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player ready...By December, Darmille Rush had had enough.
It had been seven years since the car accident that had sent her skidding through two lanes of traffic and sailing over a curb. The back pain started two months later, and by December, she could barely walk or take a shower.
Rush, 61, the executive director of the domestic violence and breast cancer support organization Mothers of Hope, looked in the mirror and the slogan of her organization hummed in her head: Helping one woman at a time.
“I looked at my reflection and thought, ‘So when are you going to help you?'” she said. Rush left a voice mail with a surgeon that night.
She found herself soon recovering at Montgomery Place, 5550 S Shore Dr. in Chicago, and found the experience so gratifying and warm that she’s partnered with the senior care center for the organization’s Refresh Your Life Expo. The event, scheduled for Saturday 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Place of Joy, 2025 E. 175th St., in Lansing will provide a makeover for four women suffering from breast cancer or domestic abuse. Montgomery Place offered to donate 200 meals of chili and chicken alfredo prepared by executive chef David Glasse for the event.
The women will receive new shoes, a new outfit, a hair appointment or wig, a manicure and Mothers of Hope tote bag. Rush said her stay at Montgomery Place was wonderful.
“Boy has it changed my life,” Rush said. “I had such a great time there, the camaraderie between the staff and the patients. Everybody, I can’t say anything negative about it other than I had to leave.”
Montgomery Place CEO Deborah Hart said employees at the care facility felt similarly warmed by Darmille’s stay. Her presence made Hart realize that businesses and non-profits can and should partner to meet the needs of people in a community, she said.
“We know someday they will have individuals who will need our services, and we’ll have individuals who need their support, so it becomes a community effort to support the residents of our community,” she said. “And businesses need to work together to do that.”
Mothers of Hope provides encouragement, food, clothing and assistance for survivors of domestic abuse and breast cancer. Tickets for Saturday’s expo are $60 and proceeds go to the organization and clothing for the women.
@MatthewMcCall