Susan G. Komen Charlotte Grants Funds to Montgomery and Richmond counties
| Date Posted: 4/14/2015
PINEHURST – For the second year in a row, FirstHealth of the Carolinas has received a grant award from the Susan G. Komen Charlotte affiliate to provide screening mammograms for underserved, under insured and uninsured women.
The funds were from more than $1.1 million awarded to 17 programs that provide screening, education and treatment to individuals with limited resources in the Charlotte affiliate’s 13-county service area. The $50,000 awarded to FirstHealth of the Carolinas will allow Montgomery Memorial Hospital and Richmond Memorial Hospital to provide screening mammograms in their communities.
An independent Grant Review Panel recommended projects based on breast health needs identified in the Affiliate’s 2011 Community Profile. These grants provide breast cancer assistance in areas ranging from mammograms and diagnostics, education and outreach to treatment support through qualified grantees.
Komen Charlotte Community Health Grants support underserved, under insured and uninsured populations in central North Carolina. Grantees are chosen by an independent grant review panel that scores breast cancer projects and programs on the impact, capacity, collaborations, sustainability, feasibility and evidence-based strategies that will best serve people in the service area.
“FirstHealth is proud to have a second year of funding to expand the program and increase the number of individuals in Montgomery and Richmond counties who can be served,” says Chris Miller, administrative director of FirstHealth Community Health Services. “The speed at which last year's grant was used justified the need for additional resources, and we are thankful that Susan G. Komen Charlotte responded to the need in our community for screening mammograms.”
According to Sarah Bailey, Komen Charlotte director of Community Outreach, Komen Charlotte expanded into Richmond and Montgomery counties two years ago.
“We are pleased to continue funding FirstHealth’s program, which offers necessary screening mammograms, transportation assistance for breast cancer patients and financial support for treatment costs to people in this area,” she says “Last year, FirstHealth was successful in helping many individuals get the breast health services they needed and guided them through a complete continuum of care.”
This year’s grantee organizations are as follows:
- Cabarrus Health Alliance
- Carolinas Medical Center – Northeast
- Carolinas Healthcare System – Project Lymphedema in Cleveland, Pineville, Stanly, & Union
- CaroMont Cancer Center at CaroMont Regional Medical Center
- Chestnut Grove Community Center
- Lincoln County Health Department
- Carolinas Rehabilitation – Main
- Charlotte Community Health Clinic
- Lake Norman Community Health Clinic
- Mecklenburg County Health Department
- Novant Health – Huntersville Medical Center
- Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center
- Novant Health Matthews Medical Center
- FirstHealth of the Carolinas – Montgomery and Richmond Memorial Hospitals
- Novant Health Rowan Medical Center
- Stanly Regional Medical Center
- Union County Health Department
“We are thankful for our partnership with FirstHealth so that we can help serve our neighbors in these rural communities,” says Bailey. “To have resources more readily available to people living in these counties gives them a better chance of getting the services they need, instead of possibly putting it off because of potential difficulties in getting to a facility for care.”
For information on the screenings available at FirstHealth, visit www.firsthealth.org/komenscreenings.
About Susan G. Komen Charlotte
Komen Charlotte raises funds through events such as the annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure®; Laugh for the Cure®; and a variety of community events hosted by community corporate partners, small businesses, faith communities, schools and volunteer organizations. More than 300 volunteers dedicate time and talent to educate, advocate and share the mission of Susan G. Komen.
Seventy-five percent of the net proceeds generated by the affiliate stay in the service area. In 2015, over $1.1 million is being distributed to 17 service agencies to provide free mammograms and a continuum of breast health services to under-insured and uninsured people in the Komen Charlotte service area. The remaining 25 percent of monies raised is used to fund cutting-edge breast cancer research studies, many of which are conducted in North Carolina research facilities and universities.
Komen Charlotte serves the following counties: Anson, Cabarrus, Cleveland, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Montgomery, Richmond, Rowan, Stanly and Union; and York County, S.C.
