When Woodbury resident Tracy McGarry was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, she and her husband Mike turned to a city 90 miles south for answers. Rochester soon became a second home of sorts not by choice, but by necessity.

We were referred to Mayo Clinic by a myeloma specialist in the [Twin] Cities, recalled Mike. Every time wed be down there, we were there for seven days at a time. Tracy was gearing up for a stem cell transplant in the fall of 2017, so we were down there quite a bit.

Blood cancers like multiple myeloma and leukemia bring many families like the McGarrys to Rochester every year. They seek treatment that may not be available at their hometown hospital, all while trying to navigate a city thats entirely new to them. The whole experience can be disorienting, and Rochester can start to feel cold to outsiders.

Enter Kristina Wright-Peterson and Red Drop Resources. You may know this organization by their previous name, Med City Foundation, but for their five-year anniversary, Wright-Peterson decided it was time for a change.

She said the new name better reflects what the organization provides.

The term resources really speaks to everything we provide patients, said Wright-Peterson. We dont just provide financial assistance. We dont just provide assistance with finding a place to stay. We start every conversation with patients in terms of, what do you need help with? We dont tell them what we help with; we ask them what they need.

A majority of the time, families dealing with blood cancers have not had much time to prepare for a sudden move to Rochester. That means they need income support and a place to stay fast.

The blood cancer treatment regimen requires people to stay for 6-8 weeks, said Wright-Peterson. That means the patient, plus a caregiver normally their spouse are stuck in Rochester, trying to pay for things here with no money coming in.

Wright-Peterson founded Red Drop Resources in 2014 in honor of her late father, who died in 1995 after a battle with leukemia. She says the nonprofit fills a need that her family had nearly 20 years ago, and working with her mother, Virginia, has been a benefit for both of them.

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Rochester nonprofit offers a helping hand to patients affected by blood cancers - Med City Beat