A SILVER LINING FOUNDATION CHICAGOLAND CANCER INFO COALITION
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Mission Statement
The mission or A Silver Lining Foundation is to ensure dignified, respectful, and equal access to quality cancer education and services for all by creating meaningful partnerships with community, advocacy and healthcare organizations. Our vision is to ensure that socioeconomic status does not affect an individual's ability to obtain information, timely cancer screening and diagnosis.
About This Cause
Founded in 2002 by breast cancer survivor and Executive Director Dr. Sandy Goldberg, A Silver Lining Foundation (ASLF) has developed five integrated programs that ensure seamless access and transition through the Breast Cancer Continuum of Care for underserved women. After establishing a coalition of local and national organizations, ASLF utilized its social and economic resources to create a center providing quality of life services to people with cancer which transitioned into a mammography center; built a network of partner hospitals offering the entire spectrum of breast health services (screening mammogram through biopsy) funded by ASLF; created a program specifically for women who have been previously diagnosed with breast cancer to provide the testing that is unique to their situation; and developed an educational program designed to acquaint young women with the importance of breast health and early detection. Programs target low-income women living in the greater Chicagoland, Des Plaines, Elgin, Evanston and Rockford IL areas who are uninsured (99%), underinsured (1%), and predominately of color and minority populations (70%). ASLF’s strength and success lie in its ability to link entities skilled at delivering breast health education and services, provide resources needed to overcome barriers to accessing these services, and reach underserved populations. Our role is to remove the financial and logistical barriers to screening and early detection. We do this by providing a single phone number to call, dozens of outreach activities to pre-qualify women for mammogram referrals on site, and a broad coalition of partners providing easy-to-reach health services. Language barriers are eliminated as ASLF staff is able to complete intake forms in English and Spanish and volunteers and/or community partners provide bilingual individuals to complete intake forms in Polish, Arabic, and Asian languages. ASLF accepts women regardless of residency status, reviews any existing insurance coverage on a case-by-case basis and will fund a mammogram for a woman outside the recommended age parameters by supporting the decisions that medical doctors may make about screening All ASLF hospital partners accept a cost-effective fee structure—one that pays more than Medicaid but significantly less than private insurance. Through BAMAM, uninsured and underinsured women receive the same quality health services available to privately-insured patients. Hospital partners agree that uninsured and underinsured women diagnosed with breast cancer will receive treatment via public programs for which they are eligible or the hospital partner’s charity care program. Once a woman comes through the BAMAM program, she has a medical home (if she did not have one previously), is most likely to return to ASLF for annual screenings, and pass the information along to friends and family. We see many women come through our program having received information by word of mouth. The impact of the pandemic has been profound with many losing their employment and health insurance literally overnight. As a consequence ASLF now funds cost free breast health testing for this population we call the "newly uninsured." In response to current world circumstances in the Ukraine, ASLF has joined with other organizations to address the needs of incoming refugees. As ASLF accepts no local, state or federal funding, we are able to address the breast health testing needs of those who have fled their homeland.