Women's Breast & Heart Initiative - WBHI

The Women's Breast & Heart Initiative's "One in Three | One in Eight" program breaks down barriers, mobilizes people and resources to give underserved women a fighting chance against breast cancer and heart disease. Each year, targeted door-to-door outreach campaigns serving 11,000 households, deliver breast cancer and heart disease education and schedule women to participate in neighborhood Screening and Wellness days. On these impactful days, participants receive preventive screenings, physical activity and nutrition sessions, fresh fruit, hearty vegetables and healthy eating guides. To successfully engage underserved women, we recruit, train and deploy 1,000 volunteer advocates from colleges, corporations and civic organizations. During this process, advocates gain a valuable skill set which enhances their lives and admonishes them to practice prevention and wellness. Our hospital and medical partners provide services to ensure that underserved women have access to participate in prevention and early detection. Together, our partners, volunteers and staff collaborate to help women lead longer and healthier lives.

In 2005, The Women's Breast & Heart Initiative was established by a breast cancer survivor thankful for the early detection that made a difference in her life. WBHI utilizes an innovative, evidence-based street level approach which engages the community at-large to address disparities. The organization began serving Miami-Dade County, Florida focusing on providing breast cancer education and early detection to underserved women in their own neighborhoods. Subsequently the program expanded to Broward and Palm Beach counties. An ongoing recommended screening and referral screening program compliment the strategy to ensure that more women access prevention and early detection. In 2013, heart disease, the leading cause of death in U.S. women, was integrated with the breast cancer focus as both diseases have shared risk factors. In 2014, physical activity and nutrition education with fresh fruit and vegetable distribution became part of Screening and Wellness Days to place more emphasis on prevention. In 2016, a peer led college campus club program was launched to provide disease prevention and health promotion on campuses to foster leadership and to impact the health of future generations. Our goal is to reduce disparities and change the trajectory of health through prevention and early detection.