Determined to save lives and end breast cancer forever, Susan G. Komen West Michigan has awarded seven grants totaling more than $275,000 to local organizations providing breast cancer services and programs to uninsured and underserved populations in West Michigan.
“To meet needs we have discovered right here in our community, this year’s grant slate specifically addresses underserved and uninsured men and women,” explains Executive Director Emma Powell. “These grant dollars focus on gaps in services and opportunities to receive the mammograms needed for early detection and treatment.”
The grant recipients include:
· City on a Hill: serves the Hispanic community in Ottawa County.
· Hackley Community Care Center: provides care to African American and Hispanic populations in Muskegon County.
· Metro Health Hospital: provides screening to the uninsured in Montcalm, Newaygo and Kent Counties.
· Muskegon Family Care: assists African Americans within the county.
· Saint Mary’s Healthcare: treats Hispanic and all women of color in Newaygo, Montcalm and Kent Counties.
· Spectrum Health Genetics: screens underserved populations in Kent, Ottawa, Montcalm, Muskegon and Newaygo Counties
· Spectrum Health Betty Ford Breast Care Services: treats at-risk populations in Kent, Montcalm and Ottawa counties.
In order to ensure that funding addresses specific unmet breast cancer needs in the west Michigan community, Susan G. Komen West Michigan works with local healthcare professionals and community leaders to conduct a comprehensive community needs assessment.
“We are excited to partner with Susan G. Komen West Michigan to offer mammography services to underserved women in Newaygo, Montcalm and Kent Counties,” expresses Metro Health spokesperson Ellen Bristol. “Until a cure is found, early detection is the best tool we have to fight breast cancer. This grant helps ensure more women have access to this important tool.”
In 2011, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, working in concert with local organizations, awarded more than $80 million in needs-based community grants. That's in addition to the 25 percent of income that Affiliates contribute toward the many millions the organization invests each year in promising research.
West Michigan is fortunate to have such a generous organization in our midst. Let’s help them continue to put the good back in do-gooder. Here’s how to get involved:
· LIKE them on
facebook
·
Learn more about the organization
·
Volunteer
· Check out their
events calendar
·
Donate to the charity
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