MISSION
The American Cancer Society's mission is to to improve the lives of people with cancer and their families through advocacy, research, and patient support, to ensure everyone has an opportunity to prevent, detect, treat, and survive cancer.
HOPE LODGE
American Cancer Society Hope Lodge® communities provide free, temporary lodging for people with cancer who must receive treatment away from home. The Hope Lodge program reduces financial strain, makes treatment more accessible, and improves the quality of life for thousands of cancer patients every year. In addition, it supports more than 225 referring hospitals as well as the local economies in our 30+ locations.
The American Cancer Society Hope Lodge in Boston, which opened in 2008, offers 45 guest rooms located near treatment centers in the area.
PREVENTION AND SCREENING
We provide the latest, evidence-based cancer information, share how making healthy lifestyle choices like eating right, staying active, and avoiding alcohol and tobacco can help reduce cancer risk, and develop screening guidelines that can help detect certain cancers early. We work with health care providers, health systems, and public health organizations in the US and globally to reduce barriers across the cancer care continuum, resulting in increased screening and vaccination rates, more effective patient support services, and greater access to treatments and pain relief.
ACCESS TO CARE
The American Cancer Society works in several ways to address lodging and transportation of the patients served – through the volunteer led Road to Recovery program bringing patients back and forth to treatment; housing patients at the Hope Lodges; and through local Lodging and Transportation Grant Program.
In New England, we are making a difference:
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15,180 nights provided to over 661 guests through our Hope Lodge Program, saving guests an estimated $2.9M in lodging costs
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616 rides provided to over 82 patients through our Road to Recovery Program
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$50K invested in lodging grants with 1 health system partner
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Lodging partnership grant in Boston provided 111 patients with 776 nights of lodging, saving patients over $148K