You can tell by the "Carolina Breast Friends Pink House" sign in front that the stately two-story house in Myers Park is dedicated to breast cancer patients and survivors.

But you may not know the story behind the seven-year quest behind Wednesday's grand opening.

It was the dream of Kristy Adams-Ebel, a pharmaceutical saleswoman from Huntersville who was 32 when diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003.

She died three years later, after the cancer had spread to her liver, lungs and brain.

In between, she inspired a group of like-minded survivors to create a support group called Carolina Breast Friends.

Adams-Ebel often said the day she was diagnosed was the best day of her life because it changed her idea of success - from making money to savoring life's precious moments. She brought that philosophy to the group, which today numbers about 275.

"I know Kristy is smiling," said Pam Phipps, the group's board president and a seven-year breast cancer survivor. Donations of about $300,000 made it happen.

In recent weeks, Phipps and other board members oversaw finishing touches to the 2,400-square-foot house. It features a welcoming sunroom and meeting rooms downstairs as well as upstairs rooms for arts and crafts, Pilates and yoga. Black-and-white photos of breast cancer survivors hang throughout the house.

There's a touch of bubble gum pink in the outdoor sign, but inside walls carry shades in "more sophisticated, grown-up women's pink," said Dianne Bailey, a volunteer advocate and lawyer with Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson.

"It's full of light and very hopeful - all the things that the group is," added Janice Moore, board secretary and a four-year breast cancer survivor. "We never want to be the somber, sit-and-cry support group."

Finding, funding the house

Using money from fundraisers such as the Pink Boots Ball, Carolina Breast Friends bought the East Morehead Street property in January 2010. In recent years, the house has been the office of H.Y. Dunaway Company, one of the city's oldest residential realty firms. Kemp and Sonny Dunaway, brothers in their 80s who grew up in the house that was built in 1925, sold the house for $700,000 and offered to help with financing, Carolina Breast Friends board members said.

The J. E. Dunn Construction Company donated $100,000 in materials and labor for renovation and raised awareness by placing a painted pink portable potty in various locations around the city.

Cathy Austin of Catherine M. Austin Designs led the local interior design community in contributing more than $60,000 in goods and services. Bailey, who is not a breast cancer survivor, has donated time and legal work. Her firm also donated office furniture that belonged to one of its lawyers, Neil Maddux Miller, who died of breast cancer last summer at age 30. The furniture will be used by an executive director once hired.

Carolina Breast Friends have been meeting monthly in the house since they bought it. The group plans to continue what it has been doing for seven years - mentoring women at any stage of breast cancer, from the newly diagnosed to those finished with treatment.

"So much of this is about fellowship," Bailey said. "Having those relationships is a powerful part of the healing process."

The group hands out "inspiration jars" filled with favorite quotes from cancer survivors, "comfort bags" filled with notebooks, tissues and other items patients might carry to chemotherapy, and "mastectomy pillows" for underarm comfort after surgery.

Concerns arise

Privately, some Charlotte advocates for breast cancer patients have expressed concerns that the Pink House may duplicate efforts of other organizations and compete for ever-scarce donations.

But Phipps said Carolina Breast Friends is working hard to avoid duplication by communicating and cooperating with local hospitals and nonprofit groups that provide care and services for breast cancer patients. For example, she said her group will refer people to the Buddy Kemp Cancer Support Center, which offers support groups and professional counseling for patients with all types of cancer, as well as caregivers and children. Presbyterian HealthCare operates Buddy Kemp in a two-story home on Colonial Avenue.

Barbara LiPira, vice president of oncology services at Presbyterian, said it's inevitable there will be "overlap" between the Pink House and Buddy Kemp, but added that there's room for everyone.

"Support can come in many different ways," she said. "What's right for one patient may not be right for another.... We are going to be sharing what the Pink House has to offer, and they're going to reciprocate."

The best-known fundraiser for breast cancer may be the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. This year, the Charlotte affiliate gave $1.24 million to local organizations for breast cancer screening and education and about $500,000 to the national affiliate for research. Carolina Breast Friends does not make grants for screening, treatment or research.

"Our missions are very different," said Gloria Scienski, executive director of Komen Charlotte. "We are about the cure, and they are about survivorship comfort."

'Take the fear out of it'

Many women who come to Carolina Breast Friends meetings haven't heard about services they could use, Phipps said.

"There's just so much thrown at you at the beginning," Phipps said. "You've got this diagnosis. You've got decisions to make right and left. It's just overwhelming.

"What we want to do is to take the fear out of it. That's what Kristy did for me," said Phipps, who is now a mentor to others.

Shelby Jenkins was 32 and newly diagnosed with breast cancer when she met Phipps. Jenkins was considering reconstructive breast surgery but had concerns about the scars and how it would look.

In a private "show and tell" moment, Phipps lifted her blouse to show Jenkins.

"That's when I knew I'd found the perfect spot," said Jenkins, now 38 and a Carolina Breast Friends board member. "These are things not everyone can tell you unless they've been through it."