Who We Are.
We work to reduce the barriers to care for cancer patients while they undergo cancer treatment. Social drivers of health are the non-medical factors that influence overall health and wellbeing. The Cancer Foundation focuses on social drivers of health that include income, security of food, housing, and transportation. These factors impact a person's ability to prevent, find, treat, and survive cancer. According to the National Institute of Health, the chances of getting and dying from cancer are impacted more by SDoH than any other modifiable factor, including medical care.
The Cancer Foundation makes a difference! Our Financial Assistance Program has provided more than $4 million in financial support to over 5,000 cancer patients living in northeast Georgia!
Who We Are.
The Cancer Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in northeast Georgia that provides financial and nutritional assistance for basic life needs such as housing, utilities, transportation, and food to cancer patients living in a 25-county service area. For families who qualify, we make payments directly to the creditor owed for the patient’s immediate needs, such as rent, mortgage, power bills, medication copays, fuel, and more! The household income of the families we serve is just $18,000 on average.
Our Mission.
The Cancer Foundation is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to help alleviate the financial burden of cancer for eligible patients.
Our Vision.
When someone is diagnosed with cancer, both the patient and family may suffer from the financial stress of cancer treatment. Our goal is to help alleviate the financial hardship associated with a cancer diagnosis for all northeast Georgia residents.
Our History.
In 2005, the Cancer Foundation was created by oncologists and social workers associated with Northeast Georgia Cancer Care (now University Cancer & Blood Center or UCBC), based in Athens, Georgia. Their goal was to create a financial intervention program to assist the increasing number of patients missing appointments and declining treatment due to the high cost of cancer treatment.
Establishing this new non-profit took some time, but TCF’s Financial Assistance Program served its first patient in 2009. The program helps alleviate a cancer patient’s immediate financial crisis and relieve the debilitating stress of cancer bills. Today, TCF collaborates with over 35 healthcare and social service providers across the region on a referral basis to identify cancer patients in financial need, improve their access to high-quality care, and provide real hope for their health and healing.