Black Women, Breast Cancer and Financial Toxicity: Finding An Ally in a Daunting Fight
Breast Cancer and the accompanying money burdens are a struggle, but the Michigan-based Pink Fund is giving much needed help.
It all happened so fast.
After completing a self-exam and feeling two lumps in her breasts, Danetta Hall saw several doctors before receiving a final diagnosis of HER2-positive Breast Cancer in 2022. Overwhelmed by her diagnosis, treatment, and financial stress, she felt numb– until a social worker suggested that she seek help.
She got it from the Pink Fund, a suburban Detroit-based nonprofit organization that works to address the financial burdens of people living with breast cancer across the nation by providing a 90-day grant program that offers funding for critical, non-medical expenses such as transportation, housing, insurance, and utilities.
According to American Cancer Society figures, one in eight women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime, and for people like Hall, the reality of juggling active treatment with other critical expenses can be debilitating. But because of the help she got, Hall was able to receive funding for three months of rent and avoid eviction.