RALEIGH, N.C. — Walking into work with a pep in her step, Becky Horn loves her job as the executive director of Pretty in Pink Foundation.

"It's because of the impact. It's because it’s local, it's personal, and it's life saving," Horn says.

You could say she felt called to help women and men find the money they need to pay for breast cancer treatment. Horn was born into a family with a history of breast cancer.

"My mother had it, my step mother, my twin sister, my step sister. All the women in my family have had breast cancer, and I know what that looks like and the trauma it brings to a family," Horn says.

Her journey with Pretty in Pink Foundation started when she met the founder, Dr. Lisa Tolnitch, a practicing surgeon at Duke University.

When speaking about Tolnitch, Horn says, "She noticed some of her patients weren’t following through with their treatment, and in digging around to find out why, she learned they were making impossible choices of paying for their surgery or chemo, or putting food on the table."

Tolnitch asked Horn to be on the board of her foundation, but not before helping Horn herself. She was the surgeon assigned to help her during her breast cancer. Later, Horn asked to be a member of the staff because of her special connection with the patients.

"They’re strangers, but they’re our sisters here in North Carolina. They wake up every day, make ends meet, but they aren’t ready for this financial calamity," Horn says.

In 2020, Horn helped the foundation provide medal grants for 225 people across 62 counties in North Carolina.

"We’re the last stop. The work we do is impactful and life saving, and it's an honor to serve these people," Horn says. "We're on the hunt to make an impact with local people that are facing a death sentence if they don't get their treatment."

If you'd like to learn more information, or to make a donation, you can visit their website.