2009-2010 Grants Awarded

Charleston Breast Center
Awarded: $75,000

Plan:

The Charleston Breast Center (CBC) was founded on the commitment to provide outreach to underserved women in our community. The mission of the CBC is to bridge state-of-the art breast cancer detection and treatment with education and compassionate comprehensive care. Our objectives are to reduce breast cancer mortality through screening and early detection, to increase access to mammography services, and to improve health care disparities reported within the state of South Carolina. Through our outreach programs, the CBC addresses critical breast health and breast cancer issues now afflicting the Charleston, South Carolina region—Charleston, Dorchester and Berkeley counties. All women who visit our Center receive the same high quality, full service treatment. A grant from the Lowcountry Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure® will be used to subsidize breast cancer screening and diagnostic costs for women who cannot afford to pay for these services and who do not qualify for any other subsidy programs. Our services include digital screening and diagnostic mammograms, breast ultrasounds, breast biopsies, clinical assessments and breast MRI. These services are provided within one location. The outreach program will have a four prong approach to include service, education, transportation and counseling. The CBC is partnered with other not-for-profit organizations throughout the region to increase exposure and strengthen community support, so that these services can be continuously made available to all women in need.



Beaufort Memorial Hospital
Awarded: $29,304

Plan:
Beaufort Memorial Hospital is developing a Breast Health Services program utilizing patient navigation services through a Breast Care Coordinator. The program will provide one-on-one contact with breast cancer patients, offer support and education to the patient and their families facilitate the patient’s progress through the healthcare system and work within the hospital and through community providers to address barriers to prompt, appropriate care. The BCC will help educate breast cancer patients and their families and coordinate their experience through the continuum of care, will educate and involve physicians/providers to foster their appreciation and support for the BCC program, and will strengthen community awareness of breast cancer prevention and awareness. Special efforts will be made to identify and assist individuals facing economic and healthcare access issues, and to add a new service dimension to existing breast cancer detection initiatives. The first year of the program will establish a baseline for future improvement in early detection of breast cancer, and in minimizing delays and ensuring follow-up upon diagnosis. This is made possible through a grant from the Lowcountry Affiliate of Susan G. for the Cure®.



Lowcountry Health Care System Inc.
Awarded: $18,119

Plan:
The goal of this project is to raise awareness and increase individual's knowledge of breast cancer by providing an inventive and fun way to involve women in obtaining breast cancer screenings. This initiative would enable LCHCS to set aside once a month, from 5:00p.m. – 7:00p.m., time to provide an educational program about breast health entitled "Pink Ladies Night." The targeted population would be African American and Hispanic women, age 64 and younger, who have not had a mammogram within the past year. Special emphasis will be to reach out to that population who are without any type of insurance. Included in the program are an introduction to breast health talk, an inspirational DVD on breast cancer survivors, self-breast examination instruction, a clinical breast exam, and a referral for a mammogram, transportation to and from the event, refreshments, and a goody bag filled with educational materials for the participants to take with them at the end of the night. The Breast Case Manager will be on hand for each planned event, as well as to offer teaching, training, and counseling by appointments in the office for any follow-up. Because this Case Manager speaks fluent Spanish and already has a relationship with the Hispanic community, we will be able to attract a large population of Hispanic patients who might otherwise forego getting proper breast health information and proper testing. This program will be promoted extensively by utilizing announcements on three local radio stations, pamphlets and flyers distributed to local churches, ads in the local newspaper, and individual mailings to the targeted population. This is made possible through a grant from the Lowcountry Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure®.



Royal Missionary Baptist Church
Awarded: $54,400

Plan:
The Circle of Hope project will provide breast cancer and breast health information, services, and resources to primarily low income, uninsured, and/or underinsured African American Women in the low country area which includes Charleston, Dorchester, and Berkeley Counties. Using Royal Missionary Baptist Church and its affiliated non- profit community organization (The Royal Foundation) as a base, the overall mission of the project is to increase breast cancer screenings and educational awareness while simultaneously decreasing the death rate of African American women in this target population. The literature shows that Breast cancer, if caught in time, doesn’t have to be a death sentence. This is the message that The Circle of Hope plans to clearly convey to its’ target population. Thus, this project will make every effort to develop culturally sensitive activities that provide the most current information, resources, trainings, and services available. Royal will partner with Hollings Cancer Center Mobile Health Unit and Best Chance Network on this project. This grant is made possible through a grant from the Lowcountry Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure®.



The Parent's Corner
Awarded: $10,000

Plan:
SC Women and Girls Summit is a new project in response to the health, safety, and life style challenges facing females in today’s society. The purpose of the summit for females will be to; learn strategies and techniques that will improve their health, encourage one another to become advocates of health and self improvement, become self starters and promoters for themselves and others, set realistic goals that will enhance their lives, introduce innovative ways to be successful in all aspects of their lives, learn to incorporate their experiences into their family lives, and interact with successful women in areas of health, business, and the arts. A grant was awarded from the Lowcountry Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure®.



United Way BCH
Awarded: $42,631.50

Plan:
To provide awareness and education of early detection and its ability to save lives, and to fund screening and diagnostic mammography with limited follow up treatment to the residents of Bamberg, Colleton and Hampton Counties who would otherwise be unable to afford these studies. The target audience is women age 40 and under or those who do not qualify for Best Chance mammograms. To provide awareness, education and support in the form of Lunch and Learn with Survivors programs, Komen material distribution, and Resource Bags for newly diagnosed breast cancer patients. Bamberg, Colleton and Hampton Counties have a higher breast cancer incidence rate as compared to other counties across the state of South Carolina. UWBCH has partnered with Lowcountry AHEC, the radiology and mammography providers at Colleton Medical Center, and other health care providers and community groups to apply for funding through Komen to address this issue. This creative collaboration was forged in March of 2008 to look for ways to remove barriers that uninsured and underinsured patients faced in trying to access screening treatment.



Allendale County Hospital
Awarded: $58,567

Plan:
The Pink Prevention Program at Allendale County Hospital is a yearlong effort to reach uninsured/under-insured women from Allendale; Bamberg, Barnwell and Hampton counties by offering them free screening and follow-up mammograms. These women must be between the ages of 21 and 64, and do not qualify for the Best Chance Network. In addition to mammograms, women will be given the tools to make informed decisions about their breast health through “Lunch and Learn” educational sessions, as well as through the distribution of educational materials. Additionally, limited transportation will be provided and physician’s office visits will be offered to a limited number of women for clinical breast exams and mammogram referrals. This program was established and made successful through grants awarded to Allendale County Hospital by the Susan G. Komen for the Cure® Lowcountry Affiliate.



MUSC Hollings Cancer Center
Awarded: $74,914

Plan:
The purpose of this project is to increase early detection of breast cancer by providing mammography screening and access to follow-up care among economically disadvantaged (primarily African American and Hispanic) women in the targeted communities of the Lowcountry Affiliate of The Susan G. Komen Foundation. This will be accomplished by 1) Providing 400 state-of–the–art digital mammography screenings on the Hollings Cancer Center (HCC) Mobile Health Unit (MHU) by an experienced mammography technician. 2) Developing a volunteer outreach patient navigation program to recruit women eligible for mammography screening 3) Addressing the needs of the growing Hispanic community with a MHU staff versed in conversational Spanish, and 4) Ensuring that all women with abnormal findings receive access to follow-up care.


SCCA - South Carolina Cancer Alliance
Awarded: $47,976

Plan:
The Breast and Female Cancers Workgroup Community Education Subcommittee of the South Carolina Cancer Alliance (SCCA) is adapting the Witness Project to address the burden of breast cancer impacting the African American population in Allendale, Bamberg and Orangeburg Counties. African American women in South Carolina have later stage cancer at diagnosis and higher mortality from breast cancer compared to white women in the state. Often fear, myths, lack of knowledge, or lack of insurance, are barriers that African American women face when accessing health care. The Witness Project is an evidence-based community intervention that trains women to become Lay Health Advisors in order to educate women about breast cancer risks, screening and treatment. SCCA’s Community Education Subcommittee’s is partnering with representatives of the American Cancer Society, Best Chance Network, NCI's Cancer Information Service, SC Cancer Disparities Community Network, Arnold School of Public Health: SC Cancer Center, the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control, Low Country Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Foundation and the State Baptist Young Women’s Auxiliary to carry out this year-long project to reach never or rarely screened African American women.



Smith Medical Clinic
Awarded: $38,346

Plan:
The Lowcountry Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure® has provided Smith Medical Clinic with another step forward In Breast health in taking care of uninsured women in Georgetown county. A new portable ultrasound is now in operation at the free clinic. the clinic sees a number of unisured women each year who present with suspicious lumps in their breast. Once a clinical breast exam is performed, then a mammogram is ordered. if ulatrasound is necessary, that means another trip to the hospital and more days of waitiing for diagnosis. with the new ultrasound equipment, patients no nonger have the stress of waiting for a second procedure for diagnosis of the abnormality. immediate followup is available at the clinic, thereby reducing patient anxiety and costs to the hospital, and paients if the procedure is not covered by financail assistance. we are pleased to again partner with the Lowcountry Affiliate of Susance G. Komen for the Cure.



VIM - Volunteers in Medicine
Awarded: $70,594.50

Plan:
Access to mammography, breast exams and breast health education was almost nonexistent to the working poor of Hilton Head and Daufuskie Islands. The only mammography equipment on the island is at Hilton Head Regional Medical Center, who could only supply Volunteers in Medicine with 14 mammogram appointments per month. Volunteers in Medicine, a clinic on Hilton Head Island that provides free medical, dental, vision, pharmacy and mental health care services for the underserved who live or work on Hilton Head or Daufuskie Island was unable to secure screening mammograms for its patients because the next-closest mammogram equipment was 25 miles away. Volunteers in Medicine’s grant from the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Lowcountry Affiliate will provide screening mammograms for 50 patients per month on the MUSC Hollings Cancer Center Mobile Mammography Unit, which comes to the clinic parking lot on a bi-monthly basis to provide mammograms for VIM patients. Patients receive clinical breast exams along with routine GYN care and education during their clinic visit, after which they are referred to the mobile unit. This easy access to mammograms will provide 360 mammograms for underserved patients who would otherwise never receive screening mammograms.



Orangeburg Regional Medical Center
Awarded: $45,693

Plan:
The Regional Medical Center's breast Health Center has been chosen as a recipient for a grant for screening and diagnostic mammography from the susan g. Komen for the Cure foundation. this grant will provide education to women of our area in helping them to make informed decisions about their breast health care. the grant will PROVIDE FUNDS for women, ages 35-46 with limited or no insurance, and a resident of orangeurg county to receive a screening mammogram. We will also be conducting Lunch & Learn Sessions for women of all ages in the area to learn more about breast health care.



Closing the Gap in Health Care
Awarded: $36,500

Plan:
Minority patients have received poor health care in every facet that has been studied. Minorities, specifically African Americans and other under-served populations, also have poor lifestyle habits that contribute significantly to negative outcomes. There is a great need to reach and educate these populations about all aspects of health care, especially breast health. The Minority Women Breast Cancer Awareness Program will Increase patient awareness about breast cancer, prevention, treatment, and healthy lifestyles that will decrease one’s chances of developing breast cancer. We also want to decrease the fear factor so that people are willing to discuss the disease among family and friends and be involved in early detection programs, such as monthly self examinations, annual mammograms for women over 40, and family history consultation. We also want to increase awareness among men so that they can encourage important women in their lives to take necessary precautions and lead the appropriate lifestyle to decrease early death from the disease. The Health information will be provided primarily through radio and television broadcast, web clips, Health-e-Newsletters, and Health Summits.



  2008-2009 Grants Awarded

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  2001-2002 Grants Awarded