Now receiving a cancer diagnosis is one of the hardest things to go through.

And getting treatment isn't always easy.

That's why one Louisville woman started Travel to Hope, a nonprofit helping cancer patients get to the life saving care they need.

That's often out of state.

Well, even though we launched last September, our story really starts back in June of 2015, where in one week's time, both my mother in law and my husband were diagnosed with rare and aggressive cancers, and they both needed to travel for the treatment that they needed.

And it was actually David's inspiration to start travel to Hope.

And we named it.

We came up with a logo and began the process.

And then unfortunately, David's health took a pretty rapid downturn and he passed in September of 2017.

And we had lost Connie the the year before.

Flash forward five years.

My son's almost nearly grown.

It was time.

So I'm I'm thrilled that on the fifth anniversary of his passing, we launched Travel to Hope last September 8th.

We fulfill our mission by helping provide information to cancer patients on lodging, transportation, and other financial resources and organizations that can help them better afford their travel.

However, when that is not enough and a patient has significant financial need beyond what they can offer, then that's where Travel to Hope can come in and provide direct financial assistance to get them the rest of the way so that they can afford to travel for that lifesaving treatment they need.

It's estimated that over 250,000 Americans have to travel every year to receive cancer treatment.

But what I am seeing and what the data would show is it's particularly acute for rural cancer patients.

Over 70% of counties in the United States do not have oncologists or cancer specialists.

So it's impossible for them to get the physician care that they need.

And then coupled with that, the regional hospitals often don't have appropriate expertise as well as the specialized equipment to be able to effectively diagnose and treat cancer.

So by default, almost rural Americans need to travel for their treatment.

And so far, we have supported 44 patients in 14 states, and we have funded over 175 trips for treatment.

And unfortunately, right now we are on a wait list.

We frankly have more patients needing support like what travel to hope can give than our current funding can allow.

Part of our model is to provide ongoing support to the patients that we are working with.

And so, you know, for those patients, those 44 that we have worked with so far, they can count on us as best our funding will allow for ongoing support and new funds that come in.

That's where we can continue to add in new patients that we're supporting.

You know, one of our patients and it literally brought me to tears, said that she was so grateful for the support that we were able to give her because it enabled her not to have to choose between feeding her family and getting the treatment she needed.

And nobody should ever have to make a decision like that.