Few people could predict what would happen when Jewish refugee Margot Freudenberg opened the doors to the Charleston Hope Lodge in 1970. More than five decades later, the endeavor has grown into a nationwide organization that has touched more than 111 million lives — patients, their loved ones, friends, neighbors and colleagues.
Yes, just under one in three Americans have benefitted from charitable work in 31 lodges in 22 states and Puerto Rico.
Under the wing of the American Cancer Society (ACS), the Hope Lodge serves as a temporary home for cancer patients while they undergo treatment — completely free of charge. In Charleston, it’s located on Calhoun Street across from the Medical University of South Carolina.
“We could be in the middle of the tour with a new prospective patient,” said Sundi Herring, director of philanthropy for Charleston Hope Lodge. “They say, ‘OK, how much is this going to cost?’ And we say, ‘It’s free,’ and [then] it’s just waterworks.
“It’s that underpinning of support, like they can suddenly believe again that they can get on the other side of this.”
Residents of the Hope Lodge are in active cancer treatment. Patients could be undergoing radiation or chemotherapy or are in the process of a transplant. The Lodge, which is now four historic houses connected by renovated hallways, features 18 bedrooms, several quiet living and working spaces, a communal dining room and four kitchens with fully stocked pantries and refrigerators.
“No one goes hungry here,” Herring said. “Food insecurity is a big part of the cancer journey for a lot of people, and that’s something that we really tried to gently acknowledge and support people with. … Your body just really needs nutrition — real food. And we show up and show out here.”
A home away from home
One resident waiting out her 100 days post-transplant said the Lodge has been a blessing while she’s away from her home in Florence.
“At first, thinking about being away from my home was very overwhelming,” she said. “But being here was the closest to my being at my own house. My sister was always so concerned, and I told her, ‘I really feel right at home.’
“There are days when you come back, and you’re so comfortable. Anything you could want is right here.”
Herring, a breast cancer survivor herself, said her diagnosis in 2021 emboldened her to share her story and others’ at the Hope Lodge.
“Life is about moving through experiences,” she said. “And this was an experience that I hate that I had to go through, but there are so many gifts I have given through it. Life is funny like that.”
Herring went through a series of very tricky and painful biopsies, she said. And though it was caught early and she was part of a clinical trial, she ultimately underwent a double mastectomy.
“I lost my breasts, but that’s a small price to pay for more time on this gorgeous planet with such amazing people,” Herring said.
She had been working at the Hope Lodge for 15 years by then, after starting out as a manager in 2003. That experience, she said, meant she had a deep understanding of what help was available to her and how to navigate the system to best suit her needs.
Moving up from local leadership roles to the regional level and now as the director of philanthropy, Herring said she has grown with her role.
“I know these stories,” she said. “They live in my heart, and now I can connect them to people who continue to keep our doors open, so they can really feel the impact of their generosity.”
Donations keep the good work going
The Hope Lodge receives no federal money or other government assistance to keep its doors open — and they stay open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. That means the Lodge, and its many patients, depend on donations from the community to stay afloat.
“Yet, we are fully funded every year,” Herring said with pride.
The local Lodge has an annual operations goal at right about $1 million. With the holidays right around the corner, and a $100,000 matching campaign held by several donors, Herring said she is hopeful that the Lodge will meet its goal this year, just as it did in 2024.
To donate, find information about volunteer opportunities or gift needed supplies, visit raiseyourway.donordrive.com/pages/1227 or cancer.org.
A local legacy, national impact
It all started with Margot Freudenberg, a Holocaust survivor who fled Nazi Germany to live in South Carolina as a refugee with her husband and children.
Before escaping Germany to England, her family was detained, and she was questioned for three hours. According to Hope Lodge’s Sundi Herring, she always said, ‘By the skin of my neck, I made it through.’ ”
“She was a fireball,” Herring said. “Talk about an outsider coming in and just being beloved. But it was because she gave so much. She just had to put good out in the world.”
A physical therapist by trade, Freudenberg received several accolades for her philanthropy and generosity, including the Palmetto Award, an honorary degree from the Medical University of South Carolina and recognition from the Daughters of the American Revolution. In 1970, she founded the Charleston Hope Lodge, the first endeavor of its kind in the United States.
“Not only did she see these doors open, but she kept on fundraising and bringing in different families to support the Hope Lodge,” Herring said.
At her 99th birthday party, the third house of the Charleston Hope Lodge had been purchased, but it was in terrible shape. Herring recalled the CEO and a big donor were present for the party, and Freudenberg told them, “For my 100th birthday, I want to hear the hammers!”
The following year, the team got the funds together and hired a crew to come in with big sledgehammers.
“We said, ‘We don’t care what you do to this house. Just let her hear it,’ ” Herring said.
Freudenberg died in 2013 at the age of 105. She had been part of the American Cancer Society longer than any other person in its history, according to an obituary published by the American Cancer Society.
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