At the National Cheers Foundation, we partner with health and wellness providers who provide resources helping all women of all ages to live a life full of vitality.
National Cheers Foundation partners with the following providers of health and wellness, that includes education, workshops, overnight accommodations and transportation if needed at the following places:[
Astin Retreat
Rancho La Puerta,
Pauma Valley Country Club,
CANCER SUPPORT
The National Cheers Foundation is proud to support the First Annual Betty Barwise Page McLean Award. In 2012, Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center opened the new Douglas and Nancy Barnhart Cancer Center – this cancer center combines advanced technology with critical features that provide comfort and healing. With a grant from the National Cheers Foundation, our goal to support the clinical heath care and social support needs of women diagnosed with cancer in the low-income, uninsured communities of South County can be greatly enhanced through our Patient Navigator Program. This program provides necessity bags, wigs, and scarves, lymphedema supplies and transportation assistance. In the past, we had only been able to offer this service to breat cancer patients – the support of the National Cheers Foundation will help expand this service to women dealing with cancer. Women diagnosed with cancer experience such an emotional journey from the time of diagnosis to deciding on surgery and making the transition from patient to survivor. For those less fortunate, support from the community is vitally important.
Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health
Funds provided by the National Cheers Foundation grant are being used to fund Dr. Rebecca Shatsky’s research that uses a drug called cirmtuzumab to target cancer stem cells that cause both cancer relapse and progression of disease in breast cancer. Dr. Shatsky is currently conducting a clinical trial that involves taking patient tumor samples and testing them for ROR-1 expression both before and after treatment with cirmtuzumab. The funds provided will go directly to supporting the laboratory-based research of this treatment, as well as the costs to provide care for the patient with metastatic breast cancer enrolled in the clinical trial.
HEALTH NEEDS
CHEERS funds will be used for improvements in the Sharp Mary Birch Neonatal Intensive Care Unit’s private Lactation Lounge for mothers of pre-mature newborns receiving care in the NICU. The Lactation Lounge offers a private respite for these mothers who seek to find serenity in a stressful time of their lives to pump and provide breast milk to their babies.
Family Health Centers of San Diego
Founded in 1970, FHCSD is San Diego County’s largest nonprofit community health center, fulfilling a vital community need for high-quality, affordable medical, mental health, dental, and women’s health care. The 2020 CHEERS grant funds medical equipment they need to provide onsite second stage cervical cancer screenings for low-income, medically underserved, and uninsured/underinsured women in East County. The CHEERS grant funds a critically needed colposcope, which is a flexible, free-standing binocular microscope that allows a clinician to thoroughly examine the cervix to look for signs of cancer or precancerous abnormalities. For many women, the time, travel, expense, and prospect of undergoing a pelvic examination with an unfamiliar medical care provider discourages them from following through with the procedure. By providing colposcopies for women in their own community, transportation and access barriers are greatly reduced, and women at risk for cervical cancer can receive secondary screening and treatment in their medical home, with doctors and staff they know and trust.
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Red Cross
Assisting with funds for blood drives and critical relief services for the outbreak.
College Area Pregnancy Services, Inc.
CAPS Pregnancy Clinics provide empathetic medical and practical help in the College Area, Pacific Beach and Downtown communities with a new Mesa Area Clinic planned to open in Fall 2020. Women who are facing an unplanned pregnancy can go to CAPS health and wellness clinics for medical services, education and resources. The majority of the women who use their services have no health insurance and are between 25-29 years old and are in a low income bracket. They serve approximately 1,000 women a year with a fully trained staff of volunteers who set up the appointments, greet the patients, assist them with finding insurance, referrals to OB/Gyn, community resources and follow up. Licensed nurses provide medical consultation, nutrition, healthy lifestyle education, ultrasound and dispensing of prenatal vitamins. CAPS also provides low to no cost STI/STD testing. National CHEERS Foundation granted funds for a certified refurbished exam table, ultrasound machine and probe.
EDUCATION
The Howell Foundation serves to make a lasting impact on the overall wellbeing of women by “Keeping the Women We Love Healthy.” The Foundation focuses on three key areas: Research Scholarships, Educational Events and Community Engagement. The Howell Foundation is dedicated to making a long-term, positive impact on women’s health throughout all of San Diego County. Nursing Scholarships have been awarded to all of the major universities in San Diego. There is a severe shortage of qualified nurses throughout the United States and San Diego is no different. Furthermore, there is also a shortage of nurses who hold a Ph.D. and fill important leadership positions as well as taking on teaching responsibilities. Many of the graduate nurses the Howell Foundation supported in the past have remained in San Diego, each of them improving health care in their chosen position. Funding from the National CHEERS Foundation supports graduate nursing students in their women’s health research. Each scholarship awarded expands the understanding of women’s health and prepares another potential researcher for a career in women’s health research.
The funding from this years National Cheers Foundation award will support the expansion of the Mi Escuelita Preschools into a fourth classroom. Currently, the preschool operates out of three classrooms with a capacity to serve 72 students each year, yet sadly has a waitlist which has grown to exceed 30 children at any one time. The addition of another classroom will allow the program to serve an additional 24 students who have experienced trauma each year.
Mi Escuelita
Escuelita is a free, full-day, therapeutic preschool for children aged 3 to 5 who have been traumatized by family violence. The Program provides therapeutic, developmental, and educational activities, as well as parent support services in a safe, healthy environment, including assessments, counseling, Healthy Development Services, Community Services for Families, and children’s mental health services. This innovative program, which is the only one of its kind in Southern California, combines early childhood education with therapist-led counseling and supportive parenting activities. Through Mi Escuelita, and the support of the National Cheers Foundation, SBCS is able to assist their most vulnerable children to develop physically, emotionally and socially in supportive home and school environments, increasing their chances of long-term healthy development free from violence and abuse
CHEERS funds will be used for the continuation and expansion of the teen-to-teen bone health program created by High Tech High students, who initiated the challenge of “Bone Break Day” to increase awareness of the short-term and long-term consequences of bone health. The goal is to create a “turn key” resource for any school or group to utilize their own Bone Break Day, focusing on bone health.
South Bay Community Services serves San Diego County’s Southern Region that is situated on the Mexican border. The region is largely urban and includes Chula Vista, National City, Imperial Beach, and San Ysidro and supports a diverse population that is greatly affected by immigration, characterized by transience, low socioeconomic expectancy, high crime rates, and substance abuse, making it difficult for them to find employment, affordable housing, physical and mental health care, and access community resources and services. CHEERS will be matching funds for the LEAP Program that will support stipend work-experience for young women overcoming their own mental and behavioral health issues, striving to earn a career in the health care field.
South Bay Community Services’ Mi Escuelita Therapeutic Preschool is the only one of its kind in Southern California designed especially for children affected by domestic violence and abuse to help break the cycle of violence, help children heal and begin the right path for school. Mi Escuelita is funded in part by First 5 San Diego, private donations, student sponsorships and SBCS. SBCS is a community-based nonprofit touching the lives of more than 50,000 each year in San Diego County. Our programs and services respond to the needs of our community. We provide the support and tools needed so challenges can be overcome and lives can be redirected with hope, purpose and sustainable outcomes.
Grow Great Girls (GGG) Program is a mother–daughter leadership program that is designed to 1) Build the leadership capacity of girls and women through strengthening their sense of who they are and giving them the skills to effectively navigate the complex personal and social challenges they face, and 2) deepening the connection between mothers and daughters. The funding provided by the National Cheers Foundation is being used for a Grow Great Girls series that targets daughters who are struggling with shame and a compromised sense of self, and the mothers who are trying to support them through the process.
EMPOWERMENT
The Y-Strong Girls Program is dedicated to providing tools to empower young women to create meaningful lives through healthy choices, self-awareness, mindfulness, movement, camaraderie and community involvement. The program is for girls, ages 13 – 18 who are currently enrolled in middle school or high school. The program includes mentoring opportunities, special events, community service projects, creative arts, field trips, and a speaker series. The goal of the Y-Strong Girls Program is to provide valuable experiences, teach new skills and highlight the importance of service and volunteerism. Funds from the National CHEERS Foundation support the Y-Strong Girls “Day at the Beach” service opportunity. The annual non-profit event hosted by the Windansea Surf Club benefits underserved children and challenged athletes in San Diego County, providing a full day of fun, sun and surfing instruction.
National Veterans Transition Services, Inc. aka REBOOT
The REBOOT program, funded by the National Cheers Foundation, is designed to facilitate the successful reintegration of women completing their military careers through a bold approach for the military-to-civilian transition that combines cognitive-behavioral education with real-world career transitioning.Generous funding from the National Cheers Foundation supports enrollment of low-income young women high school students in grades 11 and 12 into the Academic Advocates Program, which provides individualized support to first generation college students. Academic Advocates participate in the schools’ regular advisory classes and also provide individual advisement to address students’ personal, academic, and career-related issues including SATs, A-G courses, applying on time, understanding financial aid and scholarships, etc. Advocates meet one-on-one with students to develop a Plan For Success, mentoring the youth, connecting with their families regularly, and collaborating with school staff, in order to lower individual students’ barriers to success while helping students connect with peers. The Plan For Success will provide a road map that each student can follow, leading to college and career success. Once the student enters college, the Academic Advocate continues to support her learning, and overall academic and career goals.Center for Community Solutions
The National Cheers Foundation is thrilled to provide funding for the Long Term Emergency Shelter Residence Furnishings Project. With these funds, adult female survivors on intimate partner violence, sexual assault or stalking will gain access to comfortable and supportive environments while they complete their recovery process following traumatic experiences at the Hidden Valley House emergency shelter. A portion of these funds will be used to furnish two of the newly remolded apartment units at Next Step North long-term emergency shelter.
RESEARCH
The National Cheers Foundation is excited to be supporting breast cancer research in the lab of Dr. Brunie Feldin, Associate Professor at TSRI.
CHEERS funds support groundbreaking research affecting women’s health, and by partnering with the Salk Women & Science Program is supporting a female scientist, Amy Rommel, PhD. Dr. Rommel is a wife, mother, mentor, adventurer, ocean lover and is changing the game on how we think about treating cancer. As a researcher in the laboratory of Dr. Inder Verma at the Salk Institute, Amy is focusing her efforts on one of the most lethal forms of cancer, Glioblastoma. Her research into how the “stem-cell-like” tumor overcomes therapeutic attacks by adapting, mutating, migrating and invading into other tissues has uncovered a mechanism by which the tumor has potentially cured itself, albeit currently in a small number of tumor cells, by adapting and transforming into a vascular (blood vessel) cell, a process known as transdifferentiation. If cancer is essentially a mass of stem cells growing out of control, then perhaps just as in a developing embryo, the cancer simply seeks programming to tell the cells what to do. This is what Dr. Rommel’s research aims to accomplish. Instead of simply trying to create a drug to kill the cancer, Dr. Rommel’s current work proposes a novel strategy to reprogram the stem-like, tumor cells back to “normal” non-tumor initiating cells. It is her hope that this treatment will not be toxic to the patient, have fewer side effects and most importantly, put an end to tumor adaptation, resistance and evasion of treatment.
SUPPORT
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
NAMI San Diego’s mission is to support, educate, and advocate for individuals and their families affected by mental illness in San Diego and Imperial Counties. NAMI San Diego has the ability to meet an underserved need in the behavioral health community through housing.
Comfort Club
Providing bears for comfort and relief to families who are separated from each other during this stressful time.
Postpartum Health Alliance Funds
PHA support 2014 “warmline” project, the only telephone resource in San Diego where mothers and family members can obtain support and referrals and speak to someone who has been there. The request covers the operation costs of the telephone and telecommunication fees and supports the stipend of administrative assistant.
Soaring Spirits International
Widowed people created Soaring Spirits because we discovered that connecting with other widowed people made the challenges of surviving a spouse or partner a little easier to manage. There is a widowed community here at Soaring Spirits that offers widowed men and women understanding, friendship, inspiration, and encouragement as they learn to live without the person with whom they intended to spend the rest of their lives.
Salvation Army
Helping mentally ill women suffering from increased anxiety and depression as a result of the pandemic.
