Five community groups from across Virginia have received $10,000 grants from UVA Cancer Center to address cancer-related health disparities. The grant program was created to celebrate UVA’s designation by the National Cancer Institute as Virginia’s only Comprehensive Cancer Center.
“Our efforts to prevent and treat cancer are most successful when we partner with our neighbors across Virginia as well as eastern West Virginia,” said Wendy Cohn, PhD, UVA Cancer Center’s associate director for community outreach and engagement. “We’re proud to recognize and support these four tremendous partners.”
The awardees:
- Cancer-Prevention Program in Charlottesville: This grant will expand the educational component of the Charlottesville Free Clinic’s cancer-prevention program. The free clinic provides cancer screening, education and care to uninsured members of the Charlottesville community.
- Increasing Nutrition Literacy Among Patients in Southwest Virginia: Mountain Empire Older Citizens will use this grant to increase access to one-on-one nutrition counseling as well as nutrition education for patients with cancer to help improve outcomes.
- Virginia Cancer Survivorship Task Force: The Cancer Action Coalition of Virginia will use its grant to develop a Virginia Cancer Survivorship Task Force dedicated to improving survival and quality of life for patients, ensuring that cancer survivors and their families can access the resources they need.
- “Can We Talk?” Educational Project: This grant will support the efforts of Hitting Cancer Below the Belt to increase awareness of colorectal cancer and encourage Virginia residents to take steps for prevention and early detection.
- Southern Virginia LGBTQIA+ Access Initiative: The Virginia Rural Health Association will use their grant to equip providers with skills and resources to serve individuals who identify as LGBTQIA+ and ensure that everyone in rural Virginia can access healthcare, including cancer screenings, in a safe and affirmative environment.
Finding better ways to prevent cancer and improve outcomes for patients with cancer are urgent missions of UVA Cancer Center, which has been designated by the National Cancer Institute as a Comprehensive Cancer Center. The designation recognizes elite cancer centers with the most outstanding cancer programs in the nation. UVA is one of just 53 Comprehensive Cancer Centers designated by the National Cancer Institute and the only one in Virginia. Comprehensive Cancer Centers must meet rigorous standards for innovative research and leading-edge clinical trials, as well as demonstrate enhanced outreach and education to their service areas.
UVA Cancer Center will begin accepting applications for the next round of community grants this summer.
