HOLDEN, Maine — When Sarah Robinson was undergoing chemotherapy, she was always cold. That is why a quilt is in every bedroom of the house that bears her name, Robinson’s identical twin sister, Lindsay Turner, said Thursday.
Sarah’s House, located in the former Fox Run Furniture Galleries building on Route 1A, opened to patients earlier this month. Its grand opening was celebrated Sunday.
The converted furniture store is the region’s first hospitality house for adults undergoing cancer treatment at Eastern Maine Medical Center Cancer Care, located in Brewer, 3 miles from Sarah’s House.
So far, only a handful of people have stayed at the house, which resembles a large, modern bed and breakfast. Those who have spent a few nights at Sarah’s already are expressing their gratitude, according to Turner.
“We are the ones who are honored to be among the first to have sought out your wonderful refuge at Sarahs’ House,” one unidentified guest from Monticello said in an email. “It is a beautiful sanctuary, quiet, serene and uplifting. We thank you for all of the hard work, dedication and compassion that all of the volunteers, survivors and everyday folk have provided.”
At the southeast end of the house is the Great Room, a combination kitchen, living room and dining room. There are couches, a large-screen television, two dining tables and a fully equipped, modern cooking area. On the second floor is the Quiet Room, a small sitting area with a fireplace designed as a refuge from the hubbub in other sections of the house.
The house has nine bedrooms, each with a private bathroom, that can accommodate two people. Two of the rooms are wheelchair accessible. All are decorated in pastel colors. Some have two single beds, others have double- or queen-size beds.
In each room is a handmade quilt each guest may keep, Turner said Thursday.
“Everybody gets a quilt,” she said. “Sarah was always so cold when she had her chemotherapy treatments. She felt that everyone should have a blanket.”
Attached to each quilt is a poem written by Karen White: “Take this quilt, wrap yourself in love. Share sorrow, share joys, share thoughts. Find peace, find friends, find strength. Take this quilt. Wrap yourself in love.”
The quilts are made by several different organizations, according to Turner.
The renovations to the former furniture store are part of a $3.5 million project that will include walking trails and gardens on the 90-acre parcel and an endowment to ensure the future of Sarah’s House. Businesses and individuals have been generous in giving materials, funds and time, she said.
“We have saved about $500,000 in construction costs because of all the donations we’ve received,” she said.
Building the house was Robinson’s dream. The young wife, mother and Old Town Rotarian was diagnosed with cancer in 2010. She and her husband, Ben Robinson, had to travel from Old Town to Boston for treatment. Through that experience, they learned about places where cancer patients could stay for little or no cost during their treatment, according to Sarah’s House of Maine’s website.
When Sarah Robinson returned to the Lafayette Family Cancer Center in Brewer, she met patients who, like her, had traveled hundreds of miles and spent hours in the car, driving from Maine’s most rural areas for treatment.
She wanted to provide them access to low- or no-cost temporary housing like she had seen in Boston.
Before she died in December 2011, Sarah Robinson brought together a group of Maine Rotarians, cancer survivors, civic leaders and treatment providers who formed a nonprofit corporation to take on the task.
Completing the task became a passion for Robinson’s sister and husband. Lindsay Turner is the chair of the campaign, and Benjamin Robinson is house board president.
According to CancerCare of Maine, cancer incidence in the northern two-thirds of Maine is among the highest in the nation and patients in this region typically receive most of their care at the Lafayette Family Cancer Center in Brewer. On an average day, nearly 135 of those patients drive 30 or more miles each way for treatment. Over a recent 10-year period more than 8,000 cancer patients traveled from outside what the center considers its immediate service area.
The suggested contribution from guests is $15 a day, but no one will be turned away because of an inability to pay, according to a previously published report. Guests are asked to bring their own groceries because of the varying dietary needs of each cancer patient.
Donations to Sarah’s House can be made online through sarahshouseofmaine.org or sent to Sarah’s House c/o EMHS Foundation, P.O. Box 931, Bangor, ME 04401.
BDN writer Dawn Gagnon contributed to this report.