Our Mission: Improving the quality of life for those impacted by breast cancer by funding needed support services locally.

A Different Shade of Pink.

The Step Sisters fight breast cancer differently – by raising funds to provide practical support services for area patients as they battle the disease.

Studies show that personal and financial difficulties can cause breast cancer patients to delay or even stop their treatment. By funding services such as transportation, childcare and house cleaning, our goal is to not only increase a patient’s quality of life, but also decrease her obstacles to treatment.

That’s how we fight breast cancer.

Why The Step Sisters?

What does a sister do when you need help? Maybe she watches your kids or cooks a meal for you. She doesn’t ask what you need because she already knows. She just pitches in and helps.

The Step Sisters are Northern Virginia women and men that have all been affected in some way by breast cancer. Some of us are survivors, others are caregivers, friends and family. But we are all united in our goal to step in to help, just as a sister would.

Our Services

We have established relationships with local businesses to provide our services. By working with these service providers and our participating hospitals, we are able to help ease the burden of this disease for some of those in need. We partner with hospitals in the Northern Virginia area to provide the following services at no charge to the patient:

Treatment Transportation – one of the most common barriers to successful course of treatment is the patient’s access to consistent transportation.

Professional House Cleaning – Most patients are the caretakers of their homes. Relieving the burden of having to clean the house is one way we can help a patient be able to focus on getting well and spending quality time with family.

Meals – Providing food stability in a time of crisis alleviates tremendous stress from patients.

Childcare – Care for children means patients will have needed help in order to receive treatment and take time to heal, while knowing the kids are in the best of hands.

Lawn Care & Snow Removal – Overwhelming tasks such as lawn care or daunting impediments such as snow removal should not get in the way of treatments.

Pet Services – We can help you make sure that even your furry family members aren’t neglected during your treatment.

Crisis Fund – Designed to meet critical needs in the areas of housing, utilities and food stability, the Crisis Fund provides support to patients experiencing a financial emergency during treatment.

Need Help?

Patients are eligible for services if they are referred by participating hospitals. Recipients of services are identified by Nurse Navigators who work closely with patients and are in the best position to determine who will benefit most from these services. We currently provide services to patients with: Inova Loudoun, Inova Fairfax, Inova Fair Oaks, Inova Alexandria, Novant Health, Virginia Cancer Specialists and Reston Hospital Center.

If you are a breast cancer patient in need of support, please contact the Nurse Navigator at the hospital where you receive treatment. They will help you access the services provided by the Step Sisters organization.