stadium and UMC Hospital.
Approximately 1,100 patients can be handled in a Hope Lodge on an annual basis.
That number varies depending on the length of stay of the patient
and the availability of rooms.
Clearly, it fills a huge need for a large number of patients
that are from just outside the Jackson area that need a place to stay while they're going through cancer treatment.