If love alone could heal Kim Keene, she would be on her way to a cure. But that’s not to be, and as the well-known artist is in the final stages of cancer, she is thinking about helping others.
Keene, a Portsmouth native who resides on Willoughby Spit in Norfolk, started the nonprofit Paint Pink in June 2023 while undergoing breast cancer treatment. Now as the stage 4 metastatic cancer attacks her brain, liver and stomach, Keene’s dying wish is that the organization continue long after she is gone.
Nicole Carry, her partner of almost six years, and others assured her it will.
“Kim wants everyone to keep fighting breast cancer, to know how important it is in our community to help people while they’re fighting cancer and for Paint Pink to continue forever,” Carry said.
Paint Pink ’s mission is to provide goods and services not covered by insurance, such as payment of bills, personal care items, estate planning, yard work, house cleaning and meal delivery, to cancer patients in Hampton Roads so they can focus on their health.