What do partnerships have to do with resource access?
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By working in partnership with other cancer advocacy groups, we’re bringing financial interventions to more patients in need.
At Family Reach, the answer to that question is easy: everything. And why does access even matter? Another easy answer: because of the patients — the people who live with all the realities of a cancer diagnosis day in and day out, the individuals and families dealing with an onslaught of doctor appointments, learning all of the treatment jargon, and carrying the weight of debilitating side effects.
They also carry the overwhelming burden of the financial side effects of cancer: worrying about how to put food on the table, pay for rent, or find a way to put gas in the car for the next appointment. We see this every day, and it’s why the Financial Resource Center exists — to offer support for the daily essentials families need to focus on their health and healing.
Access is the Why
Providing access to the interventions and tools in the Financial Resource Center opens the door to a path forward for patients and loved ones navigating a cancer experience. To provide successful access, we make sure our Financial Resource Center is:
- Available: We offer 24×7 online access for anyone to explore from anywhere, whether it be during working hours or a restless moment overnight.
- Affordable: All content is free and ungated.
- Timely: The most up-to-date information is available with continuously refreshed databases, financial assistance funds listed only when available, and a growing library of educational materials.
- Inclusive: Our self-serve resource navigation tool is available in dozens of languages, educational materials are available in Spanish and English, and website accessibility guidelines are met.
The Financial Resource Center combines three complementary services:
- Financial Assistance to help families facing immediate financial hardship.
- Resource Navigation, connecting patients to more than 210,000 community-based resources through both self-guided technology and personalized navigation support.
- Educational resources that help patients understand and access available financial supports throughout their cancer journey.
Partnerships are the How
The organizations we work with are integral to the success of providing access through the Financial Resource Center. These organizations understand the role that financial toxicity plays and commit to collaborating with Family Reach to address the basic needs of patients facing cancer. It is through these nonprofit, advocacy, and foundation partnerships that we can broaden our reach, equitably serve under-resourced communities, and scale access to the services we provide.
Advancements we’ve made through these relationships include:
- The creation of a national network of community-based organizations to address structural inequities and socioeconomic barriers that can make it harder for some families to access care and maintain financial stability. Communities that otherwise would have less access to resources are supported through these partnerships.
- Development of a proven process and streamlined technology allowing for like-minded nonprofits to provide access to financial interventions for their community without taking on the financial and administrative burden involved in doing it themselves.
- A methodology for disease-specific organizations to provide referrals of patients to the interventions in the Financial Resource Center, complementing their core missions of research and advocacy.
- The ability for partners to support the Financial Resource Center itself so that Family Reach can continue to build on the pillars of basic needs support available and offer access to the most robust offerings available.
Because cancer is hard enough.
Interested in Partnering with Family Reach?
If you have ideas about partnership opportunities aligned with providing access to the Financial Resource Center or would like to explore ways your organization could partner with Family Reach, simply fill out this form and we’ll be in touch!
