There are no great deeds, Only small works done with great love.

— Mother Teresa

It is truly a pleasure to introduce the Fourth Edition of the Breast Cancer Resource Directory of North Carolina. It seems like only yesterday (12 years ago to be exact) that Jamie Konarski Davidson came to Susan Jackson and the staff of the Carolina Breast Cancer Study, asking us to partner with her in creating the First Edition of the Directory. We welcomed Jamie's offer wholeheartedly.

During the course of enrolling women in our epidemiologic study of breast cancer in African American and white women, we were often confronted with glaring health disparities. Women had questions about their treatment. They were not aware of sources for financial assistance or how to deal with transportation problems. They did not know where the support groups were located or when they met. Mostly, the women who spoke to us wanted someone to talk with, so that they and their families would not suffer alone with their disease.

No one with cancer should ever suffer alone. Or in silence! That is why from the beginning a major goal of the Breast Cancer Resource Directory has been to get people talking! People talking about cancer, talking about what their needs are, and talking to each other.

Communication has always been the passion of Liz Mahanna, who began managing the Resource Directory project in 1999. And it was Liz and Jamie who set up a partnership with Pam Williams in 2005. Pam's group, Women Helping Women, helped bring us the Third Edition of the Resource Directory in 2006. We are all indebted to these courageous and determined women, all cancer survivors, who have kept the Resource Directory alive all these years.

For Jamie, Liz, Pam, and all the people who have contributed to this Resource Directory, it has truly been a labor of love. I hope that in this Directory you will find the information that you need, that you locate support groups and resources, and that you get answers to your most important questions.

Of one thing I am certain . . . in this Resource Directory you will find people who care.

Robert Millikan
Professor

UNC's Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center