Stories

Hope Lodge was ‘Heaven Sent’

When the American Cancer Society Hope Lodge opened in March 2007, breast cancer patient Ginger Lovins was looking for a place to stay in Lexington while she was receiving treatment for her illness. “I finished my chemo treatments in January and I was scheduled to have radiation beginning in March,” said Lovins, who lives in Pike County, nearly four hours from Lexington.

During her chemo treatments, Lovins and her husband stayed at a motel in Lexington. “Staying at a motel is expensive and making the trips back and forth from Pike County was rough on me when I was having chemo,” said Lovins. She was concerned about the financial burden of her cancer treatments and didn’t know how her family was going to pay for the additional motel costs so she could have her radiation treatments.

Lovins accessed the American Cancer Society website and found information about the Hope Lodge opening in Lexington. She called the Society’s toll-free number and learned that the American Cancer Society Hope Lodge provided free lodging to out-of-town cancer patients who were receiving outpatient cancer treatment in Lexington. “I told my husband that God will find a way for us,” said Lovins. “And God found us the Hope Lodge…this place was heaven sent.

“Staying at the lodge is so different from a motel. You can talk to the other people at the lodge and they understand what you’re going through. We are all fighting this battle together.” Lovins has been a source of great inspiration to many of the Hope Lodge guests. “Ginger would sit for hours with our guests just listening and sharing in their struggles,” said Jennifer McCoart, associate director of the American Cancer Society Hope Lodge. “I’m blessed to have had the opportunity to know Ginger and her family.”

Lovins says the friends she’s made at the lodge will always be family to her. “There were a few of us who all checked-in to the lodge the first week it opened and we developed a real bond with each other,” said Lovins. “We are all so grateful to the American Cancer Society for building this beautiful facility for us. People who don’t even know me gave their time and money to build this lodge so I could get well. That means everything to me.”

Currently, there are 26 American Cancer Society Hope Lodges operating nationwide. The Hope Lodge in Lexington has 32 private guest rooms plus open living and dining areas. The lodge also includes community kitchens, exercise and laundry facilities and a private outdoor grille area.

Lovins spent more than three months at the lodge while undergoing radiation treatment in Lexington. Her treatments are over now and she says she doesn’t worry about the cancer recurring. “I’m not worried about the cancer anymore,” Lovins said. “I’ve lived 34 years and I’ve had a good life. I’m at peace with it.”

When Lovins returns to Lexington for her annual check-ups, she always stops in at the lodge to say hello. “It’s just like driving by my mom’s house,” said Lovins. “You have to stop by and say Hi to family.”