When Ruthe was diagnosed with an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, the outlook was dire. Doctors told her she had just four to six months to live without immediate treatment. “During my PET scans, I lit up like a Christmas tree,” she recalls.

Not one to give up, Ruthe stared down the long path to recovery and took her journey one step at a time. After months of treatment and her third round of chemotherapy, Ruthe needed financial assistance.

Mentally and physically at her limit, she was unable to work due to her treatment and had used her retirement savings just to survive. She found herself on the brink of homelessness, “I was two weeks away from living in my car,” Ruthe said. A major barrier was having the time, energy and money to travel to her treatments, which were often not close to where she lived. That is when she found United Way Safety Net Impact Partner ThriveWell Cancer Foundation. Through a United Way grant, ThriveWell provided transportation to her medical appointments and treatment at no cost to Ruthe.

“I didn’t even think about transportation at first,” Ruthe says. “Then I realized this could save me and it did.”

The toll of battling and winning her fight with cancer was tremendous. Ruthe lost the majority of her muscle mass and strength. Even walking was painful, as she began using a wheelchair before she progressed to being able to walk again with a cane. Whenever she called ThriveWell to ask for transportation, sometimes the same day because appointments opened up at the last minute, they “always made it work,” she said.

This transportation assistance was more than just a financial burden lifted, it was proof that Ruthe wasn’t in her battle alone. Her drivers would help her carry her bags, navigate ramps and difficult terrain. “They were kind, they were respectful,” Ruthe said. “It was unexpected and beautiful, in the middle of all of this.” The program even coordinated Uber rides to Ruthe’s more distant specialist appointments.

Today, Ruthe is not only cancer-free but thriving—living a full life she once thought impossible. “This would have never happened without ThriveWell,” she said. “They gave me more than transportation. They gave me back my life.”