Ellie Fund provides support for breast cancer patients Olivia Ray — WWLP

LP) – In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Massachusetts Caucus of Women Legislators held an event highlighting an organization that helps people going through breast cancer treatment.

BOSTON (WWLP) – In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Massachusetts Caucus of Women Legislators held an event highlighting an organization that helps people going through breast cancer treatment.

This organization, called the Ellie Fund, provides services like grocery gift cards, housekeeping, and rideshare vouchers to people going through breast cancer treatment.

Whether you are fully insured and have family members to drive you to your appointments or you are going through treatment on your own, leaders of the Ellie Fund say they have resources for you.

“There is a significant financial toxicity associated with breast cancer. There is an emotional toxicity,” said Meredith Mendelson, the Ellie Fund’s Executive Director. “It is a very difficult disease to navigate whether you have a meal train on your block, or whether you live alone and are going through this by yourself.”

One local lawmaker says transportation to and from Boston appointments is a major barrier for breast cancer patients in western Massachusetts, and the Ellie Fund can help.

“I hear that from constituents every day who are receiving care in the Boston area. The fact that this organization exists to make care and treatment easier for women and their families is so critically important,” said first Franklin district Representative Natalie Blais.

The Ellie Fund is partnered with local cab companies and provides gas vouchers to loved ones to ensure that cancer patients are able to make it to their Boston-based appointments. The fund also provides continual support after patients finish their breast cancer treatment, including support groups with peers.

More information about the Ellie Fund and their services can be found here.

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