Holding On to Hope: Andrea’s Story

Multiple Myeloma Awareness Month at Goodness Village

March is Multiple Myeloma Awareness Month, a time to bring attention to a disease that quietly changes lives in an instant—and to honor the patients and families walking through it every day.

For us at Goodness Village, this month is deeply personal.

Our story began with a heart for those facing multiple myeloma. Long before we grew to serve patients with many types of serious illnesses, we were created as a ministry to support individuals traveling for myeloma treatment. People who needed not just care, but a place to stay, to rest, and to hold onto hope.

Andrea Benefield is one of those people.

When Everything Changes

In June 2021, Andrea’s world shifted in a way no one can prepare for. Living in Slidell, Louisiana with her family, she was diagnosed with multiple myeloma.

She remembers the moment not just for the diagnosis, but for what came next.

Telling her family.

Her son, who lives with multiple disabilities and requires full-time care. Her husband, who needed to stay home to support him. And her daughter, a teenage girl who, in Andrea’s words, “needs her mom now more than ever.”

It wasn’t just a medical decision she had to make. It was a life one.

Choosing the Road Ahead

With so many unknowns, Andrea began searching for the best place to receive treatment.

Multiple myeloma is considered incurable, but with the right care, it can often be managed for many years. That hope led her to UAMS in Little Rock, a leader in myeloma treatment with a center dedicated to this disease.

The decision meant leaving home.

It meant time away from her children. Time away from normal life. Time spent navigating something overwhelming, far from everything familiar.

Because her son needed her husband at home, Andrea made the journey with her dad by her side.

A Place to Land

During her first visit, hospital social workers gave Andrea information about places she could stay during treatment.

That’s how she found Goodness Village.

What she discovered wasn’t just a place to stay. It was a place to breathe.

“A sense of peace and love and fellowship is so critical in the healing process,” Andrea shared.

After beginning treatment, Andrea faced setbacks. The first round didn’t bring the response doctors had hoped for. She returned home for several months of continued care before becoming eligible for tandem stem cell transplants—two intensive treatments back-to-back.

Once again, she needed to return to Little Rock.

And once again, Goodness Village had a place for her.

More Than a Place to Stay

For patients undergoing treatment, so much time is spent in clinical spaces, under bright lights, interrupted sleep, and long hours alone.

At Goodness Village, Andrea found something different.

A home.

A quiet place where her dad could stay with her. A space filled with photos of her children. A place where conversations didn’t have to revolve around treatment or test results.

It was there, in those ordinary moments, that something meaningful happened.

She had time with her dad. Time to talk, to listen, to hear family stories she might not have heard otherwise.

Moments that might have been lost in the middle of everything else.

A Gift That Lasts

Today, Andrea is in remission, though she continues to navigate the challenges that come with her diagnosis.

She reflects often on the time she spent at Goodness Village, especially the months she shared there with her dad during her stem cell transplants.

In November, Andrea lost her father after a sudden and aggressive illness. But the time they shared together in Little Rock remains one of the most meaningful gifts of her life.

Because of Goodness Village, she wasn’t confined to a hospital room. She was able to be in a home-like space, cared for by her dad, surrounded by comfort and given the gift of time together.

Time for conversations.
Time for stories.
Time that she will always carry with her.

In loving memory of her father, whose care and presence made that season even more meaningful.

Why This Matters

Stories like Andrea’s are the reason Goodness Village exists.

Multiple myeloma often requires long, specialized treatment far from home.

Patients leave behind their routines, their families, and their sense of normalcy—all while facing one of the hardest fights of their lives.

This is where community steps in.

Where social workers ask, “Where will this family stay?”

 Where Goodness Village can answer, “Right here.”

This Month, We Remember Why We Started

During Multiple Myeloma Awareness Month, we reflect on where we began and why this mission still matters so much still today.

We think of patients like Andrea.

Of the strength it takes to leave home.
Of the courage it takes to keep going.
Of the quiet, meaningful moments that happen in between treatments.

And we remain committed to creating a place where patients and caregivers can find rest, comfort, and a sense of home.  No matter how far they’ve traveled.

A Continuing Story of Hope

Andrea’s story is one of resilience, love, and gratitude.

It reminds us that even in the middle of uncertainty, there can be peace. There can be connection. There can be goodness.

And sometimes, that goodness looks like something simple:A place to stay.
A moment of rest.
And time together when it matters most.