A record number of applicants vied this year for grants of up to $15,000 from the Community Grants Program, which supports projects to reduce cancer health disparities in Washington state. Ten organizations serving counties across the state will use the funds to increase access to screenings, provide mental health care for people with low income, mentor early-career oncologists and more.
“This year, our request for applications was aligned with the community health needs assessment we do every three years,” said Liz Tallent, community health education manager for the , which operates the grants program. “The assessment helps us identify who is at highest risk for cancer in our state, who has the highest burden of cancer incidence or mortality, and which are the top cancer sites.”
The OCOE, housed at Fred Hutch Cancer Center, is part of the Fred Hutch/University of Washington/Seattle Children’s Cancer Consortium.
Based on the most recent assessment, the program prioritized projects serving Black Americans, Native Americans and Alaska Natives; those at risk for breast or colorectal cancer; and those who have not received a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination, which helps eliminate risk from cervical and other HPV-driven cancers.
“We also focused on projects in counties that might not have participated in this grants program in the past or where we could form new partnerships to help support local work,” Tallent said.
Community-based organizations, non-profits, 501(c)3 groups and tribes are eligible to apply. Along with receiving funding, each awardee is connected with a Fred Hutch community health educator to aid their efforts. Over time, the grant program is meant to build the organizations’ capacity to make a meaningful impact by planning, developing, implementing and evaluating evidence-based projects that meet specific needs.
And the learning goes both ways.
Sitting down together with people from diverse organizations helps the OCOE team better understand how Fred Hutch can best serve every Washingtonian, especially those who might be underserved today.
“It’s a privilege to go through the full one-year grant cycle with a partner doing work relevant to the community they serve or the area they are in,” Tallentsaid. “We get to help equip people doing that important work with the tools they need, and we learn so much from each awardee in return.”
Grant funds for 2024-2025 came from the OCOE, the Community Benefit Program and the Science Education Partnership.
This year’s grantees and funded projects include:
- Binaytara Foundation: “Washington Physician Mentorship Program for Cancer Care Equity”
The mentorship program will connect five Alaska Native, Black, Hispanic or Native American oncologists who are early in their careers with mentors who are leaders in their field. The goal is to support the mentees so they can reach more patients from these priority populations using evidence-based strategies and reduce treatment delays. - Cancer Lifeline: “Increasing Access to Mental Healthcare for Low-Income and Marginalized Individuals Living with Cancer”
With its grant, Cancer Lifeline will provide free mental health counseling by licensed therapists to 120 cancer patients or survivors who might otherwise not be able to afford services. Cancer-focused counseling can help improve quality of life, but is not always accessible to people with low incomes or those who are uninsured or underinsured. - Cancer Pathways: “SUNSET: Sun Safety, Education and Training”
Cancer Pathways will develop a comprehensive, culturally-relevant curriculum on sun safety and skin cancer risk reduction and will host a workshop intended mainly for Alaska Natives, Asian Americans, African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans and Pacific Islanders. They will also train up to 20 local educators and community leaders to offer the workshop to more people. - Feast World Kitchen: “Representative Community Health Around the Table”
To promote breast cancer screenings and other preventive health services to immigrants, Feast World Kitchen will recruit three women who represent major former-refugee populations in Spokane, Washington. The recruits will complete formal community health worker training and then do outreach to the immigrant community they are part of and put on gatherings centered around food. - Kadlec Regional Medical Center, Providence: “CHW Outreach to Improve Preventative Cancer Screening Rates in Underrepresented Populations”
Kadlec will add a community health worker, or CHW, to its primary care team to encourage more patients to get preventive care, such as breast cancer screenings, colorectal cancer screenings and HPV vaccinations. They will deliver culturally adapted outreach and help identify and remove barriers to care, including helping patients schedule the services they need. - Lahai Health: “Increased Access to Women’s Cancer Screenings for Uninsured Adults”
With its grant, Lahai Health will provide no-cost mammograms, cervical cancer screenings and other women’s health screenings. The project will prioritize people who are uninsured, are living at very low income levels and may face other barriers to getting care, such as limited English proficiency. They will also provide referrals to no- or low-cost specialty care for patients who need it. - Nuestras Raíces(“our roots”): “Cervical and Breast Cancer Screening Education and Care Referrals for Hispanic/Latine People”
Nuestras Raíces will launch a multi-pronged effort to promote breast and cervical cancer screenings and follow-up care to people in Spokane County through culturally and linguistically attuned workshops, its existing women’s groups/activities and social media. (Editor's note: Nuestras Raíces prefers the gender-neutral term Latine, sometimes written Latinx.) - South Puget Intertribal Planning Agency (SPIPA): “Pathways to Wellness: Outreach to Reduce Breast Cancer Amongst Chehalis, Squaxin Island, Shoalwater Bay, Nisqually and Skokomish Nations”
The SPIPA Northwest Women’s Wellness Program will partner with the five tribes in SPIPA to hold a series of community outreach activities promoting prevention and early detection of breast cancer. Their plans include a Breast Cancer Awareness Walk and the Cancer Prevention Color Run, where they will focus on sharing information about healthy lifestyles and regular cancer screenings. - Tacoma Urban League: “Breast Health Navigator Program 2024”
Tacoma Urban League created a program in 2017 to support Black women get screening mammograms. In the years since, the group has refined the program along with their health care partners to continue improving results. With this year’s grant, Tacoma Urban League will recruit and train four community health workers to guide women in scheduling appointments and going to screening events. - YMCA of Greater Seattle: “Empowering Resilience: Advancing Breast Cancer Awareness, Prevention and Treatment Through Community Engagement”
YMCA of Greater Seattle will use its grant to hold educational workshops and screening events and offer support, such as help with scheduling, transportation and childcare, to encourage more Black women to get annual breast cancer screenings. The group’s goal is to reduce breast cancer mortality.
Community organizations that are interested in learning more about how to participate in this program next year can visit the OCOE’s Community Grants Program website.
