Did you know that, on average, a cancer survivor undergoing radiation therapy will receive 25 to 30 treatments over six consecutive weeks?

These frequent and lengthy treatments require the technology and medical expertise of a cancer treatment facility. Getting the right care sometimes means cancer patients must travel away from home, often to a cancer treatment facility in another city.

To help people with cancer meet this challenge, the American Cancer Society created a Hope Lodge in Worcester, MA, in 1984.

The Worcester Hope Lodge is a free, temporary home away from home for cancer patients being treated in Worcester and Boston hospitals, and their families. It provides guests with private rooms, kitchen facilities, and transportation to and from treatments. More importantly, perhaps, it also provides a human support network.

Hope Lodge in Worcester, pictured above, is a beautiful Victorian building located at 7 Oak St. The director is Debra Aharonian. She can be reached at 508-792-2985 or by email at debra.aharonian@cancer.org.

The New England Division of the American Cancer Society also operates Hope Lodges in Boston and Burlington, VT.