The most powerful medicine of all

Working in an oncology office, Jane Morse-swett realized how many patients were financially devastated by cancer. She remembered what it was like to struggle . . . and she knew just how to rekindle their hope

Despite the late hour, Jane Morse-swett lay in bed wide awake. Ever since she’d lost her husband, the Clearwater, Florida, mom of three had not only had to handle her children’s and her own grief, but she was struggling to make ends meet. Though she had a job as a receptionist at an oncology clinic, her paycheck never seemed to stretch far enough.

Her aunt helped with providing meals, but Jane wanted to do it on her own. We’re going to get through this. I’m going to get us through this, she vowed.

Jane’s calling

So, Jane decided to become a paralegal.

With her new career, things did finally begin looking up. Still, Jane didn’t care for the work, so when the oncologists’ office called and asked her to return as office manager— a position with a higher salary—she jumped at the chance.

Once again, Jane loved spending time with “her” patients. Yet every day, it seemed, she met another patient who was struggling financially. “Some weeks, it’s a matter of paying for food or my medicine,” one woman sighed. “I’m honestly not sure how I’ll make the rent this month,” another admitted through tears. Hearing what they were enduring, Jane found herself holding back tears—because at a time when they needed so much, they had so little. Jane remembered how frightening it had been when things had been financially tough for her. And I didn’t have cancer! How are these folks supposed to find the strength they need for the fight of their lives? “Isn’t there some way we can help them?” Jane asked the doctors in the practice. With their permission, she and some colleagues began holding fundraisers to help pay for their patients’ expenses. And, requesting donations from family and friends in the community, they built an inoffice food pantry. Seeing the pain in the eyes of one single dad with lung cancer as he talked about his financial struggles, Jane held up her finger and said, “Just give me a few minutes.”

She gathered together some supplies, and when that dad left the clinic, it was with several bags of food as well as some money to catch up on rent.

Tears of gratitude sprang to his eyes.

“Until now, I was considering having to send my daughter to live with her aunt,” he confessed, his voice breaking as he added, “Maybe even ending my own life so I wouldn’t be a burden on anyone. But you have given me hope. You are a lifesaver!”

So to help even more cancer patients, Jane created Women With Purpose (Women with Purposefl.org) an official nonprofit that provides nonmedical financial assistance to families battling cancer.

Healing with kindness

As calendar pages flipped, Jane— along with a “staff” of about 15 kindhearted volunteers— continued making a difference for dozens of patients.

For some, they helped buy anti-nausea medication so they could rest easier and heal in more comfort. For others, they paid necessities like mortgages or the rent, utilities, food and car payments.

One woman was overwhelmed, not knowing how she would afford her rent and keep her lifesaving oxygen from being disconnected.

“I’ve been praying for help and had been feeling so alone. But you’ve restored my faith. You’ll never know what a difference you made in my life!” she beamed.

You gave me such comfort and relief. Because of you, we were able to stay in our home! wrote another cancer survivor who’d lost her job and gone through every penny of her savings while trying to keep up with mounting medical bills.

Today, Women With Purpose has helped nearly 100 families, providing more than $200,000 in relief and, equally important to Jane—who is now remarried— a shoulder to lean on.

“Sometimes you just need somebody to talk to— and listening is part of being a good human,” she says. “I can’t cure anybody’s cancer, but it does my heart good to know in a very real way we are helping keep these people alive by giving them peace of mind and hope, which are the most powerful medicines of all!”

“To give is to always receive a gift Heaven.” from AUTHOR UNKNOWN