Network in a Bag

Lydia Project Provides Tote Bags, Financial Assistance and More for Women With Cancer

Photo By John Harpring
Audra Fleming (seated left to right), Shelly Olmos—Director of Volunteers and Michele Canchola,
Executive Director. Standing are Jerry Renbarger—Board President and Betty Pond—Board Member.
 

On the day of her first chemotherapy treatment, a nurse gave Audrey Cooper a handmade tote from the Lydia Project. While she thought the gesture was nice, she was consumed with other cares at the time. “I really didn’t look into it,” says Cooper, a single mom of three and a breast-cancer survivor who was diagnosed in October 2009.

It wasn’t long, however, before Cooper would need the services of the Lydia Project.

A medical coder with MCGHealth, Cooper found herself in need of financial assistance after she ran out of paid leave from her job. One morning, faced with the imminent threat of her electricity and water being turned off, Cooper was headed to chemotherapy and saw another reminder of the Lydia Project. “I saw a sign about help with bills or anything, and I thought ‘I got a bag from them,’” she says.

She called the organization for more information and was told to bring her bills and a note from her doctor. “The next day, they called me to come back,” she says. “They handed me an envelope. I thought maybe they’d pay half of the bills. I looked, and they paid everything. They didn’t pay half; they paid in full. I didn’t know they would do that much.” (The cost of paying her electric and water bills was below the organization’s cap of $500.)

Since then, Cooper has been a volunteer with the Lydia Project. The mother of three teenagers, Senait, 17, and Janae and Sharnae, both 15, even enlisted their support.

Totes, Financial Support and More

Founded in 2003, the Lydia Project supports women with all types of cancer. The agency was named after Lydia, who is mentioned in the Bible in the Book of Acts. She was a successful businesswoman who sold purple cloth. Initially, the Lydia Project was simply women creating purple-handled tote bags for women with cancer and providing emotional support.

Women still receive totes, which are filled with items such as a copyrighted journal with inspirational quotes of cancer patients imprinted on the pages, hand lotion specifically designed by an area pharmacist for his wife who had cancer, facial tissues and a prayer/need card. “It’s a network in a bag,” says Michele Canchola, executive director.

Over the years, the program has evolved to include more than the totes. When women return the prayer/need card, they “sign up” to receive a year’s worth of support via notes, phone calls and e-mails from hundreds of dedicated volunteers.
And it does take hundreds.

“We had 5,792 new referrals of women with cancer last year,” Canchola says. More than 8,600 women received correspondence in 2010. Only women who return the prayer/need card receive correspondence.

From Patient to Volunteer

Like Cooper, Audra Fleming is another cancer patient-touched-by-the-Lydia-Project-turned-volunteer for the organization.

“I had a tote delivered to me,” says Fleming, who is still receiving treatments for immune gamma globulin. Fleming went to the doctor with a persistent cough and discovered she was having difficulty because a tumor was wrapped around her aorta.

At one time, Fleming was a member of the medical community. She worked as a nurse in the office of her former husband, who is a physician in Ohio. Now, she says she has a greater understanding of what his patients went through.

“I went to school to be a doctor,” she says. “Now, I’m a person with a sickness. It’s so nice the cards that I get. It’s always so kind.”

Fleming, who is unable to work or drive because of her illness, is driven to the Lydia Project office on McDowell Street by her mother. There, she spends hours in the conference room writing notes of encouragement to other women with the disease. She sometimes helps out by answering phones or wherever she is needed.

Growing Beyond Augusta

The organization has grown from touching women in the Augusta area to all 50 states and other countries. The website, www.thelydiaproject.org, is partly responsible for all of the exposure outside the area.

For women who live in Aiken, Burke, Columbia, Edgefield, McDuffie and Richmond Counties, there is additional help such as rent, utility and prescription assistance.

While some organizations may require lots of documentation such as proof of income, social security number and other forms, Canchola says that a written note from the woman’s physician stating she has cancer is enough for them to provide assistance. Funds are distributed to the neediest of the applicants, she says. “It becomes a godsend for them.”

The Lydia Project has working relationships with many oncology physicians and staff at area hospitals to ensure the word gets out about the organization and its services.

The Lydia Project receives its funding from a variety of channels. There is the Lights for Lydia program during the Christmas holidays, and there is a dessert auction the week before Father’s Day. Also the organization receives donations from individuals and grants from foundations such as the Knox Foundation, Hille Foundation and St. Joseph Foundation. Businesses donate cloth for the totes.

There also is a retail store with totes and other items at the McDowell Street office. The totes, however, do not have the purple handles. Those are reserved for cancer patients.

The Lydia Project’s mission will only continue to expand in the future, says Canchola. Plans are underway to construct a Daksha Lydia house, which will provide temporary housing for women with cancer. Dr. Bipin Chudgar is trailblazing the project in honor of his wife, Dr. Daksha Chudgar, an obstetrician and gynecologist, who died in April 2009.

Canchola has seen the need for housing for women with cancer firsthand. She recounts the story of one woman who, although she only received chemotherapy on Mondays, last summer showed up at the hospital every day. Her power had been cut off and she had no way to cool her home. The hospital’s lobby provided her respite from the record heat. Canchola says the project will cost about $2 million.
Charmain Z. Brackett is an Augusta freelance writer and mother of three.