Susan G. Komen South Carolina awards $180,065 to support local programs that break barriers to care
Susan G. Komen South Carolina has announced $180,065 in new grants for 2018. These awards help meet the most critical needs of the community, including projects that provide free and low-cost breast cancer screening, diagnostic and treatment support services to underinsured and uninsured women and men. These vital programs also support Susan G. Komen’s bold goal to reduce current breast cancer deaths by 50 percent in the U.S. by 2026.
This year’s community grants were awarded to:
Allendale County Hospital
•The Pink Prevention Program serves the rural counties of Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell and Hampton counties with breast health education, clinical breast exams and screenings. The program also covers the cost of biopsies through a collaboration with The Regional Medical Center of Orangeburg and Calhoun Counties.
Beaufort Jasper Hampton Comprehensive Health Services, Inc.
•A three pronged approach including education, screening and patient navigation is used to eliminate gaps of care and to reduce disparities in breast cancer outcomes for African American, Hispanic, and Migrant populations in Hampton, Jasper & Beaufort Counties (including men and women under 30) who live at or below 250 percent poverty or underinsured.
Lexington Medical Center
•Lexington Medical Center’s Mammography Program provides free screening mammograms to underinsured and uninsured women of Lexington, Richland, Calhoun, Orangeburg, Aiken, Edgefield, Newberry counties.
McLeod Health
•Making An Impact 2018-2019 provides mammogram scholarships to women in Marion, Darlington, Florence, and Williamsburg Counties who cannot afford mammograms and fail to qualify for the Best Chance Network. Many Making An Impact participants may be eligible for treatment from the McLeod Cancer Clinic, the state’s only remaining free hospital-based cancer clinic, which provides cost-free cancer care to uninsured residents of the Pee Dee.
Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System Foundation
•The Mammography Assistance Program reduces both the financial barriers and the transportation barriers for women in Cherokee, Spartanburg and Union Counties in need of mammography services. By reducing these barriers to care, the program works to reduce the late stage diagnoses and high breast cancer mortality rates in our service area.
“The greatest challenges lie in rural regions where few, if any, breast cancer services are available. Our grantees are breaking barriers by bringing help to these communities. Any patient served through one of these grants can be assured of access to treatment should they need it. We’re proud that in the past six years alone, our grants have provided more than 17,825 services for women and men in need,” said Lucy Spears, Director of Mission.
Since 1993, Komen South Carolina has funded over $11 million to community projects serving local women and men, while contributing to the more than $956 million invested globally in ground-breaking breast cancer research through Susan G. Komen’s Research Program.
“We are so thankful for the friends, family and neighbors who fight alongside us, helping to reduce the number of breast cancer deaths in South Carolina, both on the ground and through research,” said Taffy Tamblyn, Komen South Carolina’s Executive Director.
Komen South Carolina has also announced that their Small Grant application will open on June 5th for the 2018-19 granting cycle. Small Grants are up to $10,000 and to be used for support programs that: reduce barriers to care, provide breast health education, and build community trust leading to increased access to care.
