Yesterday, ASTRO had the pleasure of awarding Survivor Circle Grants of $12,500 each to the Smith Center for Healing and the Arts and Touch4Life. Survivor Circle was created in 2003 to honor cancer survivors by recognizing organizations that provide support in the fight for survivorship. Since then, ASTRO has raised well over $550,000, in large part from the generous support of our exhibitors, 100% of which has gone to grant recipients.
Based in Washington, DC, the Smith Center Healing for the Arts is a nonprofit health, education and arts organization. Their mission is to develop and promote healing practices that explore physical, emotional and mental wellness by utilizing the arts. Since 1996, the Center has provided cancer retreats, support groups, creativity workshops, patient navigation, nutrition classes and resources for people undergoing a cancer journey. The programs focus on cultivating each person’s innate ability to heal, helping participants explore meaning and maintain hope.
The Smith Center has often been referred to as Washington, DC’s “best kept secret” for those on this path, but it’s no secret the impact that participants feel when they attend one of the programs, visit the Gallery, and interact with the staff. Through the Institute of Integrative Oncology Navigation, the Center offers innovative national and local patient navigation trainings. In addition, the Smith Center has become a leader in the nationwide movement to apply the arts in healing, through programs and exhibitions at the Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery.
Lisa Simms-Booth, Executive Director, described the Award’s impact: "The Smith Center for Healing and the Arts is deeply grateful for support from ASTRO for our cancer support groups and Healing circles. Funding enables Smith Center to reach a broader diversity of patients, survivors and caregivers impacted by cancer, including those who may not have been able to access our unique blend of compassionate, creative, and integrative care, including those from historically underserved communities across the DC region."
Learn more about Smith Center for Healing and the Arts.
Touch4Life is committed to cancer health equity focused on biomarker and genetic testing, with an overall mission to increase the breast health IQ of BIPOC and underserved communities and eliminate disparities in breast cancer outcomes. While based in Maryland, the nature of Touch4Life’s mission extends to educate across states as they bring their information to conferences and online events and via their website.
Touch4Life goes to market in three ways: community engagement, clinical engagement and policy advocacy. For the community, they go to where people “work, play, pray and slay.” They have a 300k-person community partner ecosystem including influential and trusted entities such as Black Greek Letter Organizations, for whom they have led workshops at their large conferences. Monthly, Touch4Life livestreams a YouTube series on blackdoctor.org with experts and testimonials. For clinical engagement, they challenge physician attendees at their conferences to be more equitable in applying standards of care, offering clinical trials and prescribing tests. They have spoken at Duke, Johns Hopkins and the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. Touch4Life puts a face to the disparity by humanizing it. As for policy advocacy, Touch4Life trains community members to understand the legislative process and how to use their lived experience to demand better policies from lawmakers and payers. Touch4Life also conducts scholarly research on the Black community, with work published in The Lancet Oncology. Over 18,000 Black men and women have been educated in person and over 135,000 online.
Touch4Life looks forward to using the Survivor Circle grant to support a part-time volunteer coordinator for their community outreach engagements and to fund a mobile breast exam unit at upcoming community events in the Washington, DC, area. Founder Laura Crandon described the grant’s significance: “Receiving the Survivor Circle Award is an incredible honor for Touch4Life. As a nonprofit dedicated to empowering underserved communities and advocating for health equity, this recognition from ASTRO amplifies our mission. It highlights the impact of our work in educating the community about treatment options and ensuring they receive the healthcare they deserve. This award will help us expand our reach, grow our volunteer network, and continue making a meaningful difference."
Learn more about Touch4Life.
The metropolitan Washington region will certainly benefit from the Smith Center for Healing and the Arts and Touch4Life’s award of these funds to widen their impact. Upcoming ASTRO publications will provide updates.
