Social drivers of health can significantly impact patients.
The American Cancer Society’s Addressing Barriers to Care (ABC) grant program recently awarded a total of $500,000 to fund 15 community organizations providing services that address food security and nutrition, physical activity opportunities, social isolation, financial stability, job security, education, housing security, and responsibility for dependents.
The grantees will help comprehensively address social drivers of health barriers which include non-medical factors that impact the ability to prevent, find, treat, and survive cancer. According to a January 2024 ACS CAN Survivor Views Survey, 40% of cancer patients and survivors experience some degree of food or nutrition insecurity, and according to American Cancer Society researchers, more than one in five patients with cancer in the United States struggles to meet at least one basic need. These material hardships are associated with delays in treatment, greater distress, financial toxicity, and a higher risk of relapse and death.
ACS launched the Addressing Barriers to Care grant program earlier in 2024, our pilot year, to complement its existing programs and grants focused on removing treatment barriers connected to transportation and lodging.
The 2024 Addressing Barriers to Care grantees include:
- Advocates for Community Wellness – Chicago, IL
- Alliance Community Services – Murray, UT
- Cancer Kinship – Newport Beach, CA
- Cancer Legal Care – Oakdale, MN
- Cheeky Charity Inc. – Mount Kisco, NY
- Community Outreach and Patient Empowerment, Inc. – Gallup, NM
- FeedMore Western New York Inc – Buffalo, NY
- Hope Cancer Resources – Springdale, AR
- Institute for Research and Education in Family Medicine – St. Louis, MO
- Miles Perret Cancer Services – Lafayette, LA
- Feeding Southwest Virginia – Salem, VA
- S.L.E.W. Inc./SLEW Cancer Wellness Center (Support Lending for Emotional Well-being) – San Antonio, TX
- The Resurrection Project – Chicago, IL
- Us vs. Cancer – Makawao, HI
- Vital Access Care Foundation - Vietnamese American Cancer Foundation – Fountain Valley, CA
Grant Program Cycle
The program’s grant cycle is 12 months long and runs from April 1, 2024 - March 31, 2025. ABC grantees are serving patients and caregivers from many populations, including members of the Navajo Nation as well as members from the LGBTQ, Vietnamese, African American, and Hispanic/Latinx communities. Overall, more than half of grantees will serve cancer patients who are living in poverty, minorities, unhoused, un/under-insured, and those in crisis.
