Throughout the year, CC AHEC’s Navigation team provides cancer education and screening to over 300 DC residents at parks, health centers, churches and schools, successfully reaching people in their neighborhoods. Our Navigation team has proven successful at sharing its best practices training new navigators, sustaining innovative partnerships to address patient barriers and collaborations to educate clinicians all while serving a wide range of cancer patients effectively.

As a leader in health education CC AHEC serves as the resource center and operates the DC Cancer Answers hotline for the City-wide Patient Navigation Program (CPNN). Since the start of CPNN in October 2010, CC AHEC has collaborated with The GW Cancer Institute (GWCI), the DC Cancer Consortium and American Cancer Society to provide navigation services at clinical sites including Bread for the City and Family Medical and Counseling Services. In the winter of 2012, CC AHEC also began a partnership with DC Project Wish to provide navigation services to women with cervical and breast cancer. In 2012, CC AHEC was honored to receive a Susan G. Komen for the Cure award to implement the DC Pink Divas program.

Click here to view our Susan G. Komen for the Cure commerical - featuring our DC Pink Divas Team!

Diva to Diva: The DC Pink Divas Story
In 2009, Etta-Cheri set out to save the lives of women here in our nation’s capital as a Patient Navigator. As a DC native, Etta-Cheri knew first hand that women in the District have nearly a 10% higher rate of breast cancer as compared to the national average and there was a need to reach these women, because often they did not receive the same access to care. But it was her first patient, Valerie who reinforced the value of patient education and empowerment.

Like many other women living in Wards 7 & 8 in the District of Columbia, Valerie had little to no access to health care, faced discrimination and a tremendous lack of resources. Over the months Etta-Cheri navigated Valerie through the continuum of care: educating her on the health care system, finding a medical home and culturally competent care, she observed the impact empowering one woman can have on an entire community. After overcoming a partial mastectomy, degenerative joint disease and the loss of her mother, Valerie went on to support her own sister, Sharon when she learned she had cancer in both breasts while homelessness and unemployed. Throughout the process these sister encouraged themselves and other women along the way to remember “cancer is not a death sentence and there is life after cancer!”

It was with the impact these sisters made that Etta-Cheri began to think about how to combat health care disparities in Wards 7 & 8 by empowering, educating and impacting women in the community to reach out to other women and educate clinicians. The DC Pink Divas program was created to educate and mobilize underserved women in Wards 7 & 8 to save their lives and in-turn their “sister’s” lives, just as Sharon and Valerie have done.  After overcoming their odds they continue to recruit the next generation of mothers, sisters, daughters and grandmothers in Wards 7 & 8 to serve as our nation’s capital first team of DC Pink Divas!

Today, our DC Pink Divas team hopes you will support our sisters as we continue to educate, empower and impact women in our community. Because with your support, we can save lives, Diva to Diva!

Click here to donate to our DC Pink Divas Susan G. Komen for the Cure Global Race Team Page

A Susan G. Komen for the Cure funded training and outreach program designed to combat high rates of breast cancer in Ward 8 by empowering, educating and impacting women in one of the most underserved communities in our nation.

What Do DC Pink Divas Do?

• DC Pink Divas, Empower! The 3 part lay health advisor program equips women to empower “sisters” in their community, to take action and to educate practitioners on cultural competent care to improve health outcomes for women in Ward 8. Together Divas can save lives!
• DC Pink Divas, Educate! Divas team with our Patient Navigator to provide social support, resources, referrals, emotional caring, and assistance to a total of 300 women. Divas recruit, plan, and host breast cancer prevention activities through their community networks, such as church, civic and social groups.
• DC Pink Divas, Impact! DC Pink Divas impact Ward 7 & 8 by creating a sense of community, empowerment, and sisterhood while increasing breast cancer awareness and promoting dialogue. Divas also improve health care interactions between providers and patients.