A former nurse at Mass General and a survivor of breast cancer, Patty Allen moved back to Rochester, Minn., and in 2005, joined two friends, Margie Loprinzi and Effie Psimos, in co-founding a nonprofit organization called Join the Journey. Their mission is to support and educate patients with breast cancer.
Patty and her friends have gained strong community support. Almost 1,000 participants join in the annual Join the Journey fund-raising walk, which sponsors a host of projects for patients newly diagnosed with breast cancer.
The organization has provided more than 5,000 patients at the Mayo Clinic and Olmsted Medical Center with a guide to breast cancer and gives patients in financial need vouchers for groceries and for fuel costs associated with treatment. Join the Journey runs an annual cancer awareness day for women who speak English as a second language and offers mentors to patients undergoing treatment. During the summer, its “floating support group” brings patients together as rowing teams on a dragon boat.
