No one should have to forgo lifesaving cancer treatment because they cannot afford the journey to get there.
Bridge the Distance Fund helps cancer patients experiencing financial hardship access specialized medical treatment by reducing travel-related financial barriers.
The Problem
Every year, cancer patients travel hundreds or even thousands of miles to access specialized treatment. For patients facing financial hardship, the cost of getting there — transportation, lodging, meals, childcare, time away from work — can become the reason they cannot.
Existing resources help some patients. But geographic gaps, long waitlists, and rigid eligibility requirements leave too many people without support.
Bridge the Distance Fund exists to reach them.
Our Solution
Bridge the Distance Fund exists to reach the patients that existing programs leave behind.
We provide need-based financial assistance to adult cancer patients facing financial hardship who must travel significant distances for specialized treatment. Our grants cover transportation and lodging costs — the expenses insurance rarely touches and that too often stand between a patient and the care they need.
Unlike flight programs or lodging facilities, we are flexible financial assistance that meets patients where they are, moves quickly when they need help, and treats every person who comes to us with the dignity they deserve.
Because the cost of the journey should never determine who gets access to lifesaving care.
When I was diagnosed with a rare cancer and told I needed to relocate to Houston for treatment, I was not prepared for what that journey would actually cost.
Not just financially, though that was real. I mean the weeks away from my husband and my three-year-old son. The hotels and flights and meals and logistics stacked on top of an already overwhelming diagnosis. The way the distance between you and the people you love becomes its own kind of weight when you are already carrying so much.
I had support. An extraordinary community showed up for me in ways I will never forget. But I was also acutely aware, throughout every step of that experience, that most patients do not have what I had.
What happens to the patient who faces all of this alone? Who cannot afford the plane ticket, the hotel room, the weeks away from work?
I founded Bridge the Distance Fund because no one should have to choose between the cost of the journey and the care that could save their life.
Why I Started This
Impact Goals
We are just getting started. But we know exactly where we are going.
Year One
Provide travel and lodging assistance to 30 to 50 adult cancer patients facing financial hardship in Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi
Establish referral partnerships with cancer centers, oncology social workers, and patient navigators across the Mid-South
Build a grant review process that is rigorous, equitable, and fast enough to meet patients where they are in their treatment journey
Demonstrate that financial barriers to cancer care can be reduced with the right resources and the right community behind them
Looking Ahead
Our vision does not stop at the Mid-South. As we grow, we aim to expand our reach nationally, deepen our partnerships with healthcare institutions across the country, and build a model that proves distance and cost should never determine who accesses the best available cancer care.