KeyBank Foundation awards $1M grant for providing breast cancer education to medically underserved women

A $1 million grant from KeyBank Foundation to Susan G. Komen for the Cure® will fund a training and outreach program potentially reaching more than 100,000 medically underserved women in selected communities that KeyBank serves. The grant, announced today by Susan G. Komen for the Cure and KeyCorp, is the Foundation's largest-ever grant at the national level and will be used to establish the Susan G. Komen Lay Health Advisors Training Program.

"Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women. Its impact is especially devastating for women of color, who are more likely to die from breast cancer, and for poor or uninsured women who lack access to health care resources. Our investment in this innovative program reflects our corporate diversity vision and is just one way we give back to the communities where the people of Key live and work," said Beth E. Mooney, KeyCorp president and chief operating officer.

Over the next four years, the program will train nearly 500 lay health advisors to provide education and outreach on breast cancer in 17 communities served by Key Bank and Komen Affiliates nationwide.  Lay health advisors will provide information, referrals to health care resources, one-on-one consultations, assistance with scheduling, support during health care visits and more.

Komen founder and CEO, Ambassador Nancy G. Brinker, said the grant will help Komen reach women who otherwise might not be helped.  "These women may be unaware of their risk for breast cancer, unable to access the health care system for answers, or unsupported if they do need treatment. Our mission is to ensure that all women have the information and support they need to confront this disease. This commitment from KeyBank Foundation will help make that possible."

The program will roll out first in Northeast Ohio in Cleveland, Akron and Canton through the Northeast Ohio Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, and in 2012 and 2013 will expand to Albany, NY; Bellingham, WA; Bellevue, WA; Buffalo, NY; Cincinnati, OH; Columbus, OH; Dayton, OH; Denver, CO; Indianapolis, IN; Portland, OR; Rochester, NY; Syracuse, NY; Tacoma, WA; and Toledo, OH.

Sophie Sureau, executive director of the Komen Northeast Ohio Affiliate, says the power of peer-to-peer education and support is already being demonstrated in programs funded locally by the Affiliate.  Some local grantee programs use "Amigas" and "Angels" as trained lay health advisors to educate, encourage and facilitate mammograms for early diagnosis and treatment. 

"We know the need for these programs is growing, but the funding resources are not," Sureau said. "We hope that the gift from KeyBank Foundation inspires new support for programs that can truly save lives, especially when there is collaboration between community-based advocates and providers of health care."