Cancer Prevention and Early Detection Community Grants
Since 2007, the Prevent Cancer Foundation has awarded grants to outstanding projects in 37 states and American Samoa and to the Washoe Tribe.
Organizations across the country are doing extraordinary work to get at-risk communities the education, screenings and vaccinations they need to prevent cancer or detect it early. Since 2007, the Foundation has awarded nearly $3 million in community grants in 37 states and American Samoa and to the Washoe Tribe.
To advance the bold goal to reduce cancer deaths by 40% by 2035, the Foundation is proud to support 12 2023 community grant projects dedicated to increasing cancer prevention and early detection in rural and urban communities across the U.S., from Eugene, Oregon to Roanoke, Virginia to New York City. Each project was selected through a competitive grant process. Learn more about these diverse projects below.
To be notified of the next community grant funding opportunity, complete this form.
Organization: Equal Hope Metropolitan Chicago Breast Cancer Task Force
Location: Chicago, Ill.
Grant Amount: $25,000
Equal Hope will address breast and cervical cancer disparities by facilitating access to timely, high-quality screenings, diagnostics and treatment. Program initiatives include community outreach, education and client navigation aimed at addressing barriers to cancer screening for people living in areas with high death rates from breast and cervical cancers and focusing on improving racial disparities in Metro Chicago’s health system.
Funding for this project is provided by the Stohlman Family Grant in memory of Richard Stohlman and Margaret Weigand.
Organization: Hitting Cancer Below the Belt
Location: Midlothian, Va.
Grant Amount: $25,000
This project will eliminate major barriers to colorectal cancer screening by providing stool-based fecal immunochemical test (FIT) screening kits and educational resources to low-income, uninsured individuals across Virginia. The project team will help to reduce or eliminate follow-up colonoscopy costs and provide training and technical assistance to clinic staff to reduce the number of late-stage cancer diagnoses.
Organization: HIV Alliance
Location: Eugene, Ore.
Grant Amount: $25,000
HIV Alliance’s case management program will support people in Lane County, Oregon, who are impacted by hepatitis C and are at high risk for liver cancer by reducing barriers to hepatitis C treatment. (Hepatitis C is a leading cause of liver cancer. By treating hepatitis C, you may be able to stop liver cancer before it starts.) The program aims to connect underserved individuals with medical care to clear the virus and improve their health and quality of life.
Organization: Korean Community Services of Metropolitan New York, Inc.
Location: Bayside, N.Y.
Grant Amount: $25,000
The Asian American Healthy Liver Initiative will address hepatitis B and work to prevent liver cancer deaths within Asian communities in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. This project aims to conduct 27 free screening events to identify new patients with chronic hepatitis B, expand culturally competent patient navigation services and utilize various communication channels to raise awareness about hepatitis B and liver cancer across the tristate area. (Hepatitis B is a leading cause of liver cancer. It’s best to prevent hepatitis B with vaccination, but if someone does contract hepatitis B, it can be treated. Treating hepatitis B may stop liver cancer before it starts.)
Organization: Milwaukee Consortium for Hmong Health
Location: Milwaukee, Wis.
Grant Amount: $25,000
This project will provide culturally appropriate educational workshops in the Southeast Asian community it serves about how diet and physical activity impact cancer risks. They will conduct educational workshops in the languages spoken by each group for Hmong, Burmese, Karen, Karenni and Laotian community members and will encourage participants to schedule appropriate cancer screenings.
Organization: Project Renewal, Inc.
Location: New York, N.Y.
Grant Amount: $25,000
Project Renewal’s ScanVan is a mobile mammography van and program addressing the need for accessible and affordable breast health care in the New York Metropolitan Area. During this project, the ScanVan will provide free mammograms, clinical breast exams and patient navigation to 800 women in low-income neighborhoods. Additionally, ScanVan’s Patient Navigators will facilitate prompt and compassionate follow-up care for any patients with an abnormal result and will aim to ensure that 100% of patients diagnosed with breast cancer are connected to appropriate treatment.
Funding for this project is provided by the Stohlman Family Grant in memory of Richard Stohlman and Margaret Weigand.
Organization: Comadre a Comadre Program, The Regents of the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
Location: Albuquerque, N.M
Grant Amount: $25,000
This project will provide education, information and navigation to 300 Hispanic/Latinx people from counties surrounding Albuquerque, New Mexico, through the Comadre a Comadre program. This culturally and linguistically designed project, the Platicas will train trusted, community peer breast and cervical cancer survivors to conduct classes and establish an advisory council, address barriers to screening and navigate patients to screening appointments. They also aim to reach over 850 individuals through health fairs and one-on-one classes.
Organization: The Research Foundation for The SUNY of Univ. at Buffalo
Location: Buffalo, N.Y.
Grant Amount: $25,000
The Patient Voices Breast Cancer Program will increase breast cancer screening rates by linking patients to mobile mammography and primary care through Patient Ambassadors and education to engage community members not actively involved in the health care system. This program will also mobilize Patient Ambassadors from the Patient Voices Network for outreach to community residents identified as high risk for breast cancer.
Organization: University of Arizona Foundation
Location: Tucson, Ariz.
Grant Amount: $25,000
The project aims to recruit and train at least 15 volunteers (interested community members and schoolteachers) to reach at least 3,000 youth as part of their sun safety and skin cancer awareness efforts. Community volunteers will deliver skin cancer prevention lessons in classrooms and clubs in Southern Arizona. The Outreach Team of the Skin Cancer Institute at the University of Arizona will be responsible for developing the sun safety curriculum and implementing the program.
Organization: VAX 2 STOP CANCER
Location: Birmingham, Ala.
Grant Amount: $25,000
This project will focus on an HPV vaccine provider education program, offsetting program costs and increasing HPV vaccination rates by 10% among participating practices. The project team will train pediatric and family practice health care providers in private practice, health departments, Federally Qualified Health Centers and rural health centers throughout Alabama to give an effective vaccine recommendation, counsel hesitant parents and decrease missed opportunities to give the vaccine. (HPV can cause at least six types of cancer; by preventing HPV, you can ultimately prevent cancer.)
Organization: Virginia Harm Reduction Coalition
Location: Roanoke, Va.
Grant Amount: $25,000
This program will consist of activities aimed at preventing, detecting and treating cancer-causing viruses that are common among people who use drugs. The Coalition will provide rapid hepatitis C testing, connect patients to hepatitis B and hepatitis C laboratory testing and treatment, and provide to hepatitis B and HPV immunization, testing, education and care to an underserved, marginalized population in Appalachian Southwest Virginia.
Organization: West Virginia University
Location: Morgantown, W.Va.
Grant Amount: $25,000
The West Virginia University Cancer Institute’s Mobile Lung Cancer Screening Unit will partner with two existing clinic systems to identify those at high risk for lung cancer and use an evidence-based messaging campaign to increase lung cancer screening in rural West Virginia. To achieve this, the project will use patient navigation, patient reminders, and provider recall, and will work to reduce financial barriers and improve access to screening in the most rural parts of southern and northern West Virginia.
Albie Aware Breast Cancer Foundation, the largest nonprofit organization dedicated solely to breast cancer in the greater Sacramento area, will bring mobile mammograms to the LGBTQ+ community. At least 90 individuals will receive mammograms. They will host a live, virtual event on breast cancer awareness for the LGBTQ+ community.
Organization: Cheeky Charity
Location: Palm Springs, Calif.
Grant Amount: $25,000
Cheeky Charity specializes in innovative awareness campaigns and LGBTQ+ populations. “March Your Butt — Palm Springs,” is a multi-level series of interventions to be held in Palm Springs, California during National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month in March. All activities will facilitate linkages to care for colorectal and anal cancer screenings, HPV vaccinations and associated wrap-around services. They plan to leverage the impact of the local initiative to generate momentum for future interventions.
Organization: Community Health Project Inc.
Location: New York, N.Y.
Grant Amount: $25,000
Callen-Lorde’s Cervical Cancer Screening Project aims to mitigate barriers, address gaps in care and improve access to culturally affirmative cervical cancer screening services for lesbian, bisexual and transgender or gender non-binary individuals with a cervix living in New York City, with an emphasis on serving community members who are uninsured and/or persons of color. The project will implement tailored provider and patient-level interventions designed to improve disparities in cervical cancer screening uptake and adherence rates.
Organization: House of Transplant and Cancer
Location: Torrance, Calif.
Grant Amount: $25,000
The project, “Fatty Liver, Cirrhosis and Hepatitis Screening, Education, and Vaccination for the LGBTQ+ Community of Riverside County, CA,” provides the opportunity for the LGBTQ+ community to receive free education, liver screenings and hepatitis vaccinations. Individuals at higher risk for liver cancer are those who have hepatitis B and C infection, those with fatty liver disease and those with other causes of liver cirrhosis. Hepatitis B and C disproportionately impact the LGBTQ+ community.
Organization: Long Island Jewish Medical Center
Location: New Hyde Park, N.Y.
Grant Amount: $25,000
Long Island Jewish Medical Center’s LGBTQ+ Cancer Prevention Coalition Program will develop and promote capacity building to enhance breast/chest, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening services for LGBTQ+ community members. A multifaceted approach will include implementing community education sessions to reach 1,000 LGBTQ+ community members with the goal to increase screening rates by 20%. Patient navigation services will address logistical, psychosocial and financial challenges, and coordinate diagnostic follow-up and expedient transition into treatment, as needed.
Organization: Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center
Location: Baton Rouge, La.
Grant Amount: $25,000
People who identify as LGBTQ+ continue to be underserved for cancer screening. Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center’s project will consist of outreach and education, no-cost breast and colorectal cancer screening, patient navigation for those with abnormal findings and provider trainings in the hopes of encouraging LGBTQ+ communities in Louisiana and Mississippi to receive recommended cancer screenings.
Organization: Norton Healthcare
Location: Louisville, Ky.
Grant Amount: $25,000
LGBTQ+ community members face a higher prevalence than the community at large of high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV), which is known to be linked to cancer. This project aims to increase vaccination rates among LGBTQ+ adults ages 19-26 and the children of LGBTQ+ parents. Project staff will collaborate with community members to distribute QR-coded promotional items that enable enduring access to HPV and cancer risk education and vaccine appointment scheduling.
Organization: Panhandle Breast Health
Location: Amarillo, Texas
Grant Amount: $25,000
Panhandle Breast Health, in partnership with Haven Health Clinics, will create the Transcending Limits Cancer Screening Initiative, a pilot project that will build on existing successful programs in conducting outreach specific to the LGBTQ+ community. The outreach will include access to no-cost mammograms and low-cost Pap tests and HPV vaccinations. Panhandle Breast Health will coordinate efforts with Haven Health to provide information on cancer screening to the LGBTQ+ community.
Organization: St. John’s Well Child & Family Center
Location: Los Angeles, Calif.
Grant Amount: $25,000
Funding from Prevent Cancer Foundation will allow St. John’s to add a new cancer prevention component to their existing community outreach programming and services for transgender individuals and the broader LGBQ+ population in L.A. Through community events, support groups and a social media campaign, the Transgender Health Program will reach approximately 5,000 individuals through cancer education, social media engagement HPV vaccination and staff training.
Organization: Vietnamese American Cancer Foundation (VACF)
Location: Fountain Valley, Calif.
Grant Amount: $25,000
The Cancer Education and Patient Navigation Program provides comprehensive cancer education, prevention and early detection support, focused on a community in which cancer is the top cause of death. This program provides linguistically and culturally sensitive education and patient navigation. It aims to expand its reach and provide its comprehensive approach—tailored to the Asian and Pacific Islander LGBTQ+ community—through strategic partnerships with local LGBTQ+ serving organizations and groups.
Organization: Eastern Maine Medical Center (EMMC)
Location: Bangor, Maine
Grant Amount: $25,000
In partnership with the Bangor Region YMCA Caring Connections program which supports free mammograms for qualifying patients, EMMC will implement process improvements to increase access to screening for patients who have missed or cancelled mammograms due to COVID-19. The project will focus on vulnerable rural and LGBTQ+ communities.
Organization: Equal Hope
Location: Chicago, Ill.
Grant Amount: $25,000
The Returning to Normal—a Catch-up Cancer Screening Program will expand Equal Hope’s current breast and cervical cancer program, urging 60,000 people to schedule cancer screenings that may have been cancelled or postponed due to COVID-19, and navigating 1,000 medically underserved women directly to screening.
Organization: Erie Family Health Center, Inc.
Location: Chicago, Ill.
Grant Amount: $25,000
The Breast Cancer Continuum of Care Program at Erie Family Health Centers aims to address the language, cultural, financial and logistical barriers Latina women may face when accessing screening on Chicago’s West Side. The project will deliver robust outreach and education and refer 2,050 women for mammograms.
Organization: HIV Alliance Location: Eugene, OR Grant Amount: $25,000
Through the Preventing Hepatitis C Related Liver Cancer in Lane County, Oregon project, HIV Alliance will provide hepatitis C virus (HCV) screening and case management services in an effort to prevent HCV-related liver cancer in an area heavily impacted by the virus and other serious health concerns. These programs reach populations who are disproportionately impacted by HCV and HCV mortality, including people who inject drugs, unhoused populations, rural communities, and Black and Indigenous populations, as well as other at-risk groups.
Organization: Long Island Jewish Medical Center
Location: New Hyde Park, N.Y.
Grant Amount: $25,000
The Cancer Community Connection Program will increase access to breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screening for 2,000 medically underserved people in New York. The program will also provide 200 people with comprehensive patient navigation that will identify and eliminate logistical, financial, linguistic, psychosocial and other barriers that challenge access to enhanced screening services.
Organization: Syracuse University
Location: Syracuse, N.Y.
Grant Amount: $25,000
Empowering Black Pastors to Amplify Colorectal Cancer Prevention Messages to Underserved Communities is a culturally sensitive, faith-based health education intervention. This project will reach 5,000 high-risk African Americans with colorectal cancer education on risk factors and the importance of prevention and early detection.
Organization: Milwaukee Consortium for Hmong Health, Inc.
Location: Madison, Wis.
Grant Amount: $25,000
The Milwaukee Consortium for Hmong Health will provide outreach and education to increase screening rates in medically underserved Southeast Asian refugee communities in Milwaukee. The Saving Lives Through Cancer Education During the Pandemic project will reach 400 men and women through strong community partnerships.
Organization: Vietnamese American Cancer Foundation (VACF)
Location: Fountain Valley, Calif.
Grant Amount: $25,000
In the Vietnamese American community, cancer is a leading cause of death. VACF’s Cancer Education and Patient Navigation Program will educate 600 Vietnamese Americans with cancer prevention education and will navigate 250 community members to health care, including cancer screenings.
Organization: West Virginia University (WVU)
Location: Morgantown, W. Va.
Grant Amount: $25,000
The WVU Cancer Institute’s Mobile Lung Cancer Screening Unit (LUCAS) will partner with approximately 150 community clinics around West Virginia to provide lung cancer screening to 600 patients. Through the use of the mobile unit, the LUCAS Program will remove financial and structural barriers to screening that exist in rural West Virginia.
Organization: Western Carolina Medical Society Foundation
Location: Asheville, N.C.
Grant Amount: $25,000
The Western North Carolina Colorectal Cancer Screening Initiative is the only program in its region providing colorectal cancer screening to uninsured individuals. This project will provide stool-based fecal immunochemical test (FIT) screening kits to test for colorectal cancer in 500 uninsured patients.
Organization: Wyoming Breast Cancer Initiative Foundation
Location: Cheyenne, Wyo.
Grant Amount: $25,000
This project will allow Wyoming women to receive a mammogram without undue financial burden while still using health care providers in their local community. Through strategically developed partnerships, the Wyoming Breast Cancer Initiative will provide 40 mammograms to medically underserved women in rural areas.
Organization: American Indian Cancer Foundation (AICAF)
Location: Minneapolis, Minn.
Grant Amount: $25,000
AICAF will partner with three American Indian urban health clinics across the U.S. to increase colorectal cancer awareness and screening. The project will focus on increasing the completion rate for 200 FOBT/FIT (stool-based) tests distributed through flu/FIT clinic events and other awareness events.
Organization: Binaytara Foundation Location: Issaquah, Wash. Grant Amount: $25,000
In partnership with the local county health department and community collaborators, this project will provide cervical and breast cancer education, screening and navigation support to 300 Bhutanese refugee women in King and Snohomish counties in Washington state. The project aims to address the language, cultural and financial barriers faced by the refugees for cancer screening.
Organization: Kintegra Health Location: Gastonia, N.C. Grant Amount: $25,000
The Health Promotion Navigation Program will coordinate breast cancer screening and diagnostic testing for 250 uninsured/underinsured women. In collaboration with clinical care teams, outreach staff and community partners, the project will ensure patients are linked to resources and programs through the assistance of the health promotion navigator.
Organization: Korean Community Services of Metropolitan New York, Inc. Location: Bayside, N.Y. Grant Amount: $25,000
Project CALL will provide free screenings for hepatitis B, community education about hepatitis and liver cancer, culturally appropriate outreach and dedicated care coordination for uninsured or underinsured community members. The group will develop and release a radio PSA and video series highlighting the prevalence and risk of chronic hepatitis B and liver cancer in the Korean community.
Organization: North East Medical Services Location: San Francisco, Calif. Grant Amount: $25,000
The Hep B Moms Program will provide comprehensive multidisciplinary care to women with chronic hepatitis B virus infection and their infants, starting from a woman’s initial prenatal hepatitis B screening to her infant’s first year of life. The program aims to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B among a patient population of predominately Asian immigrants. Chronic hepatitis B infection is the leading cause of liver cancer worldwide.
Organization: Project Renewal, Inc. Location: New York, N.Y. Grant Amount: $25,000
Bilingual patient navigators will guide 1,100 underserved women in the greater New York City area through free comprehensive breast cancer screening and education on board the ScanVan mobile mammovan. The navigators will also guide these women through any needed follow-up diagnostic procedures and ensure timely results.
Organization: Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center Location: Buffalo, N.Y. Grant Amount: $25,000
The Roswell AIR (Awareness, Information and Resources for Lung Cancer Screening) program is a community-partnered education program designed to increase knowledge and reduce barriers to lung cancer screening among underserved communities in Western New York. The program is offered in English and Spanish.
Organization: Tampa Family Health Centers, Inc. Location: Tampa, Fla. Grant Amount: $25,000
Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in Florida. The goals of the project are to reach and maintain a 50% colorectal cancer screening rate for the underserved patient population and to establish regular provider training and education about the importance of increasing screening rates. The project aims to engage community members and empower them to act as vital partners in the screening process.
Organization: The Research Foundation for the SUNY on behalf of the University at Buffalo, The Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Department of Family Medicine and the Primary Care Research Institute Location: Buffalo, N.Y. Grant Amount: $25,000
The Patient Voices Fight Colorectal Cancer program will partner with primary care providers to increase colorectal cancer screening among predominately Black patients from Buffalo. Patient ambassadors will contact and educate patients and assist 125 people through the screening process.
Organization: VAX 2 STOP CANCER Location: Birmingham, Ala. Grant Amount: $25,000
The Preventing HPV-Associated Cancers Through Effective Provider Education program will utilize evidence-based tools to increase HPV vaccination completion rates by 10% across 15 pediatric health care providers in a five-county area of central Alabama. A digital media campaign will be used to reach parents and adolescents with messages about the safety, efficacy and importance of the HPV vaccine.
Organization: African Services Committee
Location: New York, NY
Grant Amount: $25,000
Project DELIVER aims to increase liver cancer prevention awareness through viral hepatitis education, screening and vaccination within the underserved African-born community in all five boroughs of New York City. In collaboration with community-based organizations and faith-based leaders, the project will organize awareness and screening events, followed by any necessary navigation services.
Organization: Alliance Community Service
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Grant Amount: $25,000
The Latina Breast Health Navigation Program will provide breast cancer screenings to 300 Hispanic women ages 40 and older, along with patient navigation services and education about the importance of early detection.
Organization: Esperanza Health Centers
Location: Chicago, IL
Grant Amount:$25,000
Serving low-income, uninsured women from primarily Latino neighborhoods on Chicago’s Southwest Side, the Partners of Hope program addresses the urgent need for culturally sensitive and language-appropriate breast health education, accessible mammography screening services and care coordination. The program aims to provide educational outreach to 500 community residents and screening services to 450 women.
Organization: Friends of Mercy Foundation
Location: Bakersfield, CA
Grant Amount: $25,000
This project aims to reach 420 low-income, underserved women with a free breast cancer education and awareness program, led by a bilingual health education coordinator. Education and navigation services will be delivered to young women ages 17-25 and women 40 years and older.
Organization: Health Care for the Homeless
Location: Baltimore, MD
Grant Amount: $25,000
This project will implement strategies to reduce missed appointments and provide support for people experiencing homelessness. As a result, they hope to increase colorectal cancer screening rates to 55% of the more than 4,000 people ages 50-74 they serve. The project also aims to increase cervical cancer screening rates to 65% for more than 3,300 women ages 21-64.
Organization: Kokua Kalihi Valley Comprehensive Family Services
Location: Honolulu, HI
Grant Amount: $25,000
This hepatitis B care-coordination project is designed to improve the uptake of hepatitis B screening and immunizations during perinatal care in a culturally grounded community health setting, with the potential to help decrease cancer morbidity and mortality. With state and community partners, care coordination will be provided for patients through screening and vaccination or surveillance and support services.
Organization: Nueva Vida
Location: Towson, MD
Grant Amount: $25,000
This project will provide education, screening and navigation to uninsured Latino immigrants in the Baltimore metropolitan area. The project will utilize culturally sensitive and competent educational sessions (charlas) and outreach activities to improve early detection. Cancer screenings for breast, cervical and colorectal cancers will be provided, with any necessary follow-up care.
Organization: University of New Mexico
Location: Albuquerque, NM
Grant Amount: $25,000
The Comadre a Comadre Program aims to educate, navigate and conduct follow-up for 300 Latina women ages 40 and older who attend breast health education classes. With community partners, the project seeks to enhance their knowledge of breast cancer and to navigate them to breast cancer screening appointments.
Organization: Vietnamese American Cancer Foundation
Location: Fountain Valley, CA
Grant Amount: $25,000
This initiative strives to address the burden of viral hepatitis B and C in the Vietnamese American community through culturally sensitive and language-appropriate media outreach, education and early detection and treatment services. The project aims to reach 850 people with education and provide 500 screenings, along with individualized patient navigation for vaccination, disease monitoring and treatment.
Organization: Virginia Harm Reduction Coalition
Location: Roanoke, VA
Grant Amount: $25,000
This program aims to prevent hepatocellular carcinoma (the most common type of liver cancer) in populations at high risk of contracting hepatitis C by testing 450 people and making connections with community partners to provide those who need it with anti-viral treatment. The Coalition employs a peer-based, mobile outreach model to reach people who are marginalized and stigmatized in the Appalachian region of southwestern Virginia.
Organization: Asian Health Coalition Location: Chicago, IL Grant Amount: $25,000
The Coalition will develop a collaborative resource guide for their existing web portal to link uninsured patients who have positive fecal tests for colorectal cancer with donated colonoscopy appointments. The project will utilize the new toolkit and website to expedite necessary follow-up screening. Together with related training materials for community health center and hospital staff, the Coalition expects this project to increase rates of early detection of colorectal cancer and reduce health disparities.
Organization: Hepatitis B Foundation Location: Doylestown, PA Grant Amount: $25,000
The project aims to reduce rates of liver cancer in African immigrant and refugee communities in Philadelphia, by offering 150 free hepatitis B and C screenings. Those who test positive will be offered navigation services to link them to necessary medical care and treatment. Culturally competent, language-appropriate education will be a key component in their effort to improve understanding of the link between hepatitis B and C and liver cancer.
Organization: Hitting Cancer Below the Belt Location: Midlothian, VA Grant Amount: $25,000
In an effort to reduce barriers to colorectal screening, inexpensive in-home fecal immunochemical tests (FIT) will be offered to medically underserved populations. The program plans to provide FIT tests to 1,000 individuals and offer in-person education to 5,000 individuals. Those who have positive FIT tests will receive financial support to cover additional screening costs. The project also plans to reach nearly 200,000 households through a #cancerhatesthat television media campaign focused on colorectal cancer.
Organization: Iowa Harm Reduction Coalition Location: Iowa City, IA Grant Amount: $25,000
The project will provide hepatitis C testing and prevention education to 400 people with histories of injection drug use in rural and semi-rural communities in Iowa. Those who screen positive will be navigated to necessary follow-up health care. The project aims to reduce rates of hepatitis C transmission and prevent liver cancer through the provision of culturally competent prevention services.
Organization: McLaren Northern Michigan Foundation Location: Petoskey, MI Grant Amount: $25,000
Lung cancer screenings will be provided for 400 patients and education about lung cancer prevention for 1,350 community members across 22 rural counties of Michigan. The program expects a 33 percent increase in lung cancer screenings for high-risk patients and a 50 percent enrollment increase in smoking cessation programs. The program will use grant funds to increase knowledge about lung cancer screening services and address financial barriers for eligible patients.
Organization: Northwest Michigan Health Services, Inc. Location: Shelby, MI Grant Amount: $25,000
The project will utilize bilingual community health workers based in health centers to increase screening rates for breast, cervical and colorectal cancers among residents in rural northwest Michigan. Screening services and follow-up care are provided at the health centers and partner organizations. The program aims to provide 100 cervical cancer screenings, 50 breast cancer screenings and 100 colorectal cancer screenings, along with 200 HPV vaccinations.
Organization: OhioHealth Foundation Location: Columbus, OH Grant Amount: $25,000
The project will provide HPV vaccinations to 100 high-risk women under the age of 26 in central Ohio, including victims of sex trafficking. One-on-one patient education and group education classes will also be provided. A mobile health clinic will bring health care services to target neighborhoods to increase access to HPV vaccines. In addition, the film Someone You Love: The HPV Epidemic will be shown in various central Ohio locations to raise awareness of the link between HPV and cancer.
Organization: Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, Inc. Location: Milwaukee, WI Grant Amount: $25,000
The project will provide cervical cancer screening and prevention services to low-income, uninsured and undocumented Latina women in 21 health centers in Milwaukee, as well as in southeast and central Wisconsin. The health centers will provide about 6,500 Pap tests, 2,900 HPV tests, 120 HPV vaccines, 450 colposcopies and 100 referrals for women needing follow-up diagnoses or treatment.
Organization: Spectrum Health Foundation Location: Grand Rapids, MI Grant Amount: $25,000
The project plans to increase access to breast care services in West Michigan for African-American, Hispanic and rural residents who are uninsured or underinsured and do not qualify for the state breast and cervical program. The project will use grant funds to provide an estimated 48 mammograms and 100 tomosynthesis (3D breast cancer screenings) and at least 20 outreach events. Participants will be provided with comprehensive follow-up services and culturally competent education.
Organization: St. Vincent Foundation Location: Los Angeles, CA Grant Amount: $25,000
The Liver Cancer Prevention project will expand their existing program, which provides chronic hepatitis B education, screening, consultation and prevention services to an underserved Asian-American population. Two to four times a month, language-appropriate outreach events will be conducted. Those who screen positive for chronic hepatitis B will receive liver cancer screening, as well as support through phone consultations and educational sessions. Liver cancer education brochures will also be provided to 3,000 at-risk community members.
Organization: University of New Mexico Location: Albuquerque, NM Grant Amount: $25,000
The Breast Health Pláticas project will be expanded to offer breast health education classes to at least 300 Hispanic women/Latinas in three additional counties. Working with 38 community partners, the project aims to provide education and navigation services to reduce barriers to screening and conduct follow-up with participants. The project aims to increase breast cancer knowledge by 80 percent among participants.
Organization: University of Southern California – Keck School of Medicine Location: Los Angeles, CA Grant Amount: $25,000
The project aims to provide lung cancer education and screening and smoking cessation services to the surrounding Korean American community. Working with community partners, the project will provide tailored education to 300 people and lung cancer screening at no cost to 100 at-risk eligible individuals. Participants will receive comprehensive navigation services for any necessary follow-up care and treatment. Photo courtesy of the KHEIR Center.
Organization: Baltimore City Health Department Location: Baltimore, MD Grant Amount: $25,000
Baltimore City Health Department will train health care providers to increase the use of fecal immunochemical tests (FIT tests), a stool-based colorectal screening test, along with motivational interviewing and other colorectal cancer screening tests. Their goal is to bring Baltimore closer to the national goal of having 80 percent of the recommended population screened by 2018. The program aims to provide colorectal cancer messaging and education to 2,000 residents in target neighborhoods.
Organization: Chicago Family Health Center (CFHC) Location: Chicago, IL Grant Amount: $25,000
Chicago Family Health Center (CFHC) plans to increase early detection of colorectal cancer through increased access to fecal occult blood tests (FOBT) or FIT tests by enhancing their provider reminder system. CFHC has five clinics throughout Chicago and serves mostly uninsured or underinsured Hispanic and African-American patients. The project expects to increase the clinics’ rate of colorectal screenings by 15 percent (from 51 percent to 66 percent) by the end of the grant period.
Organization: Farmworkers Self-Help Inc. Location: Dade City, FL Grant Amount: $25,000
Farmworkers Self-Help Inc. will use bilingual and bicultural outreach workers to provide breast, cervical, colorectal, lung and skin cancer education to mostly undocumented immigrant farmworkers and to expand their understanding of connections between their good nutrition, exercise and health. The project will also facilitate any necessary follow-up care. The team will canvas migrant camps, housing projects, churches, flea markets and other venues to educate community members one-on-one and will also conduct group-training sessions at community events.
Organization: FORCE: Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered Location: Tampa, FL Grant Amount: $25,000
FORCE: Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered will expand their Peer Navigation Program to reach individuals affected by, or at high risk for, hereditary breast, ovarian or related cancers who lack access to risk management and prevention resources in rural Kansas. Through this project, FORCE will provide 150 people confidential one-on-one telephone support from highly-trained volunteers and a free personalized resource guide with information to help them find health care professionals who specialize in hereditary cancer.
Organization: Norton HealthCare Location: Louisville, KY Grant Amount: $25,000
Norton HealthCare will introduce a cancer education program, “Promotoras Tobacco Cessation in the Hispanic Community,” led by trained community educators to encourage Hispanic residents to stop smoking. The outreach component will use pláticas (conversational chats) as a method to assess the participants’ readiness to quit, taking cultural factors into account. The promotoras (community educators) will provide participants with relevant information and smoking cessation resources.
Organization: Penn State Health–St. Joseph Medical Center Foundation Location: Reading, PA Grant Amount: $25,000
Penn State Health–St. Joseph Medical Center Foundation will reduce cultural, linguistic and socioeconomic barriers and improve access to breast health for Latinas in Reading, Pennsylvania, through targeted outreach, education and patient navigation. The program will use a promotora community health worker approach, and the group aims to provide one-on-one and group education for 500 Latinas, as well as screening mammograms for 100 of these women.
Organization: Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains Location: Denver, CO Grant Amount: $25,000
Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains will provide clinical breast exams and mammograms to medically underserved women at four of their health centers. In addition to medical services, the group will provide one-on-one preventive cancer education and assistance in navigating the healthcare continuum.
Organization: The Cambodian Family Location: Santa Ana, CA Grant Amount: $25,000
The Cambodian Family will use culturally and linguistically tailored health education workshops to reach 100 Cambodian women and their spouses. The workshops aim to promote healthy lifestyle changes, increase breast health knowledge and breast cancer awareness and improve access to screening services through bilingual case management and patient navigation.
Organization: The CHOW Project Location: Honolulu, HI Grant Amount: $25,000
The CHOW Project will implement a hepatitis B education program with the goal of testing at least 250 at-risk Pacific Islanders. The project will link those who test positive for the virus with hepatitis B care coordinators who will ensure they get necessary medical care and treatment to prevent liver cancer. In addition to testing, the program will provide culturally-sensitive and linguistically-appropriate hepatitis B education to patients.
Organization: University of Texas—MD Anderson Cancer Center Location: Houston, TX Grant Amount: $25,000
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center aims to reduce the incidence of cervical cancer by improving access to screening and clinical management of cervical dysplasia (precancerous changes). They will train and mentor 50 medical providers located in five under-resourced regions in Texas. This will increase provider capacity to identify women with cervical cancer dysplasia and triage and treat them according to national guidelines, as well as build provider skills to find and treat dysplasia in underserved populations.
Organization: Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing Project (MICOP) Location: Oxnard, CA Project Director: Norma Gomez Grant Amount: $25,000
Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing Project (MICOP) in California will launch Prevenir es Vencer (To Prevent is to Overcome), a cancer education program led by trained community educators (promotoras) that reaches Ventura County’s indigenous immigrants. Through Prevenir es Vencer, MICOP will develop and teach an evidence-based four-part curriculum on: 1) Common types of cancer; 2) Risk reduction through healthy lifestyle changes; 3) Breast awareness and mammograms; 4) Importance of well-woman visits. One-hour workshops will be taught by promotoras in Spanish and Mixteco to 500 indigenous immigrant women. Each module will be recorded and broadcast monthly on MICOP’s radio station, Radio Indígena, reaching at least 2,000 listeners.
Organization North Dakota State University Center for Immunization Research and Education Location: Fargo, ND Project Director: Kylie Hall Grant Amount: $25,000
North Dakota State University Center for Immunization Research and Education will train 200+ health care providers in North Dakota on how to promote HPV vaccination to parents and patients at medical visits. Project staff and HPV vaccination experts will canvass the state to provide peer-to-peer education to pediatric and family medicine health care providers on how to make an effective recommendation to get vaccinated against HPV.
Organization Penrose-St. Francis Health Foundation Location: Colorado Springs, CO Project Director: Teresa Labovich Grant Amount: $25,000
Penrose-St. Francis Health Foundation in Colorado Springs, Colorado, will use the grant funds to reach more than 3,000 employees and 700 community members over the age of 50, including 175 who are uninsured. The grant will provide free Fecal Immunohistochemical Testing (FIT) kits for screening and will cover several colonoscopies for low-income patients who have a positive screening test, are symptomatic or considered high risk. The goal is to increase the colorectal screening rate to 55 percent or better in its clinics, which provide care to uninusured and under-insured individuals.
Organization Philadelphia FIGHT Location: Philadelphia, PA Project Director: Stacey Trooskin Grant Amount: $25,000
Philadelphia FIGHT aims to educate about hepatitis C and test for the virus in community-based senior centers serving baby boomers. The “C a Difference” program will partner with 20 senior centers with the goal of educating 4,000 baby boomers about the link between hepatitis C and liver cancer, signs and symptoms of hepatitis C infection and modes of transmission and then testing 500 people for the virus. Patient navigators will connect individuals who are diagnosed with chronic hepatitis C with follow-up care.
Named Grant Hologic
Organization Puerto Rican Unity for Progress, Inc. Location: Camden, NJ Project Director: Angelica Santiago Grant Amount: $25,000
Puerto Rican Unity for Progress, Inc., will provide breast health education and assistance with breast services to at least 500 Latina women in Camden County, New Jersey. This will be done through extensive outreach using breast health educational workshops, home visits (living room sessions), referrals, vouchers, reminders and navigation for clinical breast exams and mammograms. The project staff will work in collaboration with other health partners to provide bilingual workshops and vouchers for free mammograms to uninsured and under-insured Latina women, 40 years of age or older.
Organization Milwaukee Consortium for Hmong Health Location: Milwaukee, WI Project Director: Mayhoua Moua Grant Amount: $25,000
Southeast Asian Educational Development, Inc./Milwaukee Consortium for Hmong Health seeks to improve cancer literacy and increase early detection of breast, cervical and liver cancer in Southeast Asian refugee communities in Milwaukee by using a community-based lay cancer health educators. The group will educate 125 Hmong, Burmese and other Southeast Asian refugees through small-group workshops in Wisconsin.
Organization SEAMAAC Location: Philadelphia, PA Project Director: Amy Jones Grant Amount: $25,000
Southeast Asian Mutual Assistance Associations Coalition (SEAMAAC, Inc.) in Philadelphia will collaborate with medical partners to develop community workshop materials on cancer screening recommendations. Staff will conduct 12 community workshops in Asian languages (Cambodian, Vietnamese, Mandarin and Indonesian) reaching 120 community members. Staff will schedule appointments for screenings and other primary care needs for them and their family members.
Organization Upstate Foundation Location: Syracuse, NY Project Director: Linda Veit Grant Amount: $25,000
Upstate Foundation will pilot the “WE MATTER” project to demonstrate the effectiveness of using trained Resident Health Advocates (RHAs) to reduce colorectal cancer disparities and increase colorectal cancer screening in low-income, primarily African-American men and women through peer outreach, education, screening and navigation. The target population is 803 residents, ages 30-75, of three low-income public housing developments in Syracuse, New York.
Organization West Virginia Health Right, Inc. Location: Charleston, WV Project Director: Angie Settle Grant Amount: $25,000
West Virginia Health Right, Inc., in Charleston aims to reach 23,500 West Virginia residents with hepatitis C education and risk assessment and screen 7,500 for the virus. The individuals who test positive, estimated at 300, will receive one-on-one and group counseling to encourage behavior modification and lifestyle changes. They will be also be encouraged to attend relevant health education classes, and those who participate in needle exchange will be offered counseling. One hundred thirty will receive treatment for their infections.
Organization: American Samoa Community Cancer Coalition Location: Pago Pago, American Samoa Project Director: Luana Scanlan Grant Amount: $10,000
American Samoa Community Cancer Coalition will work to motivate 750 American Samoan women to seek breast and cervical health information, screening services and follow-up of abnormal screening results in order to reduce late-stage diagnosis, through the culturally competent Tautai Leveai’i (Talk Story) project. The project will produce one trained Patient Navigator who will in turn train five community health workers to recruit, navigate, and support women. The outreach will occur in 30 different villages in non-traditional settings including church halls, private homes, private businesses and exercise groups.
Organization: Esperanza Health Centers Location: Chicago, IL Project Director: Carmen Vergara Grant Amount: $10,000
Esperanza Health Centers will improve colorectal cancer screening rates among uninsured and Medicaid-enrolled Latino adults, as well as insured patients, on the Southwest side of Chicago through coordinated patient navigation, education and screening services. The Colorectal Cancer Pilot Project will provide colorectal education and screening linkage through their Care Coordination team to at least 1,000 patients ages 51 to 80. They aim to improve the colorectal cancer screening rate in their community from 48% to 60% by July 2016.
Organization: Martin Luther King Health Center Location: Shreveport, LA Project Director: Janet Mentesane Grant Amount: $10,000
Martin Luther King Health Center will measure success by providing risk reduction and prevention education to at least 10,000 individuals and screening services and needed follow-up care for at least 350 medically disenfranchised residents in northwest Louisiana. Through partnerships in the Shreveport area and outlying rural parishes, the program will enable participants to access services closer to home. A key component is education to reduce the fear of screening and to promote the importance of early detection. Targeted cancers include breast, cervical, prostate, colon and head, neck and throat disease.
Organization Nevada Health Centers, Inc. Location: Carson City, NV Project Director: Colleen Petrosky Grant Amount: $10,000
Nevada Health Centers will utilize their mobile mammography unit to provide mammography screenings to women who otherwise would not have access to them. The purpose of the program is to increase early detection of breast cancer through mammogram screenings and to help reduce breast cancer death rates. The community grant will support mammogram screenings for an additional 80 women (2,786 mammograms provided in 2014) in geographically isolated areas throughout Nevada. The Van will reach women in need by going to local grocery stores, churches and community centers.
Organization: Mt. Sinai Breast Health Resource Program Location: New York, NY Project Director Andrea Geduld Grant Amount $10,000
Mt. Sinai Breast Health Resource Program will implement the BreastCare, Education and Screening Program through a partnership with Greenhope Services for Women, a residential treatment program for formerly incarcerated and addicted black and Latina women. The program aims to educate 200 women and provide screening services to at least 40 women in New York. Addressing the needs of this high-risk population, many of whom with co-morbidities including HIV and Hepatitis and limited access to breast cancer screening, is a much-needed service.
Organization: The Center for Rural Health Development, Inc. Location: Hurricane, WV Project Director Elaine Darling Grant Amount $10,000
The Center for Rural Health Development, Inc., will convene a statewide HPV Vaccination Stakeholder Summit in West Virginia, to improve and sustain HPV vaccination rates among 9 – 26 year-olds, in order to reduce the incidence and mortality due to HPV-related cancers. Stakeholders will create an action plan that includes the development of coordinated traditional and social media messages, training opportunities, policy recommendations and evidence based-strategy recommendations. The project will combat West Virginia’s staggeringly low HPV vaccination rates.
Named Grant: Awesome Games Done Quick Organization: Foundation for Healthy Communities Location: Concord, NH Project Director: E.V. Banks Grant Amount: $10,000
The goal of the Healthy Families –> Healthy Communities Cancer Prevention Project is to construct a New Hampshire specific, culturally, linguistically, and low-literacy tailored health education module on breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screening in seven languages. This collaborative project will partner with state and national health programs to target underserved ethnic communities. A community teaching session of the cancer module in each language will be recorded, transcribed and shared to increase community-level cancer awareness and knowledge about screening resources.
Organization: Georgia Regents University Location: Augusta, GA Project Director: Selina A. Smith Grant Amount: $10,000
TIPS: Developing Lifestyle Modification Tips for the Down Home Healthy Living Cookbook – Colorectal cancer (CRC) modifiable lifestyle tips (diet, physical activity and CRC screening) will be developed and evaluated for the Down Home Healthy Living Cookbook using a community-based participatory approach. The cookbook is part of a CRC screening intervention with dissemination to 7,200 African Americans in 13 states. The tips will be developed by 1) examining scientific literature and consumer educational materials; 2) soliciting input from experts and 3) conducting focus groups in rural, suburban and urban communities.
Organization: Minnesota Cancer Alliance Location: St. Paul, MN Project Director: Heather Hirsch Grant Amount: $10,000
Development of Culturally Appropriate Educational Materials on HPV for American Indian Communities – The purpose of this project is to develop and test, through focus groups, culturally specific mailing and educational materials for Human Papilloma Virus vaccinations to be used in Minnesota’s America Indian populations for the prevention of cervical cancer and other HPV-associated cancers. The cancer prevention materials will be distributed throughout the state to reach these primary audiences: 1) the parents of American Indian children ages 11-18 years and 2) the adolescents themselves.
Organization: Los Angeles Affiliate, Susan G. Komen for the Cure® Location: Los Angeles, CA Project Director: Gwendolyn Barker Grant Amount: $10,000
Unidas en Rosa: Breast Health Education for Latinas – The project aims to improve breast cancer outcomes for Latinas in LA County through Unidas en Rosa, a culturally-competent outreach and education program created to motivate Latinas to seek breast health information and screening services in order to reduce late-stage diagnosis. Goals include educating 250 Latinas through 32 culturally-sensitive sessions at churches, training 25 Unidas en Rosa Promotoras on health communication and breast health basics, and reaching over 600 community members through at least 12 Promotora-hosted events.
Organization: Custer Health Location: Mandan, ND Project Director: Jodie Fetsch Grant Amount: $10,000
In North Dakota, American Indians have a higher risk both of developing cancer and of dying from cancer compared to whites. One way to address these disparities is to increase screening amongst American Indians. Custer Health seeks to do this by working with the Standing Rock Reservation to conduct worksite lunch and learn sessions that provide cancer education,with open discussion to identify barriers to screening. As part of the sessions, participants are able to schedule appointments for cancer screening at local clinics.
Organization: Lake Cumberland District Health Department Location: Somerset, KY Project Director: Peggy Tiller Grant Amount: $10,000
HPV vaccination rates in Kentucky are significantly lower than the national rate. To increase vaccination initiation and completion rates among youth, this program will provide education on HPV, cervical cancer and the HPV vaccine to middle and high school students in south central Kentucky. The Department will also partner with schools to remove barriers by providing the vaccine at school-based clinics.
Organization: Nueva Vida Location: Baltimore, MD Project Director: Sandra Villa de Leon Grant Amount: $10,000
The goal of the program is to develop a culturally competent, evidence-based comprehensive support model to help reduce late-stage breast and cervical cancer diagnosis and mortality for underserved Latinas in the Baltimore metro area. Nueva Vida will provide culturally relevant education on cancer prevention and screening and provide timely access to quality cancer screening care through patient navigation from screening to diagnostic resolution.
Organization: Skin Cancer Foundation Location: New York, NY Project Director: Whitney Potter Grant Amount: $10,000
Skin cancer is a lifestyle disease that can be prevented by being well informed. To increase knowledge about skin cancer prevention and early detection, the Skin Cancer Foundation created a youth education program: Sun Smart U. Through this grant, the Foundation will be able to extend the national reach of cancer prevention to educators and thus to more students.
Organization: American Indian Cancer Foundation Location: Minneapolis, MN Project Director: Kris Rhodes Grant Amount: $10,000
The goal of the project, Powwow 4 Hope, is to increase cancer awareness and prevention knowledge for American Indian families. The Powwow 4 Hope project aims to reach 3,000 participants, expected to travel from reservations in Minnesota, North and South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Powwow participants will be evaluated on 1) their sustained knowledge on cancer prevention, 2) any screenings since the event, 3) change in beliefs around cancer, and also 4) their level of satisfaction of the event.
Organization: Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital Location: Columbus, OH Project Director: Nicholas Yeager Grant Amount: $10,000
This program will raise awareness about adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancers by educating and training medical students and residents. The program will provide knowledge regarding the most common AYA cancers, the signs and symptoms associated with them, and ways to prevent these cancers. Armed with this teaching early in their careers, medical students will educate and examine patients, and “pay it forward” by going out into the community to educate high school and college students with their new knowledge.
Organization: Utah Department of Health Location: Salt Lake City, UT Project Director: Kathryn Rowley Grant Amount: $10,000
This project will encourage Utah children and their parents to practice sun safe behaviors. The Program will partner with professional soccer player Chris Wingert to educate Utahns through local parks and recreation youth soccer leagues in low income and underserved areas, as well as other counties in Utah with high melanoma incidence rates. The program will have three major components: education, provision of sunscreen, and evaluation. Goals include the distribution of 5,000 educational pieces, training for coaches and booths held with interactive sun safety activities.
Organization: Women’s Resource Center Location: Fort Collins, CO Project Director: Annette Zacharias Grant Amount: $10,000
Through this grant, the organization will provide education, mammograms, patient navigation and other services for women at risk of breast cancer or reproductive cancers (cervical, ovarian and uterine), particularly women facing barriers and disparities to care. The Women’s Resource Center uses an innovative continuum of care model that provides a full spectrum of breast and reproductive cancer services, including patient navigation and aims to reach 5,000 women with health information and connect 650 low-income women to free and low cost breast cancer screenings.
Organization: Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium Location: Anchorage, Alaska Project Director: Christine DeCourtney Grant Amount: $25,000
The Organization will develop and distribute a culturally appropriate “Traditional Food and Activity Workbook” for Alaska Native youth aged 8-10 years, who are at risk for obesity. The goal is to increase the likelihood that Alaska Native youth will make healthy lifestyle choices and adopt healthy eating behaviors of traditional foods, in order to reduce their risk of cancer and other diseases.
Organization: Gulfcoast South Area Health Education Center, Inc. Location: Sarasota, Florida Project Director: Ansley Mora Grant Amount: $25,000
Through this grant, the Gulfcoast South Area Health Education Center will provide colorectal and prostate cancer education and promote preventive behaviors among medically underserved Hispanics/Latinos and African Americans in Sarasota. The education sessions will be run by trained community health workers familiar with the cultures and languages of the populations they serve.
Organization: Gilda’s Club South Florida Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida Project Director: Elizabeth Wynter Grant Amount: $5,000
This project will provide education about breast cancer screening to women of color in south Florida. They will do this, in part, by establishing a dialogue within the African American community about breast cancer disparities and prevention and early detection. This dialogue will grow by using a social networking approach that encourages participants to share what they learn with friends, family, and colleagues.
Organization: Linda Creed: Fighting Breast Cancer with Heart Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Project Director: Donna Duncan Grant Amount: $5,000
This project will provide culturally competent and comprehensive breast health education to African American and Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender communities. The organization has created two separate breast health education curricula to address the specific needs of both communities.
Organization: The Orange County Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure Location: Costa Mesa, California Project Director: Ambrocia Lopez Grant Amount: $5,000
The grant will support a project to increase breast cancer education and regular screening among Latina women of Mexican descent. Through education and outreach, the project aims to decrease late-stage breast cancer diagnosis and mortality in Orange County.
Organization: Peak Vista Community Health Centers Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado Project Director: Glenda Pecor Grant Amount: $5,000
Funding will support an annual Skin Cancer Screening event that provides community members with free screenings, educational materials about skin cancer and referrals for follow-up care. Each year about 400 participate and 100 to 200 individuals are referred for further care.
Organization: The Skin Cancer Institute at the Arizona Cancer Center Location: Tucson, Arizona Project Director: Heather Hiscox Grant Amount: $5,000
The Skin Cancer Institute’s Project, Hats On, will provide parents of young children with information about skin cancer and sun protection to strengthen sun-safety habits for both their babies and themselves.
Organization: Upstate Prostate Cancer Alliance Location: Easley, South Carolina Project Director: Johnny Payne Grant Amount: $5,000
The Upstate Prostate Cancer Alliance will use this grant to increase prostate cancer education and awareness among African American men in twelve counties. Education sessions will be held at local establishments such as churches and conducted by trained facilitators, some of whom are prostate cancer survivors.
Organization: Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center Location: Nashville, Tennessee Project Director: Sheila Bates Grant Amount: $5,000
The Center will educate women age 35 and older about healthy lifestyle choices that can help them reduce their risk of developing certain cancers. This project is unique in that it targets several types of cancer and provides educational information through a live theatrical “edutainment” program Cancer Queens! A Cancer Prevention Musical Revue.
Reaching out to individuals in soup kitchens, at health fairs and through local radio programs, the Foundation’s community grantees are making a difference in large and small, rural and urban communities. Community grants are one way the Foundation supports vital education and services for people who need them. Facing limited resources and large underserved populations, these five community grantees are making a tremendous impact by providing valuable cancer prevention education and screening services.
Here are snapshots of the Foundation’s grantees:
Organization: Chenango Health Network Title: Cervical Cancer Outreach Project Project Director: Tina Utley Edwards, MPA Amount: $50,000 for one year
Progress:
The Chenango Health Network received a grant from the Foundation to educate women in a medically underserved region of New York about cervical cancer. Staff and volunteers have supplied over 2,300 women with important cervical cancer information and provided cervical cancer screenings to over 500 women. Community events, food banks, church groups and hair salons are among the various settings for this educational campaign featuring local women. The campaign uses computer kiosks, local radio and print media to help educate the community about cervical cancer and screening.
Organization: Emory University School of Medicine Title: Trainer Workshop: Con Amor Aprendemos (CAA), With Love We Learn Project Director: Lisa Flowers, MD Amount: $50,000 per year for two years
Progress:
Con Amor Aprendemos (With Love We Learn) is an interactive program that educates Hispanic/Latino couples about Human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer. Through a train-the-trainer course, this program is creating a network of promotoras(health educators) that help educate about cancer prevention in their own communities in Georgia.
Organization: Hispanic Health Initiatives, Inc. Title: Mi Salud en Mis Manos, My Health is in My Hands Project Director: Josephine Mercado, BA, JD Amount: $25,000 per year for two years
Progress:
Through health fairs, community events and media outlets, peer health educators have reached out to over 40,000 women in Florida with education regarding the importance of annual screening and early detection of breast cancer. The women are mostly uninsured or under-insured Latinas with very limited English proficiency. The group utilizes over 70 active volunteers and a team of peer educators to provide health information and facilitate access to health care. Because of this beneficial program, over 700 women were referred for annual clinical breast exams and mammograms in the past year.
Organization: Primary Care Coalition of Montgomery County, Inc. Title: Improving Access and Eliminating Barriers to Cancer Prevention Care for Low-Income and Uninsured Women Project Director: Maria Triantis, RN, MBA Amount: $50,000 per year for two years
Progress:
This program is increasing cancer prevention among an underserved community in Maryland by providing colorectal cancer education and screening and utilizing a new referral system for mammograms. The new system has resulted in decreasing the time from referral to screening by over 100 days. The coalition has partnered with local hospitals and clinics to create a safety net for women ineligible for other county programs. To date, colorectal cancer screening has been provided to 26 women and mammograms to 98 women. The group is also utilizing electronic medical records to improve care coordination for colorectal cancer screening.
Organization: Rural Health Group, Inc. Title: Action and Intervention for Men (A.I.M.) Project Director: Patricia Peele, BS, MAEd Amount: $50,000 per year for two years
Progress:
Ten local community organizations have joined a partnership created by the group to promote prostate awareness and prevention among African American men who are at highest risk for prostate cancer in three North Carolina counties. The groups are co-sponsoring prostate cancer awareness events in communities, churches and civic groups. Over 400 men have received prostate cancer screenings, and 16 lay health advisors have been trained to provide health education.
Organization: Amite County Medical Services, Inc. Location: Liberty, MS Project Director: Pam T. Poole Grant Amount: $15,000
The grant will support breast and cervical education, early detection and follow-up care to a community health center’s underserved residents in Amite County, Mississippi.
Organization: Hope Through Grace Location: Houston, TX Project Director: Grace L. Butler Grant Amount: $15,000
The organization will provide colorectal cancer prevention education, screening and support services to its priority population in Houston, Texas. They will also address a related risk factor, obesity, through education, nutritional counseling and physical activity guidance.
Organization: John W. Nick Foundation Location: Sebastian, FL Project Director: Nancy E. Nick Grant Amount: $5,000
The Foundation, in Sebastian, Florida, will address an often neglected cancer – male breast cancer. They will further develop and enhance their organization’s Web site so as to better reach a national audience.
Organization: Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care and Prevention Location: New York, NY Project Director: Josephine Class and Harold P. Freeman Grant Amount: $15,000
The grant will support the pioneering patient navigation initiatives of Dr. Harold Freeman which address cancer education, early detection and screening in the Harlem community in New York.
Organization: St. Thomas Health Clinic Location: New Orleans, LA Project Director: Mary Abell Grant Amount: $85,000
The grant will help rebuild prevention related services in Louisiana’s St. Thomas Community Health Clinic that provides breast cancer education and screening for women 40-49 years old in New Orleans.
Organization: Syracuse University Location: Syracuse, NY Project Director: Luvenia W. Cowart Grant Amount: $15,000
Syracuse University will to provide cancer education for African American men through health seminars and a barbershop education program in New York.
Organization: University of New Mexico Location: Albuquerque, NM Project Director: Kristina Flores Grant Amount: $15,000
The Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Program will provide cancer education outreach to two Navajo communities in New Mexico.
Organization: Washoe Tribal Health Center Location: Gardnerville, NV Project Director: Kim Neiman Grant Amount: $15,000
The Center will increase awareness and screening for colorectal and breast cancer through a state celebration event and a pow wow in Carson City, Nevada.
Organization: Equal Hope Metropolitan Chicago Breast Cancer Task Force
Organization: Hitting Cancer Below the Belt 
Organization: HIV Alliance 
Organization: Korean Community Services of Metropolitan New York, Inc.
Organization: Milwaukee Consortium for Hmong Health
Organization: Project Renewal, Inc.
Organization: Comadre a Comadre Program, The Regents of the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque 
Organization: The Research Foundation for The SUNY of Univ. at Buffalo 
Organization: University of Arizona Foundation 
Organization: VAX 2 STOP CANCER 
Organization: Virginia Harm Reduction Coalition 
Organization: West Virginia University 
Organization: Albie Aware Inc.
Organization: Cheeky Charity
Organization: Community Health Project Inc.
Organization: House of Transplant and Cancer
Organization: Long Island Jewish Medical Center
Organization: Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center
Organization: Norton Healthcare
Organization: Panhandle Breast Health 
Organization: St. John’s Well Child & Family Center
Organization: Vietnamese American Cancer Foundation (VACF)
Organization: Baltimore City Health Department
Organization: Chicago Family Health Center (CFHC)
Organization: Farmworkers Self-Help Inc.
Organization: FORCE: Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered
Organization: Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains
Organization: The Cambodian Family
Organization: The CHOW Project
Organization: University of Texas—MD Anderson Cancer Center