Fenty Announces Millions of Dollars in D.C. Area Breast Health Grants, Signs up to Race for the Cure

Mayor's Running Group will Form Team for Susan G. Komen National Race for the Cure®

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 24, 2008 - Mayor Adrian M. Fenty kicked off registration for the 19^th Annual Susan G. Komen National Race for the Cure® and joined the organization in announcing $3.3 million in grants for breast health programs in and around the D.C. area.

Mayor Fenty appeared at the Washington Cancer Institute at Washington Hospital Center this morning to become the first to publicly register for the June 7 Komen National Race for the Cure and to highlight the treatment and prevention challenges unique to D.C. that are being confronted by Komen's community-based grants, such as those awarded to Washington Hospital Center's "Breaking Down Barriers" project. "Our friends at Susan G. Komen for the Cure® truly show the power of a promise, and the impact one person, compounded, can make," Fenty said. "I can't wait to again be among the 50,000 people who show their support and race for the cure." Creating a mayoral race team Fenty set a high bar for other prominent officials to try to reach, announcing he will field a mayoral race team featuring members of his "regular running group" to compete in the June 7 event as well.

"The Komen National Race brings more than 50,000 runners and walkers from across the country, including more than 3,500 breast cancer survivors," said Cindy Geoghegan, executive advisor for scientific community relations at Susan G. Komen for the Cure. "Thanks in large part to funds raised by the Race, Komen is able to invest in crucial breast cancer research programs and community-based outreach programs right here in the Washington area. This is truly a year-round impact."

Community grants fill an urgent need
Washington, D.C. has one of the highest breast cancer mortality rates in the nation. Community grants provided by Susan G. Komen for the Cure are urgently needed. While local screening rates are higher than the national average, barriers to care and treatment persist. Programs like "Breaking Down Barriers" at Washington Hospital Center will significantly reduce those disparities by targeting low income and minority women. Breaking Down Barriers is a collaboration involving the Hospital Center, Whitman-Walker Clinic, Food & Friends, Catholic Charities and Nueva Vida, Inc.

"We are honored and thrilled with the opportunity to help educate women about breast cancer and the treatment options available to them," said Sandra Swain, M.D., project director of Breaking Down Barriers and medical director of the Washington Cancer Institute at Washington Hospital Center. "Together with our partners, we hope to establish a seamless system of care to help women tackle and overcome barriers to treatment and to increase participation in breast cancer clinical trials.

Susan Sonley, a 14-year breast cancer survivor who has fielded the highest-grossing Komen National Race team for nine years in a row, spoke of the Race's impact on her recovery. "The months of uncertainty and fear that were constant companions during my illness were mitigated by the fellowship, love and support in the crowd of people who had also been touched in some way by breast cancer. I was not alone," Sonley said.

This year, $3.3 million is being dispersed locally from 2007 Susan G. Komen National Race for the Cure proceeds. The 2007 Komen National Race also included a record 1,300 teams, accounting for nearly half of all participants. Mayor Fenty hopes to drive that number even higher.

Targeting breast health programs for the medically underserved
Fenty announced that the $3.3 million in local grants made possible by the 2007 National Race for the Cure was targeted toward breast health programs for the medically underserved.

Receiving two-year $147,500 Community Based grants:

- Arlington Free Clinic's "Breast Health Care: Meeting the Challenges of Diversity"
(Martha Ware, project director)

- CASA of Maryland, Inc.'s "Latino Cancer Prevention and Control Program"
(Elisa Jaramillo, project director)

- Georgetown University's "One-by-One Breast Cancer Screening: Reaching Out to Women in Public Housing"
(Amari Sokoya Pearson-Fields, project director)

- Georgetown University Hospital's "Breast Cancer Education Program"
(Nancy Muzeck, project director)

- Holy Cross Hospital's "Komen Community Collaboration to Battle Breast Cancer III"
(Wendy Friar, project director)

- Mary's Central for Maternal and Child Care, Inc.'s "Breast Cancer Screening & Outreach for Low-Income Immigrant Women"
(Alis Marachelian, project director)

- Montgomery General Hospital's "Brains, Breasts & Beauty: The Use It or Lose It Program for Women 18-40"
(Tonia Lewis, project director)

- Nueva-Vida, Inc.'s "Nueva Vida's Access and Survivorship Support for Latinas with Breast Cancer"
(Larisa Caicedo, project director)

- Primary Care Coalition of Montgomery County, Inc.'s "Increasing Breast Cancer Screening Capacity for Women Living in Poverty"
(Maria Triantis, project director)

- Prince George's County Health Department's "Easy Access - Faith Based"
(Elaine Stillwell, project director)

- Sibley Memorial Hospital's "Breast Cancer Patient Navigator Program: A New Palliative Care Approach" (Frederick Smith, MD, project director)

- Smith Farm for Healing and the Arts Center's "Institutionalizing Navigation at the Howard Hospital for African Americans"
(Carole O'Toole, project director)

- Whitman-Walker Clinic's "Breast Health Initiative"
(Mary Bahr, project director)

Receiving three-year $700,000 Community Academic Partnership grants:

- Nueva Vida, Inc.'s "Impact of Nueva Vida's Cancer Support Model in Latinas' Self Efficacy"
(Larisa Caicedo, project director)

- Washington Hospital Center Foundation's "Breaking Down Barriers" program.

About Washington Hospital Center
The Washington Hospital Center is a not-for-profit 926-bed acute care teaching and research hospital based in Northwest Washington, D.C.  It is the largest private medical center in the nation's capital and among the 25 largest hospitals in the mid-Atlantic.  The Hospital Center consistently ranks among the nation's top hospitals in the research and treatment of cardiovascular and kidney disease and provides cutting edge therapies to treat cancer, stroke and acute neurological injury and disease.  Washington Hospital Center is also home to MedSTAR Trauma and Transport and is the region's adult burn facility.

Photo of Mayor Adrian M. Fenty by Andrew Councill for Susan G. Komen for the Cure.