SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — In honor of breast cancer awareness month, one local organization is helping women with free mammograms.
1 in 8 women are diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States and early detection can save lives.
“If breast cancer is caught in its early stage it’s 99 percent curable,” says Wendy Shurelds founder of Many Shades of Pink and Co-organizer of the Mobile Health Fair.
The mobile mammography lab rolled into the Jackie Robinson YMCA Wednesday morning where women were able to get screened for free.
Southeastern San Diego is an area that is typically underserved
“Black women, and women of color, they are at risk. Our goal is to make sure that these women and all women have access to a mammogram.”
According to the CDC, Breast Cancer is the second most common cancer among women in the United States. Black women are more likely to die from breast cancer at a higher rate than white women.
“There’s a lot of myths out there surrounding mammograms, breast cancer.”
Shurelds says Many Shades of Pink is an organization that provides resources and a support group for women on their breast cancer journey.
“As a breast cancer survivor, I actually help them navigate through the system when they are first diagnosed. I basically hold their hand from the beginning to the end.”
The CDC says in 2019, nearly 29,000 breast cancer cases were reported in California. There were more than 264,000 new cases across the U.S.
Several other resources were offered at the Mobile Health Fair. It included diabetes, blood pressure and cholesterol screenings, COVID testing and vaccines, food distribution, and even pet services from the San Diego Humane Society.
The Mobile Health Fair is held at the Jackie Robinson YMCA every first Wednesday.
For those interested in getting a mammogram but don’t know where to start, Shurelds encourages them to contact Many Shades of Pink.
