Our Stories

At 35 years old, Colorado-based nurse Caroline Mrlik Ames got married, travelled for her honeymoon, and bought a house. There was so much excitement and everything was falling into place. Then just six months later, she was totally blindsided with a cancer diagnosis that would change everything

All of a sudden, her life was filled with medical treatments and doctor’s appointments, and the bills began to pile up. Caroline had four surgeries in one year, she underwent five months of chemotherapy, and two months of radiation. She was out of work for months.

Caroline and her husband had good insurance and even a supplemental policy, but all of the time away from work and intensive treatments meant her medical expenses were growing while her income had decreased. She worried about how they would get by. Then a colleague suggested the Hope Fund, and Caroline decided to apply.

“After we got help from the Hope Fund, there was so much less stress,” Caroline said. “It really turned everything around. I was able to pay off my medical bills and get back to normal, or as normal as possible while still recovering.”

Things are much brighter now for Caroline thanks to her colleagues who supported her through the Hope Fund. Aside from not having to worry about financial strain, she just had a clean follow up scan and bloodwork, and celebrated her 37^th birthday. “The Hope Fund is there,” Caroline said. “It is so life changing. You never think you’re going to need something like this until it happens to you. From the bottom of my heart, I want to express to my colleagues that this is the real deal. The Hope Fund really helps people in a big way.”