Community Grants

Grants starting at $10,000 to Indiana and Illinois nonprofit organizations and government agencies for breast cancer services and breast health education programs for residents within the funding source's service area. Funding is intended to support community-based small group educational programs, patient navigation assistance, and diagnostic, screening, and treatment projects for the medically underserved.

Eligible areas:

• Illinois: Clark and Edgar Counties
  
• Indiana: Bartholomew, Blackford, Boone, Brown, Clay, Clinton, Decatur, Delaware, Fayette, Fountain, Franklin, Grant, Greene, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Henry, Howard, Jay, Johnson, Madison, Marion, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Owen, Parke, Putnam, Randolph, Rush, Shelby, Sullivan, Tippecanoe, Tipton, Union, Vermillion, Vigo, Warren, and Wayne Counties.

Those projects serving residents and communities in Boone, Rush, Shelby, Vermillion, Marion, Vigo, and Wayne counties will be given special consideration.

Funded programs help us get closer to accomplishing a bold goal: To reduce the current number of breast cancer deaths by 50% in the U.S. by 2026. Projects should aim to reduce breast cancer mortality by addressing disparities, increasing access to quality and timely care, and/or improving outcomes through patient navigation.

The Community Grant includes the two programs described below. 

1. Breast Cancer Education and Entry Into Continuum of Care: (Please note that applications to this program must include a breast cancer education component and may include funding requests for entry into the continuum of care.)

• Breast Cancer Education: Projects that provide evidence-based and culturally relevant breast cancer education in small group settings. Projects must be designed to result in documented age appropriate, breast cancer action (e.g., getting a screening mammogram, obtaining recommended follow-up after an abnormal mammogram). Breast cancer education projects must include Komen’s breast self-awareness messages, provide evidence of linkage to local breast cancer services and include follow up with participants. Projects must use the educational curricula written by Komen Central Indiana located at www.komencentralindiana.org/grants. 
• Entry Into Continuum of Care: Projects that provide assistance for patients to enter the Breast Cancer Continuum of Care at either the screening or diagnostic phase, following breast health educational programming. Applicants must demonstrate knowledge of and working partnerships with payers for screening and diagnostic services, including Medicaid, HIP, and BCCP. These projects may use funds to provide no cost or low-cost screening and/or diagnostic services, mobile mammography, diagnostic copay and deductible assistance, transportation to/from screening/diagnostic appointment, and interpreter services for individuals who meet at least one of the following criteria:  Are uninsured; are underinsured, defined for the purposes of this grant application as experiencing costs associated with screening and/or diagnostic tests greater than 10% of their annual household income; have a referral from a physician for a screening or diagnostic test that their insurance carrier will not cover, or do not currently qualify for Medicaid, HIP, BCCP, or other public assistance funds for their service.

2. Patient Navigation: Projects that provide evidence-based patient navigation for residents, following the individual from breast cancer diagnosis through treatment and into survivorship, if appropriate. Patient navigation is a process by which a trained individual - patient navigator - guides patients through and around barriers in the complex breast cancer care system. The primary focus of a patient navigator is on the individual patient, with responsibilities centered on coordinating and improving access to timely treatment services tailored to individual needs. Patient navigators offer interventions that may vary from patient to patient along the continuum of care and include a combination of informational, emotional, and practical support (i.e., counseling, care coordination, health system navigation, and access to transportation, language services and financial resources).

For Allowable Costs, see p. 5 of the RFA listed in Supporting Documents below.