Hatboro Group Gives Hope, Gets Support

Last year, 429 families in the region were the beneficiaries of a unique service offered to alleviate the day-to-day stresses associated with a cancer diagnosis — an effort that will be expanded with the help of a new grant.

Hatboro-based is set to receive a $30,000 grant from the Philadelphia affiliate of Susan G. Komen as one of 44 cancer-outreach agencies throughout the region to be included in the latest funding announcement.

The Breathing Room Foundation was founded in 1997 to provide cancer patients and their families just what its name suggests — “breathing room” from the daily pressures of coping with cancer.            

The foundation works with patients grappling with all types of cancer, and who represent all ages and backgrounds.

The group was founded by Diane and Bernie Fitzgerald, during Diane’s struggle with breast cancer.

The Jenkintown residents were bolstered by the generosity of friends and neighbors, who cooked meals, ran errands and helped keep up the house, said Diane’s sister Mary Ellen Fitzgerald, the Breathing Room Foundation's director. 

“They received constant support from caring and compassionate people,” Fitzgerald said. “Diane and Bernie realized that not everyone living with a cancer diagnosis has this type of support. (The foundation) was their way of saying ‘thank you’ to everyone that had reached out to them in their time of need.”

Among its docket of programs, Breathing Room provides financial assistance that can be used for bills, prescriptions, transportation, groceries, and also — with the help of its more than 350 volunteers — offers support services like housecleaning, home repairs and companionship.

Mary Ellen Fitzgerald said the organization is best known for its family programs, which include gift and meal donations at holidays and other times like back-to-school, when school-aged children can receive a backpack full of school supplies.

While cancer outreach agencies exist throughout the nation, Fitzgerald noted that the Breathing Room strives to add the personal touch, such as identifying a child’s favorite character and color for a back-to-school package.

“We take the time to learn about the families and we pay very close attention to detail. We listen,” she said. “Each service that we provide is specifically designed to that family’s specific needs. Our uniqueness comes from our ability and desire to include each and every family into our circle of care and to show them compassion and give them hope.”

The agency has been a significant source of support for Warrington resident Kelly Kimball and her family.

Kimball, 40, was diagnosed with stage-three lobular breast cancer at age 29. The cancer later spread to her ovaries, lung and stomach, and she is now on her seventh chemotherapy regime.

Kimball receives the treatment three times a month at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania which, coupled with the physical and emotional effects of the illness, make seemingly simple tasks like food shopping and cooking dinner immensely challenging.

“It’s hard on your family to see you struggling, sick and losing weight,” she said. “Some days I was in bed. I would look at the gray, gaunt person in the mirror and wonder who she was and where did vibrant me go. Would I ever feel ‘normal’ again?”

This past winter was especially tough, she said.

“My medical expenses increased greatly over the winter, and Christmas was going to be very slim,” Kimball said. “As someone living with an incurable cancer, the holidays are bittersweet. Will this be my last holiday? Seeing the joy in my son’s face and being with my family means so much. That hope to see your family smile is all you have to keep you going some days.”

To lighten her load, the Breathing Room provided a bevy of Christmas gifts for her 11-year-old son, as well as gift cards for her and her family.

The agency also paid a utility bill the Kimballs were struggling to meet and delivered a tray of cookies and hand-made cards come Valentine’s Day. When Easter rolled around, the organization provided Kimball’s son an overflowing basket and a ham dinner for her family.

“Cancer is hard on everyone in the family,” she said. “It’s a daunting task to keep school schedules, work schedules, doctors appointments, chemo schedules, pay bills and household tasks during the week. It’s nice to have an organization that recognizes that sometimes taking the stress away just a bit helps to rejuvenate one’s fight.”

The foundation had a similar impact on Warrington resident Deanna, who asked only that her first name be used. 

Diagnosed with stage-three breast cancer Christmas week of 2009, Deanna had a complete mastectomy on her 47th birthday and underwent chemotherapy from March to July of 2010.

She had just began a job as a school nurse but missed the second-half of the school year due to the treatment and eventually had to leave the position because of her sickness.

“There was not one single part of my life, my family and my determination that had not been turned completely upside-down,” she said, noting, however, that the diagnosis allowed her to grow. “Because of cancer, I was challenged and blessed. Challenged by my own strength and will to live, challenged to really see how much I was cared about. I had so much love, faith and hope in strong, daily doses from family, friends, co-workers and total strangers.”

Now 49, Deanna has been cancer-free for about two years. While the treatment was successful, a byproduct of it was the loss of her hair, which was especially challenging as she began her job search and sought to get back to life as normal.

She purchased a wig for $35 but found it itchy and heavy and looked into getting one approved by the American Cancer Society, but it would have set her back up to $600.  

Once she was connected with the foundation, however, the agency offered to cover the entire cost of the $250 wig that Deanna was interested in.

“I really cannot express the deep feeling of support this gesture meant to me,” she said. “I’m not at all a vain person, but unemployment, health problems, career and family problems were crashing in on me and BRF came along and gave me this incredible gift.”

Even more families will see support from the foundation with the help of the new Komen grant.

Fitzgerald said the agency is seeking to up its beneficiary list to more than 500 this year.

“The Komen grant allows us to increase the number of families served and to broaden our volunteer base so that we can provide additional resources to all of our families,” Fitzgerald said. “We are so grateful for the honor of being awarded the grant from Komen Philadelphia.”