YWCA receives funding for breast cancer prevention

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (WIVT/WBGH) – A program that been saving lives for three decades is receiving help to further its outreach.

The YWCA of Binghamton and Broome County is getting $40,000 to support breast and cervical cancer prevention.

Senator Lea Webb secured the state funding to be used for the YWCA’s ENCOREplus Program. The program provides free transportation to appointments and child and elder care, to ensure that no one has barriers preventing them from getting screened. They also offer educational workshops.

Last year, ENCOREplus helped 1,200 women in our area get resources, 30 of them receiving early breast cancer diagnoses.

Senior Project Director Crystal Sackett says reliable free transportation is especially critical in rural areas far from hospitals.

“We are saving lives. These women, if it wasn’t for our program and it wasn’t for them getting that transportation into these hospitals from the rural areas, they probably would be in a further stage, where, you know, they’re worse off than it would be if they were at the early stages of breast cancer,” said Sackett.

This grant will be used specifically to promote the services in Broome, Tioga, Chenango and Delaware Counties.

On September 15, ENCOREplus will be hosting All Paws for a Cause: a dog walking event at Otsiningo Park that is the program’s biggest fundraiser.

For more information about the program, call Sackett at (607)772-0304 extension 242.

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