Sorority of Hope
A sisterhood that changed everything.
Some connections change your life.
Sorority of Hope began when women diagnosed with Small Cell and Large Cell Neuroendocrine Cervical Cancer found one another in a world where it could be difficult to find someone who truly understood what they were facing.
They shared their questions, fears, experiences, and hope. What began as women reaching out to one another grew into a sisterhood, and eventually, an annual gathering where those connections could come to life in person.
For women facing this diagnosis, finding another sister can mean knowing you are no longer walking this path alone.
This is the sisterhood that helped inspire Lifted Through Hope. And its story continues with every woman who finds connection here.
How the Sisterhood Began
It started with women searching for someone who understood.
When Mel found Colleen’s story, a connection began. Angela created a Facebook page, and women found their way to one another. Across distances, they began sharing their experiences, asking questions, offering encouragement, and building friendships.
For women facing a diagnosis that so few people understood, these connections became something more than a place to exchange information. They became a place to feel heard, to share the fears that were difficult to explain to others, and to find comfort in women who understood because they were living it, too.
In 2011, women came together in New York for the first Sorority of Hope gathering. The friendships that had begun online became conversations, laughter, and hugs in person.
For some, the chance to meet face-to-face meant more than words could express. Women who had wondered whether they would ever travel again, or whether they would have the chance to embrace the sisters they had come to know, were finally together.
And the sisterhood reached beyond the women themselves. Families saw their loved ones find connection, open up, and feel less alone. The women didn't just support one another through their own experiences; they came to care deeply about one another's lives.
Over the years, the gatherings became a cherished tradition—a place to welcome newly diagnosed sisters, celebrate milestones, support women facing treatment or recurrence, and remember those who are deeply missed.
The community grew through the women who showed up for one another, year after year. Each brought her own story, and each helped make the sisterhood what it is today.
“Finding you saved my sanity and gave me hope!” - Colleen’s words to Melanie, 2019
Remembering the first gathering.
“Words cannot describe how meaningful this trip was to me.”
A sister’s reflection after the first Sorority of Hope gathering in New York.
“At times wondering if I would ever take a vacation again, much less ever be able to hug my SCCC sisters in person.”
“I love that the Lord gave me a chance to spend precious time with you all and your steadfast loved ones.”
Shared following the first New York gathering, 2011.
A tradition worth carrying forward.
Sorority of Hope is more than an annual gathering. It is a reminder of what can happen when women who understand one another come together.
It is a place to meet someone who has walked a similar path, reconnect with friends who have become family, welcome women who are new to the community, and make room for both joy and grief.
These in-person connections matter.
They create space for shared experiences that can be difficult to explain to anyone who hasn't lived them.
The sisterhood belongs to the women who built it and to every woman who has found understanding, friendship, and hope within it.
The connection to Lifted Through Hope.
Lifted Through Hope Foundation grew, in part, from the difference this sisterhood made in our own lives.
We experienced firsthand the comfort of connecting with women who understood this diagnosis. Those relationships helped shape our belief that no woman should ever have to face this journey alone.
Today, Lifted Through Hope is a separate nonprofit organization with its own mission: to support women and families affected by Small and Large Cell Neuroendocrine Cervical Cancer through connection, advocacy, awareness, and support for research.
Sorority of Hope continues under its own name and identity. We are, and always will be, proud supporters of the sisterhood that helped inspire who we are today.
We are honored to help financially support this year's annual Sorority of Hope gathering and to help make it possible for sisters to come together once again.
Help make the next gathering possible.
Every gathering creates opportunities for women to meet, reconnect, share their experiences, and find comfort in a community that understands.
Your donation to Lifted Through Hope Foundation, designated for the Sorority of Hope gathering, will help cover the expenses of bringing this sisterhood together.
Your generosity helps make room for the conversations, friendships, memories, and moments of hope that make this tradition so meaningful.
We are here because of the connections that came before us. We are grateful to the women who started this sisterhood, to everyone who has sustained it, and to every sister who continues to make it what it is.
Thank you for helping keep the Sorority of Hope gathering going.
