The Joy to Life Foundation has committed $200,000 to the Alabama Breast and Cervical Early Detection Program so the program can remain open until June 31, the date new funding is expected for the program’s fiscal year.
Joy to Life founder Joy Blondheim of Montgomery said the entire program would have been forced to shut its doors until July if additional funds had not been provided.
“It was totally unacceptable for us that the women in this state with symptoms were going to have to wait until July to get the necessary screenings they needed,” said Blondheim, who made the announcement during a Friday news conference. this contribution is in addition to the funds Joy to Life contributes yearly to the program, she said.
Blondheim started the nonprofit Joy to Life 10 years ago with her husband, Richard, with the aim of providing free mammograms to medically underserved women younger than 50 in 29 counties in south-central Alabama.
The Alabama Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program provides qualified women with breast and cervical cancer screening at no cost. Women who are screened and diagnosed through this program and diagnosed with breast and/or cervical cancer may be eligible for treatment through Medicaid.
To be eligible for free screening for breast or cervical cancer through the program, women must be a resident of Alabama, age 40 to 64 or uninsured and at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, though some women younger than 40 who have abnormal breast exams and women enrolled in Medicare Part A also could be eligible.
For more information on Joy to Life, go to joytolife.org.
– Teri Greene