Posted by Carl Gerhardt on Jul 25, 2017
On 7/25/2017, Lori Salermo, President of "Her Journey" Cancer Charity, spoke to the Magnolia Rotary Club members about the organization she and her husband started to provide cancer patients coming to MD Anderson in Houston for treatments, a temporary place for them to stay rent free during a 6-8 week treatment program. Pictured above is Lori Salermo.
 
Lori explained that the "Her Journey" organization is a non-profit 501(c)(3) created with one purpose in mind and that is to raise money to purchase and maintain condos in order to provide free housing to cancer patients receiving treatment at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. As Lori explained, watching someone battle cancer leaves you feeling helpless. The physical pain of chemo and radiation can be excruciating, not to mention all of the fears of "What ifs". Lori had a close friend named Donna who battled cancer for 3 years at MD Anderson. The privilege of watching Donna, the "incredibly strong, courageous and faithful woman during her fight with cancer" left Lori with some "What if" questions of her own.
 
Lori asked: "What if we could open our arms to others on their cancer journey? What if we could ease some of the financial burdens associated with cancer treatment? What if we could continue Donna's desire to help others? What if we had a house where cancer patients would come and stay, free of charge, while receiving cancer treatments at MD Anderson?"
 
In response to these questions, Lori and her husband purchased and remodeled a condo for this purpose and in May of 2015, they opened "Donna's House" which has been a temporary home to numerous cancer patients over the last two years. Donna's house , located minutes from MD Anderson, is a two bedroom, two bathroom, one story condo located on the ground level. With additional donations and help from members of their church, Lori and her husband open "Jimmy's Place" in May, 2016 in the same condo complex as Donna's House. It is a two bedroom, one bathroom, one story condo also located on the ground level. Both of these homes are in a gated community with a 24 hour guard service, covered parking, security systems, 2 swimming pools, a washer & dryer in the unit, cable TV, and Wi-Fi. Both units are fully furnished, including linens, dishes, and houskeeping services. Both units are offered on a first come first serve basis.
 
The current goal of "Her Journey, Inc." is to raise money to support both Donna's House and Jimmy's Place and to purchase and equip additional condos. All contributions made to "Her Journey" go directly to this current goal. There are no salaries or administrative fees paid out of donations. For more information on "Her Journey, Inc." go to www.her-journey.org.
 
 
 
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