Providing hope for 1,800+
Diane Osborne was already familiar with Pink Ribbon Girls when she noticed a job opening there in February of 2019.
Diane had learned of PRG four years prior after her daughter, Melissa, was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer – a kind considered more aggressive for its rapid growth and spread. Melissa was 34 with an 8-month-old child when she got this devastating news. Still, she was initially reluctant to accept Pink Ribbon Girls’ free services until she received a call from its CEO/President Heather Salazar.
“Heather took the time to tell her, ‘You need to take this for your wellbeing and peace of mind,’” Diane said. “‘Just because you take it doesn’t mean there is not enough to go around. This is what we at Pink Ribbon Girls do.’”
Melissa is now a seven-year survivor, and Diane is forever grateful for the ways Pink Ribbon Girls helped her daughter throughout her fight. That’s why, when the client coordinator position opened up at PRG, Diane knew it was meant to be. She is now working her dream job of connecting cancer patients with the same free services that meant so much to Melissa and her family.
On February 18, Diane will celebrate her three-year anniversary with Pink Ribbon Girls. She has onboarded more than 1,800 clients during that time.
“I have to say, this is the most fulfilling job I've ever had,” Diane said. “Knowing that I work with a group of women who all have the same goal and empathy – it’s very rewarding, and I think we all are honored to be able to do this.”
Diane’s job of facilitating the enrollment of services for clients is among the most vital and personal at PRG. She is often one of the first comforting voices they hear after a recent diagnosis. She explains the free services available to clients: meals, rides to treatment, house cleaning and peer support. She listens to their stories, their victories and their lowest moments.
“Listening to Diane talking to a client reminds us why we do what we do. Diane is full of empathy and compassion and she makes all of our clients feel supported,” says Heather. “Through her daughter's experience with breast cancer, Diane truly gets it. She is the heartbeat of PRG.”
Before joining the PRG team, Diane worked in education and training for the federal government for 33 years. She started out as an administrative assistant before working her way up to leading an Academic Support Division at the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.
Diane retired from federal civil service in 2012, and Pink Ribbon Girls entered her life after Melissa’s diagnosis in January of 2015. Thanks to Heather’s persistence, Melissa began receiving free healthy meals and house cleaning from PRG, and Diane got to see firsthand how significant those services were in allowing her daughter to focus on what matters most.
“It doesn’t sound like much, but it gave her time to do other things instead of grocery shopping and meal planning and cleaning – she got to spend that time with her kid and her husband,” Diane said. “It brings a lot to my heart to know how much PRG brought to Melissa’s life.”
Now, Diane gets to bring that hope and support to others grappling with a recent diagnosis.
When Diane isn’t onboarding new clients, she’s spending time with her grandkids. Melissa gave birth to her second child five years after her diagnosis. Melissa’s story is one of hope, but onboarding 1,800 clients is not a milestone Diane celebrates. To her, that’s 1,800 people whose lives are forever changed by cancer.
It’s also 1,800 people who didn’t have to go through their cancer journeys alone.
“It makes me sad that I’ve signed up that many people in such a short amount of time, but it’s also how many people I may have touched,” Diane said. “It brings such warmth and peace to my life to make their lives less burdened at the most difficult time in their lives.”