MEDIA INFORMATION
We are always pleased to have Colorado Ovarian Cancer Alliance mentioned in the media.
Thank you for your interest!
Media Contact: Gerri Gomez Howard
Cell: 303-748-3933
gerri@gomezhowardgroup.com
Press Kit - 2012
About COCA
The Colorado Connection for Ovarian Cancer
COCA was established in June of 2005 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation whose mission is to promote awareness of ovarian cancer through advocacy and education, and of support survivors of ovarian cancer. Our Board of Directors includes ovarian cancer survivors and friends and family of women who are survivors or who have lost their battles with this disease. Our current Executive Director is also a survivor. We are proud to offer the following programs to women and communities in Colorado:
Nicki’s Circle
COCA offers ovarian cancer support groups, called Nicki’s Circle. Nicki’s Circle is a safe place for women with ovarian cancer and their caretakers to meet other women and share their experiences, fears, and hopes, as well as information. We currently offer three monthly support group meetings in the Denver metro area. These groups are professionally led and are free of cost to participants. In 2009, Nicki’s Circle served 319 women and caregivers.
We would like to expand Nicki’s Circle beyond the Denver metro area to serve women in all of Colorado through a telephone meeting system and additional in-person support group meetings.
Survivors Teaching Students
We present “Survivors Teaching Students – Saving Women’s Lives” (STS) to medical students at the University of Colorado. The goal of this program is to enhance medical students’ understanding of ovarian cancer symptoms and risk factors in order to encourage earlier diagnoses, which will lower the death rate for our disease. STS brings actual ovarian cancer survivors into the classroom to share their stories and answer questions about their diagnoses and treatment. To date, Survivors Teaching Students has reached over 100 medical students.
We have plans to extend STS to nursing schools, classes for other medical providers, and to continuing medical education programs.
Public Policy
We advocate for access to health care, for ovarian cancer awareness programs, and for expanded funding for ovarian cancer research into developing a cure and a reliable screening test. COCA is a partner-member of the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance (OCNA), and during the past several years COCA has participated in OCNA’s “Lobby Day,” visiting our Colorado Senators and Representatives on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. We are active in the Colorado Cancer Coalition, the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative, the Colorado Chronic Care Coalition, and the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Action Network.
We plan to expand our network of COCA public policy activists statewide, and to establish relationships with many more of Colorado’s elected officials.
Awareness
Because there is no reliable screening test for ovarian cancer, COCA works to make more women aware of the symptoms of the disease (including bloating, abdominal and/or pelvic pain, eating difficulty/feeling full quickly, and/or urinary urgency or frequency). We staff booths so we can talk to women first hand at events like the 9Health Fair, women’s conferences, and medical meetings. We have developed a series of brochures and symptom cards that we hand out at various events or leave behind at locations women frequent.
Through public relations efforts we have developed media relationships, and information about ovarian cancer and its symptoms has appeared in the print media and on television and radio.
For the past two years we have organized a March to the Capitol. Hundreds of COCA supporters have marched to the steps of the Colorado Capitol Building for a rally on behalf of ovarian cancer awareness. Our prestigious speakers have included Rep. Diana DeGette, Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien, State Rep. Dianne Primavera, and gynecologic oncologists Susan Davidson and Daniel Donato; Bertha Lynn, Channel 7 Anchorwoman, has moderated.
We held our first annual 5K race and 1K walk, the Ovarian Cancer Race for Awareness on June 5, 2010 in City Park near downtown Denver and attracted 1,700 runners and walkers, raising
over $100,000 for ovarian cancer awareness!
Support for Survivors
In the future we hope to establish a fund to support women in treatment, for expenses such as rent and utilities, co-pays and deductibles, and veterinary expenses for pets. In addition we hope to recruit volunteers to offer patient navigation, assistance with insurance company and medical bill negotiations, advice on financial planning, Social Security applications, estate and end of life plans, and help with rides, errands, housecleaning, meal delivery, and dog walking.
