The University of New Mexico houses one of the few programs in the country, which was just chosen for a competitive and worthwhile grant by the Prevent Cancer Foundation.
The organization Comadre a Comadre was awarded $25,000 for the next year, under the foundation’s mission of cancer prevention and early detection.
The Prevent Cancer Foundation selected just a dozen recipients with a focus on community engagement, awareness and education, disproportionate impact and tools for treatment. Its goal is to reduce cancer deaths by 40% by 2035.
Comadre a Comadre is doing exactly that with a specific commitment to Hispanic and Latinx women in need of screenings for a mammogram, a pap test or an HPV test.
This money will allow for a whole new wave of education in the culturally and linguistically designed project: the Platicas. Through the provision of education, information and navigation, Platicas aims to raise awareness about the early detection of breast and cervical cancer for New Mexico women. The community outreach education commitment will also be taught by survivors of breast and cervical cancer.
Comadre a Comadre Director Elba L. Saavedra Ferrer expects this peer-based project to enroll 300 New Mexicans across counties into these classes and navigate them to cancer screening appointments. Beyond the Platicas, she hopes through its advisory council, health fairs and one-on-one classes, that number will eventually reach 850.
‘We are both honored and ecstatic that we were awarded this national grant. We are eager to begin implementing the objectives of this project in collaboration with our peer educators and community partners,” Saavedra Ferrer said.
The $25,000 will go towards a project coordinator, navigators and a gift card stipend for the peer educator volunteers teaching the classes It will also fund supplies, educational materials and more.
As just one of a dozen selected, Saavedra Ferrer says it’s a testament to the work Comadre a Comadre has done since 2003.
The Prevent Cancer Foundation also chose Comadre a Comadre for the organization’s ability to educate, possibly replicate, expand and adapt to disparities in communities outside of New Mexico.
Find resources, facts and a support system waiting with open arms at Comadre a Comadre, within the UNM College of Education & Human Sciences now.