Hope Cancer Resources offers hope to cancer patients

After a cancer diagnosis and 10 weeks in the hospital, Edward Perkins, who lives alone in Siloam Springs, wondered how he would be able to make it to follow up chemotherapy treatments and doctor appointments while still recovering.

Hope Cancer Resources, a nonprofit organization based in Springdale, offered Perkins van rides to appointments and helped him with prescription costs, he said. The nonprofit also helped him purchase brakes for his car so he could be more independent once he felt up to driving.

Perkins is just one of more than 4,208 cancer patients that Hope Cancer Resources served in 2017 in the four county area of Benton, Carroll, Madison and Washington Counties. In Siloam Springs alone, the organization served 137 patients in 2017 and 269 patients over the past three years, according to statistics provided by Jerry Cavness, a member of the organization's board.

Hope Cancer Resources was born in 2009 when Northwest Arkansas Radiation Therapy Institute (NARTI) and Hope Inc., merged their patient support and community outreach services, according to the Hope Cancer Resources website. The organization is currently based in the former NARTI building located at 5835 W. Sunset Ave., in Springdale.

The nonprofit offers patients help with practical needs such as transportation to appointments as well as financial assistance with prescriptions, dental care, travel and everyday life. It also offers patients and their families emotional support from a team of licensed social workers and wellness programs, and works with the community to provide cancer prevention and education programs.

Receiving a cancer diagnosis is scary and overwhelming, according to Cavness. He went through his own battle with cancer in 2002 and has also walked beside family members who were struggling with cancer.

"Cancer doesn't single people out, it happens," he said. "Knowing that you've been diagnosed with cancer is very scary to everybody, whoever it is, wherever they are going to go for treatment or whatever is going to happen next, it's all unknown," he said.

It is wonderful for people to have an organization like Hope Cancer Resources that offers support, answers questions and provides encouragement, he said.

Hope Cancer Resources has a team of 10 social workers who work in partnership with local oncology clinics, such as Highlands Oncology Group and Landmark Cancer Center, to asses the needs of newly diagnosed patients and help connect them with resources in the community, according to Christy Scarrow, vice president of patient services.

The organization's team of counselors offers patients and their family members counseling to support them in their cancer journey and to answer questions about what they may be facing, Cavness said. In addition to the team of social workers, the organization has Spanish interpreters who go to appointments to do medical interpretation between doctors and patients.

Counselors meet with patients individually, as couples or with families, Scarrow said. The organization also offers several support groups for cancer patients, their family members and their caregivers. It even has groups that specialize in supporting the children of cancer patients.

"It's great to be able to offer that safe space for them to come together and talk about what they're afraid of and what they're worried about and ask the questions they are maybe afraid to ask mom or dad," she said.

In addition to emotional wellness, the organization helps patients and survivors address their physical well-being. The organization has a gym where people can meet with a personal trainer who helps them set fitness goals, such as rebuilding their strength or sustaining their fitness while they go through treatment, Scarrow said. The organization also offers several yoga classes for patients and caregivers throughout the week.

People who are undergoing cancer treatment often face practical challenges, such as lack of transportation because of financial or medical problems, loss of income and medical expenses.

"We know that transportation is one of the biggest barriers for people to get to their treatments," Scarrow said.

The organization helps patients with transportation and fuel costs, and also has a fleet of six vans that shuttle patients to their cancer treatments and related appointments. Outside the four county area, the organization will travel 60 miles one way to pick up patients, including into parts of Missouri and Oklahoma, Scarrow said. January through June of 2018, the organization transported 211 patients more than 98,000 miles to appointments, she said.

Perkins said the van drivers are very patient and caring, which makes a big difference.

"They make you feel great," he said. "The drivers act like they are really concerned about you. They are always friendly and polite, and try to help you in every way they can. For a while, I was in a wheelchair. ... A few times they would come in the house and get me loaded up. They did everything they possibly can."

Hope Cancer Resources also helps patients with the cost of prescriptions, as well as with living expenses such as mortgage payments or utility bills if necessary. In the first half of 2018, more than 600 patients received financial assistance and 350 received assistance for cancer related prescriptions, Scarrow said.

In addition to their work with patients, Hope Cancer Resources does community outreach programs focused on cancer prevention and education. They visit local schools to educate students about the dangers of tobacco and the importance of using sunscreen, Scarrow said. They also offer smoking cessation programs to the community, with a focus on patients.

The organization also has a volunteer program that allows former patients to give back after they have completed treatments, doing hospitality care with patients, such as offering them a snack or warm blanket, during treatment on the oncology clinics, as well as stocking and cleaning to help staff members.

Cavness said he hopes to raise awareness of what Hope Cancer Resources offers the community. Perkins said he is grateful the organization was there when he needed support.

"They've always been there," he said. "It's very important to me to know that I've got, somebody I can rely on."

For more information about the organization, visit hopecancerresources.org.

General News on 09/05/2018