b'PRIORITY:Cancer Care ExpansionAn answer forevery challengeThroughout her cancer journey, Vickie faced many challenges. Just before she was diagnosed, she had been laid off due to downsizing. She went straight from that news to the diagnosis with little time to process. Ultimately, she made the hard decision to sell her home. I didnt have money for bills, she recalls. I couldnt afford a babysitter to watch my son during treatment or while I worked. But Alight had this assistance program, and they told me, Just worry about getting better. Dont worry about your bills.Vickie often called her financial advocate or social worker to get the support she needed. When her son, age 10 at the time, needed someone to talk to, Alight was there.They even picked him up from school and Cancer survivor Vickie Whitt leveragedfound a center for him to go to, Vickie says. all that Alight Integrative Care offers toWhatever I needed, all I had to do was ask. manage treatment and thrive.Support groups became her most significant When Vickie Whitt (above, left) received her cancer diagnosis source of hope. I was surrounded by women who Stage 2 triple-negative breast cancershe instinctively hung uphad already gone through some of the things I was the phone.going through.They called me right back and asked if we got disconnected. IJill Berry (above, right), Alight program assistant, said, No, I hung up on you.was Vickies mentor. Jill was always there for me, Vickie says. At one point, I asked her when I could Then she hung up again. call myself a survivor. Was it when I finished chemo? She thought back to the days sitting at my bedside, When her Cone Health nurse called back a third time, Vickie said,and she told me, Vickie, youre already a survivor.I dont have time for cancer. You must have the wrong chart.Years later, Vickie now works as an Alight Guide, Thats what a cancer diagnosis can do. Make you want to hang up,passing that wisdom to newly diagnosed patients. shut down, run away. Shes completed treatment, is cancer-free, and, with the support of all of her Alight cheerleaders, Alight Integrative Care services are critical to helping patientsshe even earned a college degree. navigate the journey from diagnosis to survivorship. Alight offers financial, educational and emotional support to help patients beYou cant do this journey alone, Vickie says. present, positive and strong throughout their clinical treatment.Alight is one of the best resources available for Support comes in many forms, from social workers to creativeanyone going through cancer. Donors are doing wellness classes to nutritional counseling and much more. more than providing financial support. Youre restoring a family. Youre restoring hope and unity. I wouldve been lost, upset and angry, Vickie says. I didnt knowYoure making cancer patients whole and giving where to start, but Alight gave me a central base and helped methem a reason to keep going.have a good attitude. They provided everything I needed, big or small. How am I going to pay my bills? Whos going to take careUse the QR code, above left, to watch Vickies story of my kid? They helped me answer big questions.on our website.28Cone Health Philanthropy'