SOUTH PORTLAND (NEWS CENTER Maine) -- Rebecca Foster says she would be lost without the South Portland Dempsey Center. The Falmouth resident was able to come out of her shell and face breast cancer with a smile thanks to the free services offered near her home.
"I was stressed the first time I came here," Foster says. "But everyone is so wonderful and low key. They made me feel right at home."
She was also happy to be close to home. With services like counseling, massage, acupuncture and fitness classes, the Dempsey Center in South Portland gives Foster the opportunity to work on herself without driving far.
"I always thought if you have something serious like cancer, you might have to leave this state, but no," Foster says. "They have everything here for Maine residents to really be taken care of as well as you can be."
A cancer diagnosis can make you feel very alone. It was Foster's doctors who pointed her toward the Dempsey Center. She was linked up with a buddy who was going through the same diagnosis she was. They texted and talked to check in on each other and pass along advice.
Foster also found help with things she hadn't given thought to but ended up needing.
"They're a point of coordination for all kinds of things. They partner with 'Hair Matters' which is for women who have breast cancer, like myself, to help with the whole hair issue," says Foster.
Foster says visiting the South Portland Center gives her the confidence and connections she needs to face cancer head on, all in one convenient place and all free of charge.
"I feel a sense of being healthy, and I feel like I am going to overcome all this and be a survivor. Coming to this place makes me feel positive."