Founder's Story
From Survival to Sisterhood
I survived breast cancer, chose to begin again after divorce, and am building the community I wish every woman had beside her during life's hardest transitions.
— Betsey Cleveland, Founder
Before the Diagnosis
The woman who held everything together
Before cancer asked me to fight for my life, I had spent years building a life around being strong for everyone else. I was a leader, a mother, a wife, a caregiver, a problem solver, and the person others could count on when life became difficult.
From the outside, my life looked successful. But somewhere along the way, I stopped asking an important question: who was taking care of me? Like so many women, I became everything everyone else needed me to be, and I slowly lost touch with myself.
The Interruption
A diagnosis I never saw coming
In the summer of 2023, my annual mammogram found what I could not feel. I had no lump, no symptoms, and no known family history of breast cancer. I was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma, Grade 3 and Stage 2.
I underwent six rounds of chemotherapy, followed by twenty rounds of radiation. Treatment was relentless and became a full-time job layered on top of work, motherhood, and running a household. My body no longer felt familiar. My future no longer felt certain.
“The woman I was before.”
Before diagnosis
“Still smiling. Still here.”
Chemotherapy, 2023
A note on screening: The appointment we are all tempted to postpone may be the appointment that changes or saves your life. Please speak with your healthcare professional about the screening that is right for you.
The Question After Survival
Who am I now?
People often think the hardest part of cancer is the treatment itself. Treatment was hard. But survival carried another question, one that remained after the appointments began to slow down: Who am I now?
At the same time as I was fighting for my health, my marriage was falling apart. It wasn't strong enough to survive my illness. When I became strong enough, I filed for divorce. Starting over was terrifying. But staying would have required me to keep abandoning myself. After everything I had survived, I knew I could not do that anymore.
“Loneliness is not always the absence of people. Sometimes it is the pain of feeling emotionally unseen within a relationship where you long to feel known, protected, and loved.”
I chose to begin again. I chose healing. I chose myself. I chose to believe a beautiful chapter was still waiting for me.
A Friend Who Walked the Path
Michelle's gift
Within the circle of people who loved me, my dear friend Michelle Patterson gave me the gift of not having to enter cancer alone. Michelle had been diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer and was initially told she had six months to live. She lived four and a half years.
When I was diagnosed, she made sure I knew what to expect. She told me about the products, services, questions, and small practical details that could make surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and recovery a little more manageable. She didn't try to fix me. She didn't try to rescue me. She simply guided me. Most importantly, she reminded me that I was not alone.
“Her care planted a seed in me: What if every newly diagnosed woman could have someone beside her who understood — someone who could make the unknown feel a little less frightening?”
Her legacy: To honor Michelle Patterson's legacy, The Healing Sisterhood is committed to directing 15% of its revenue to the foundation established in her honor. We are also setting aside another 15% of revenue to help cover the cost of care packages for those in need who cannot afford them.
Michelle Patterson
Dear friend, guide and the inspiration behind The Healing Sisterhood
“I was guided through cancer. I was carried by the people beside me. Then I had to rediscover myself.”
As I looked around, I realized I was not alone. I began to see the same question in women facing cancer, caregiving, divorce, grief, body changes, loss, and reinvention: "Who am I now?"
Many women had support for the crisis itself, but far fewer had sustained support for the woman living through it — and then for the person she was becoming afterward. That realization became the emotional foundation of The Healing Sisterhood.
— Betsey Cleveland, Founder of The Healing Sisterhood
The Mission Born from the Wound
Why I created The Healing Sisterhood
As I looked around, I realized I was not alone. I began to see the same question in women facing cancer, caregiving, divorce, grief, body changes, loss, and reinvention: "Who am I now?" Many women had support for the crisis itself, but far fewer had sustained support for the woman living through it — and then for the person she was becoming afterward.
That realization became the emotional foundation of The Healing Sisterhood — a survivor-led movement created so no woman has to navigate life's hardest transitions alone.
“Women are not broken. They do not need to be fixed. They need support, dignity, choice, and a safe place to remember who they have always been.”
Why We Exist
The Mission, Vision & Values
Mission
To walk beside women and caregivers through diagnosis, treatment, recovery, and major life transitions — with practical tools, community, and the kind of care that sees the whole person.
Vision
A world where no woman has to perform strength to deserve care. Where no caregiver navigates uncertainty alone. Where healing is not a solo act.
Our Values
Health
Connection
Dignity
Choice
Safety
Authenticity
Growth
Contribution
Welcome home, Sister
Because healing is not about becoming someone else. Healing is about coming home. If this story speaks to you, there is a place for you in the circle.