Susan G. Komen Central and Southern New Jersey Affiliate Reach Out for Life: Somebody Needs You!

This year, more than 7,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in New Jersey; tragically, about 1,400 of them will die from the disease. As a result of new medical technologies, innovative drug therapies, and heightened awareness of the need for early detection, fewer women are succumbing to breast cancer than ever before. Unfortunately, this encouraging trend has largely bypassed women in the African-American community. African-American women have the highest percentage of late-stage diagnoses of breast cancer of any racial or ethnic group, and as a result suffer from the highest breast cancer death rate in New Jersey.

As a recognized global leader in the fight against breast cancer, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation's Central & South Jersey Affiliate has partnered with 2-1-1 to launch "Reach Out for Life: Somebody Needs You®", a first-of-its-kind grassroots, community-based campaign, designed to promote breast cancer awareness and encourage breast self-examination and free screenings among African-American women over age 40. The Reach Out for Life campaign will educate 10,000 women and sponsor breast cancer screenings for 1,000 women in the thirteen counties of central and southern New Jersey

Women who call 2-1-1 will be pre-screened for eligibility after which a 2-1-1 Care Manager will serve as a "patient navigator". The Care Manager will assist with scheduling appointments for mammograms and provide referrals for follow-up and treatment. In this way, African-American women will be given the education, encouragement, and access necessary for preventiion and early detection of breast cancer.

Reach Out for Life is a campaign to bring the topic of breast cancer into the living room, dining room, worship sanctuary, beauty parlor and coffee shop. It is designed to infiltrate the networks of family, friends, and community members that have credibility among African-American women as well to engage these women in spaces that are natural and comfortable. With 2-1-1 as its partner the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Central & South Jersey Affiliate, through the "Reach Out for Life" program, is creating a network of caring messengers, each of whom will carry the message of breast cancer awareness into the community and into the future.