American Cancer Society’s Cleveland Hope Lodge expanding to help more patients

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - It’s always terrifying to hear those three words from your doctor, “you have cancer.”

19′s Kelly Kennedy knows exactly how that feels. She was diagnosed with cancer five years ago.

The American Cancer Society’s Hope Lodge in Cleveland makes the fight against cancer a little bit easier.

Debbie Polson never imagined she’d spend the summer of 2023 staying at the Hope Lodge in Cleveland.

“Certain things that used to bother me the little things before just seem like noise to me now,” Polson said.

Polson lives in St. Louis. In February she went to the doctor for an infection in her finger she couldn’t get rid of. Shortly after that, she was diagnosed with AML leukemia.

“The diagnosis was a huge shock,” Polson admitted. “I’ve sort of described it as you like someone hijacking my life. I was told over this video chat that I had AML leukemia and I managed to hold it together pretty much during the call, but I broke down after.”

After doing some research she decided she wanted to get treatment at the Cleveland Clinic, then she heard about the Hope Lodge.

“It allows you to get the care that you want at the medical facility of your choice and not having to worry about the cost of lodging,” Polson said.

The Hope Lodge is a place where people getting cancer treatment as well as one of their caregivers can stay for free. They just need to live at least 40 miles away and be over 18.

The Cleveland Hope Lodge has had more than 6,000 guests since it first opened in 1995.

The Cleveland Hope Lodge saved guests $1.2 million last year, but Polson said the Hope Lodge has helped her with more than just cutting costs.

“You’re surrounded by all of these other patients and caregivers and survivors that are facing the same challenges that you are and so what may seem at times to be a very lonely journey is not so lonely anymore,” she said.

Polson has been fighting an uphill battle against leukemia. She was hoping chemo and radiation would cure her, but her doctors told he she needed a bone marrow transplant. After they couldn’t find a match, her son volunteered.

“I felt bad all the treatment he had to go through, the testing and everything prior to that but he’s like, ‘Come on, Mom, don’t be ridiculous,’” Polson said.

The Cleveland Hope Lodge is the only place like it for adults in Northeast Ohio so unfortunately there is a wait list, but the good news is they’re expanding. They broke ground on a construction project in June and they’re hoping to wrap it up by the fall of 2024.

The expansion will take the Hope Lodge from 31 rooms to 43. They’re adding 12 suites for guests staying for longer times as well as more laundry facilities, another living area, and a meditation studio.

On Saturday, the American Cancer Society’s Hope Lodge will have its biggest fundraiser, the Discovery Ball at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and our Kelly Kennedy will be the MC.

You can donate to the Hope Lodge here.

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