Community Grants

Grants ranging from $10,000 to $50,000 to Maryland nonprofit organizations and governmental agencies for breast cancer related programs. including Patient Navigation and Reducing Barriers to Care. Funding priority will be given to grant applications that are specifically designed to increase access to breast cancer screening and diagnostic services and to reduce barriers to care through navigation for uninsured and underinsured:

- African American and/or Latina women that reside in Baltimore City and Baltimore County in Central Maryland;
- African American and/or Latina women that reside in Dorchester, Somerset, Wicomico, and Worcester Counties on the Eastern Shore; women that reside in Calvert and Charles Counties in Southern Maryland; and/or
- Women that reside in Allegany and Washington Counties in Western Maryland.

The funding priority areas are listed below in no particular order based on the needs identified in the Community Profile:

Patient Navigation:

Projects that provide evidence-based patient navigation for African American and/or Latina women that reside in Baltimore City and Baltimore County in Central Maryland; African American and/or Latina women that reside in Dorchester, Somerset, Wicomico, and Worcester Counties on the Eastern Shore; women that reside in Calvert and Charles Counties in Southern Maryland; and/or women that reside in Allegany and Washington Counties in Western Maryland. Patient navigation must follow the individual from abnormal screening to diagnostic resolution and through treatment, if necessary.

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 diagnostic and 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., breast cancer education, counseling, care coordination, health system navigation, and access to transportation, language services and financial resources).

Reducing Barriers to Care:

Evidence-based projects that reduce barriers to quality breast cancer care experienced by uninsured and underinsured African American and/or Latina women that reside in Baltimore City and Baltimore County in Central Maryland; African American and/or Latina women that reside in Dorchester, Somerset, Wicomico, and Worcester Counties on the Eastern Shore; women that reside in Calvert and Charles Counties in Southern Maryland; and/or women that reside in Allegany and Washington Counties in Western Maryland. “Underinsured is defined as having some insurance coverage but not enough, or when one is insured yet unable to afford the out-of-pocket responsibilities not covered by his or her insurer” (Patient Advocate Foundation, http://www.patientadvocate.org/resources.php?p=781).

The Affiliate seeks to fund projects that, through navigation services, provide no cost or low cost screening/diagnostic/treatment services, diagnostic/treatment co-pay and deductible assistance, transportation, interpreter services, and/or meals for the during active treatment.

Komen Maryland is accepting applications for community grant programs that provide access through navigation resulting in:

- Increased breast cancer action due to increased knowledge;
- Increased number of “never screened” women getting breast cancer screening;
- Reduced number of women “lost to follow‐up;”
- Reduced time from abnormal screening to diagnostic procedures;
- Reduced time from diagnostic resolution to treatment;
- Increased treatment compliance.

Allowable Expenses:

Funds may be requested for the following types of expenses, provided they are directly
attributable to the project:

- Up to 75% of total budget may be requested for salary to support direct services provided specifically for the purpose of the proposed project. Grant funds may not be used for administrative support staff and supervisory/managerial roles already on staff at the organization whose sole responsibility is basic program oversight.
- Consultant fees
- Up to 50% of grant funds may be requested for clinical services or patient care costs such as: clinical breast exams (CBEs), screening mammograms, and diagnostic services to the medically underserved. NOTE: Funds for clinical breast exams and mammograms should be allocated only if alternative sources are not available. Applicants must identify how they connect underserved populations with the local Maryland Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening Program (BCCP) in the counties served by the proposed program.
- If requested, no more than 50% of total budget of grant may be used to provide financial support to address barriers through navigation. Financial Assistance to reduce barriers to care may only be provided through diagnostic and treatment navigation for co-pay assistance, transportation, and meals during active treatment.
- Meeting costs
- Supplies
- Translation services
- Genetic testing to inform treatment decisions
- Reasonable travel costs related to the execution of the project
- Other direct project expenses
- Equipment, including software, not to exceed $5,000 total, essential to the breast health‐ related project to be conducted
- Indirect costs, not to exceed 10 percent of direct costs

For more information, please refer to the descriptions in the Budget Section of the RFP.