Upstate’s breast cancer education program, She Matters, has received a $20,000 grant from the American Cancer Society, in partnership with the NFL’s Crucial Catch program.

The NFL’s Crucial Catch mission is to fight cancer through early detection and risk reduction.

Launched in 2014, She Matters is a community outreach program that educates women in underserved areas about the importance of breast cancer screenings.  She Matters is comprised of trained community health advisors (CHAs) who go into the communities where they live to encourage and help women schedule mammograms. The CHAs provide further support women by going to appointments and staying in the waiting room until the patient’s mammogram is over. They can also connect women to other health services that are needed.

Since its inception, more than 17,000 women have been reached through She Matters in some format. More than 30 percent of the women navigated to mammography in this program, have incorporated the behavior into their health maintenance regimen, scheduling their next annual mammogram without reminders from She Matters.

Among those supporting the organization include United Health Care, Kay Yow Cancer Fund, Jim and Juli Boeheim Foundation, American Cancer Society, Excellus, AstraZeneca, MACYS, Syracuse Crunch Foundation, CNY Community Foundation, Women's Fund, of CNY and Adam Weitsman's CNY Tuesday.

Linda Veit, MPH, who started the program said initially education was focused on women living in public housing since research showed that these women were screened less often and had more breast cancers detected at later stages. Upstate developed the peer education program by training women in public housing.

“The CHAs go out and deliver the message and they are credible messengers on why women need to be screened for breast cancer,” she said. “Women hear directly from their peers.”

The program started with two CHAs and now has eight. It has also expanded to other community centers, other underserved and low-income areas around Syracuse, including senior facilities. In 2024, She Matters has held eight community education sessions, participated in 34 community events, collaborated on six mobile Mammo Van screening days and held 17 mammogram screening parties at Upstate’s facility, 550 Harrison St. At these mammogram parties, they offer snacks, coffee and socializing and camaraderie.

“We started small, showed success, and built on that success,” Veit said. “It’s become a signature program of Upstate and I am very thankful to the people who work in the program and the women who have taken care of the health.”

The ACS grant will help support the program including stipends for the CHAs.

Caption: Community Health Advisors and volunteers promote Upstate's She Matters program at various events in Syracuse.