As a current New Day patient, Misty – a single mom of three daughters – was still on a feeding tube when she signed up to volunteer at our Celebrity Lip Sync Battle. The tube was removed just two weeks before the event was scheduled occur. Misty was diagnosed with aggressive esophageal cancer in April […]
When New Day was introduced to Jeny, a translator was used as the family speaks only Spanish. Her six-year-old son Gael was diagnosed with osteosarcoma and was beginning his second round of chemo – an aggressive treatment with many negative side effects for him. His mom was having trouble explaining to him everything that was […]
Helping families who are facing cancer isn’t always about just paying the bills at New Day. Our program director takes the time to personally speak with each recipient to find out what will help them the most. For Jen, a single mom of two teenage girls, New Day’s help allowed her to spend her final […]
Buying a home and having your first baby are both such big milestones in life. Mariah celebrated both of them in 2022 when she and her fiancé bought a house in June, and then welcomed baby Grayson in December. While these moments are precious, they don’t come without a financial impact. Yet Mariah wasn’t overly […]
Levi – a high school senior and promising football player – walked the track with his proud parents for Senior Night. It was the last home football game of the season, and Levi had a bright future laid out before him. He would attend Lawrence Tech on a football scholarship next fall to study mechanical […]
Tarrya and her husband had recently sent their two older children off to college and were enjoying a weekend at the Kalahari Resort with their 7-yr-old daughter when the devastating news arrived: the lump in her breast was invasive ductal carcinoma, HER2 positive, an aggressive form of cancer. “On Dec. 14 (2021) at 1:14 pm, […]
New Day recognizes that not all families facing financial toxicity are from low-income families. The loss of income from one spouse in a two-income household, combined with an influx of medical bills, can also be financially devastating to many families. For Monique and her family, New Day has helped with their mortgage and car payments […]
The Stone family has endured many hardships in recent years, but things were beginning to turn around this year for the family of six from Detroit. Desiree and her husband Iassah have been married for 17 years, raising six children together while working hard and trying to make ends meet. When the pandemic hit, the […]
Shellie, a mother of two who is fighting breast cancer, wrote this letter to New Day. “The New Day Foundation has blessed my family and I in ways that couldn’t even be described into words! Truly, the kindness and generosity of this organization and all of the volunteers will live on in our hearts forever! […]
At age four, Marcel Wysinger is already facing 16 months of cancer treatments for neuroblastoma. Spending weeks at a time in Children’s Hospital of Michigan, he is fighting through multiple bone marrow transplants, five rounds of chemotherapy and extensive radiation. Throughout it all, his mom Shanon has been at his side. Unfortunately, caring for her […]
The social worker explained “what some families face” – and “some families” became us. When Erica and her husband planned their family’s dream vacation to Colorado last summer, they knew it would become harder to spend time together as a family after their son Lane graduated this year. They had no idea what a blessing […]
Five days before Christmas, Adrianne was diagnosed with Stage III melanoma. As a mother of four young girls, her days were spent homeschooling the kids while her husband worked. When the holiday break arrived, she took advantage of that time to get through her PET scans and schedule her surgery. Her husband, a former aerospace […]
After surviving breast cancer and a double mastectomy in 2014, Amanda was shocked to learn she had metastatic breast cancer in 2018. Yet she has barely slowed down in the wake of her treatment, vowing instead to help others suffering from metastatic cancer. As a New Day recipient, she was inspired by the hope that […]
Music has always been in Dean’s blood. From a young age, he played piano onstage during his dad’s breaks from singing with the Jim Laury Trio. From there, he would go on to write and produce his own music – even moving to Nashville for a while to pursue his dream of being a singer/songwriter. […]
While Rachel’s breast cancer diagnosis was a shock to the young, healthy single mother of two, the loss of her job five days after disclosing her cancer to her employer was terrifying. For so many families like Rachel’s, the substantial loss of income coupled with the costs of cancer treatment is as much of a […]
It’s a high stakes waiting game when COVID-19 defers cancer care to a later date. As Kenesha, a single mom, learned that her 7-year-old son may be having a recurrence of his cancer, the Coronavirus crisis hit, and plans for his testing and treatment were put on hold until June. To compound matters, a patient […]
When Sylvia’s son Terrill was a senior in high school, he was diagnosed with childhood leukemia. The erratic treatment schedule that would follow, coupled with the stress of the cancer diagnosis on her family, would eventually push her to leave her job at the Head Start program to care for Terrell. “It was scary as […]
When Veronica’s 14-year-old son Jorden was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma in May, she didn’t know the first thing about cancer. As they headed to his first chemo appointment, she had plans to return to work the next day. It was a shock to both of them that this would be a grueling four-day, three-night process bound […]
“New Day understood that even middle class people can be hit hard,” said Amy, a mother of three facing stage IV synovial sarcoma. “We were not on the poverty line, and we didn’t qualify for most assistance.” “New Day has been there for us more than we could have imagined – when few other foundations […]
At times, it can feel like serendipity has placed certain people in your path. In the midst of the New Day office build out, Gina came across Dale Wood, head of the office furniture division of Detroit Pencil Company, and the two “swapped horror stories,” as Dale said. He is essentially the poster child for […]
When baby Gabriel was diagnosed with Leukemia at just nine months old last fall, his parents, Melissa and Curtis, knew that one of them would need to be with him throughout his intense treatment. “When your child is diagnosed with cancer, all you want to do is be there and support him,” said Melissa. “Money […]
Speaking to Suzette Costew during her second-to-last chemo treatment, it’s as though a calm has descended on her. It was a year ago – almost to the day – that she was diagnosed with cancer. Today, she sounds faithful and cautiously optimistic as she reflects on the help that New Day provided her family when […]
While enduring ongoing complications from chemo to treat her aggressive triple negative breast cancer, Kim faced the seemingly impossible choice of whether to stop treatment or not. She had radically different opinions from oncologists and specialists about her treatment options, forcing her to make difficult decisions. Her stress was compounded by a custody battle for […]
Barbara Jett doesn’t see her Stage IV cancer as a burden, but a blessing. Why? Since her diagnosis at age 37, she has been on a healing journey that has encouraged her to be humble and appreciate everything, keep a smile on her face and most importantly, to pay it forward and help others realize […]
Losing your husband to cancer while enduring chemo for Stage III breast cancer yourself is almost unimaginable. Yet this is Cheryl Hutchings story. She has experienced loss and financial hardship, illness and trials, yet come out the other side an even richer version of herself. How did she do it? She learned to surrender and […]
“I try to stay in today; I can’t live for what could’ve been yesterday or what will be tomorrow. Where we are, is where God wants us to be.” Stephanie Socha relies on her faith to stay positive throughout her husband Steve’s cancer journey. His diagnosis of Stage IV prostate cancer came without warning for […]
Amy Dean is a fighter, and she’s had enough of this cancer business. Her son Eric, almost 18, has faced Osteosarcoma since he was 14. He has dealt with everything from “operation salvage limb” in 2015 which resulted in what they call Eric’s “bionic leg,” to being injected with “blue goo” this fall after an […]
When Delvis, a single mom from Harper Woods, was diagnosed with breast cancer, she was already living paycheck to paycheck, with no savings or cushion to fall back on. As grueling side effects from treatment set in, including neuropathy in her fingers, toes and feet, she was forced to take leave from a job that […]
For Tanjanika Robertson, simply having hardwood floors and a driveway nearby made a world of difference to her family. Her son Myles is now in a wheelchair and facing amputation of his right leg after battling Chondrasarcoma since 2013. He was diagnosed at age 19 after returning from his freshman year at Oakwood University in […]
Often cancer comes with a triple whammy, bringing not only physical and emotional punches, but also financial hits. For Tiesse Wallace, these three mounting obstacles were all collaborating to affect her ability to get proper treatment and beat her Stage IV metastatic breast cancer last fall. Tiesse was having trouble finding money for gas to […]
Completely overwhelmed. Scared. And more than anything, completely shocked. This is how Vanessa describes her emotions after learning she had Stage IV endometrial cancer in April, on the day her son turned 12 years old. After enduring complications from surgery that left her barely able to walk, Vanessa was unable to return to her job. […]
Sara Stahl had recently given birth to her second child and had a 20-month-old son at home when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. While trying to adjust to a family of four on a limited budget, Sara and her husband were now facing a mounting pile of medical bills. Sara’s husband is a 5th […]
Three years ago, Andrea Sjoblom’s sister died suddenly from an aortic aneurysm at the age of twenty six, leaving two young children behind. Andrea and her husband Joe took their niece and nephew into their home with their own two children, hoping to provide a loving, stable environment for them after the trauma of losing […]
In the midst of her third bout of triple negative breast cancer, Tina Farrell feels like she has finally found the support and help she needs to stay positive and “be a Tigger, not an Eeyore,” thanks to local support groups and the New Day Foundation. Her most recent cancer diagnosis on Sept. 4, 2015, […]
Although many of us enjoy the change in season from summer to fall that brings all things pumpkin-spice related, for the Dunlap family, it brings back painful memories of their son Johnny’s diagnosis at just 14 months old. It was the fall of 2013, and Johnny began having frequent fevers. After several doctor visits and […]
When New Day entered the picture, Stephani and her husband were managing to handle her treatment bills, but still had no way of dealing with her larger concern – the growing mold and its potentially harmful effects on her and her family. New Day sent a contractor who ripped out the wall, revealing that the black mold had crept all the way through to the siding of the house. They replaced the areas of concern, and even painted the room a nice shade of purple chosen by Stephani for the family. She is grateful to everyone at New Day who went above and beyond to fix this problem for her.
Sometimes it takes more than the will to live for ourselves in the battle with cancer. In Eva’s case, she fought for her adopted son Michael, who became part of she and her husband Andrew’s family just nine months before her diagnosis. Michael came to them at age seven as a severely abused child, both […]
How was New Day able to help your family? As a 36-year-old single mother of Micah (7), I was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer in November. For the first time, I was facing the harsh reality of death much too soon: preparing a living will and an alternative home for my son in my […]
How was New Day Foundation able to help your family? I am a single mom with a 10-year-old daughter. I am 51, active, and full of energy…or at least I was. In early August 2014 I had signed a lease to be closer to my mom so that she could help out with my daughter […]
How was New Day Foundation able to help your family? I recently moved back to Michigan from the Washington, D.C. area with my two children, Tristan, 14, and Taryn, 11. I am a single mom, and I had just started a new job when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Unfortunately, I was unable to take […]
Jennifer Miller, 42 was used to taking care of everyone else in her life. A health care aid in an Oakland County public school, she loves her job working with mentally, emotionally and physically impaired children. Jennifer was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer in January of 2014. “At first, my husband Kevin […]
How was New Day Foundation able to help your family? I was diagnosed with breast cancer in March, 2014. I’m a 50 year old single mom with two boys, Blake,16 and Mason,13. I just didn’t know what I was going to do financially as I needed to stop working all summer as a waitress while […]
How was New Day Foundation able to help your family? I was diagnosed with Stage IV metastatic prostate cancer earlier this year. I was astonished by what New Day was able to do for my family and me. They immediately provided Meijer gift cards for groceries and gas. And then they generously took over my […]
How was New Day Foundation able to help your family? In April, 2014, I was diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer. It has been really tough. I have been undergoing chemo and had to recently stop my treatment for a while. I am the mom of three great kids. Markesta, my daughter is 28, Reginald […]