When Billie met Keith Kratz, he was being treated for stage four cancer for the second time. Billie Ferguson, an oncology social worker at The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Cancer Institute at MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center, works with countless patients dealing with financial difficulties resulting from their cancer diagnoses. Among other things, Billie discovered that Kratz was dealing with his diagnosis while living in a home with no heat in the middle of winter.
“People sometimes don’t understand how much cancer costs,” Billie says. “Patients may have enough to pay the hospital bills. But what about the rest?”
The We Care Fund seeks to help cancer patients with the rest: bills, transportation, and food. The fund is there to help them. Keith couldn’t afford to fix his heating, so Billie contacted a government grant program to help him get a new furnace installed in his home.
From the We Care Fund, he received supplementary financial help to pay his utility bills. He was also able to receive Meals on Wheels food assistance and compression garments to help reduce swelling as he completed his treatments.
In 2017, the We Care Fund provided 22 cancer patients with financial assistance. “Many of the donations come from individuals: family members, friends, and folks from the community,” Billie says. Though the funds are limited, the cancer institute seeks to assist as many people as possible and to be fair when assessing patient needs.
“They have helped me tremendously throughout my cancer ordeal—twice,” Kratz says. He is now a two-time survivor of stage four melanoma. “I can’t say enough great things about Billie and the whole institute at MedStar Franklin Square. I don’t look at anything in the same way I used to. I now appreciate everything in my life to a greater extent.”