It's an amazing experience for them to see that there are people out there thinking about them and helping them long before they arrive. "There's an outpouring of giving in the local communities where we do the retreats. "We have 11 families who come, and they show up not knowing the community or the people staying there," Patten-Coble said. Those who have stayed at the retreats often come back to volunteer. In the past, volunteers, both old and young, have knitted quilts and blankets for the attendees, cooked for them, taken their photos, and colored placemats. Patten-Coble explained that everyone's unique talents and gifts are welcomed at her retreats, whether it's time, monetary donations, gift cards, prayer cards, goods and services, or homes. "Acceptance of the disease I had, acceptance of God's calling for me, and acceptance of a purpose and a mission in my life that I was not expecting at all." "The story of Little Pink Houses is really one of acceptance," Patten-Coble (pictured middle in the photo above) said. By 2018, she hopes to have 18 different retreats in 18 different locations, including Dallas and Austin, Texas. Patten-Coble, however, added that in the next four years she plans to increase the amount of retreats to serve the needs of the mass influx of attendees. Some coastal locales in the South include Ocean City, Maryland Key West, Florida Hatteras Island, North Carolina Carolina Beach, North Carolina Orange Beach, Alabama Oak Island, North Carolina and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The premise of Little Pink Houses of Hope is simple: to "promote breast cancer recovery by offering opportunities for survivors to reconnect and celebrate life." Eleven families attend the retreat and are treated to a free (yes, free!) week-long getaway at the destination of their choice. Read on for more of Patten-Coble's story on hope, faith, and purpose, and how these beachside destinations are providing joy to families during their darkest hours. To date, Little Pink Houses of Hope has given respite to more than 600 families. These plans would later turn into the national nonprofit recognized today as Little Pink Houses of Hope, an organization started in 2011 that provides peaceful havens at no cost to those battling breast cancer.Little Pink Houses of Hope serves women and men in 48 states (yes, even Canada), and Patten-Coble also hosts several retreats in the South, including North Carolina, Alabama, Florida, and South Carolina. She did this while simultaneously implementing her plans to start a breast cancer retreat for those going through a similar experience. "I thought, what is this place? As I was running away from the compound, I literally was struck with a calling to create a place like this for cancer patients."Throughout the course of the year, Patten-Coble underwent treatment, which included six months of chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery. She later learned that the grouping of empty and shabby houses was actually a Coast Guard compound that had been deserted five years earlier."It really piqued my interest and provided a great distraction," Patten-Coble said. But when I was least expecting it, God showed up in a big and powerful way in my life."That sign came in the form of an abandoned compound that Patten-Coble discovered on her run along the beach. "My biggest fear was that I was going to take his innocence away and his life would be forever changed as soon as those words came out of my mouth. It was on this run, off the beaten track, where she found her true purpose and calling in the midst of her biggest trial yet."I went for a run to figure out the right words to tell my 11-year-old son that I had been diagnosed," Patten-Coble told Southern Living. No, she dug her heels in-both literally and figuratively-and went for a run the very next day. After receiving the devastating news, Patten-Coble didn't give up. In 2009, Jeanine Patten-Coble was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer at just 39 years old.
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