By Peter Ficshetti
Reprinted from The Press Enterprise September 4, 20The passenger seat is empty as Pamela Tyler-Smith starts the hourlong commute each weekday from Beaumont to Corona. Yet she could make a case for using the HOV lane because she is hardly alone.
"In my heart are the children and needy families," she said. "They are always with me."

That's what drives her, so to speak, to her position as executive director of the Foundation for Community and Family Health, a Corona-based nonprofit. "I don't mind the drive. When you're doing what you're called to do, you do what it takes."

Since filling the position in April that had been vacant for almost a year, Tyler-Smith has been playing catch-up. "To stay open, we have to raise our own funds," she said. "That means a lot of grant-writing and reporting. It's an exciting challenge."

In meeting the healthcare needs of those with little or no insurance, the foundation's hand is reaching farther than ever into the community in two specific areas.

Last year, its Children Center dispensed more than 4,000 immunizations and 2,200 TB skin tests. This year, just in the past six months, Sue VanDeventer, RN, the center's director, has given more than 3,000 whopping cough vaccinations, which are mandated for students from seventh to 12th grade to enter classes. In addition, more than 400 backpacks have been distributed, along with clothing and books. And student athletes are eligible for low-cost physicals, with the proceeds returned to the schools' sports programs.

The foundation's Breast Health Detection program offers screening and diagnostic services to under- and uninsured women, particularly those under the age of 40. Through funding from the Susan G. Komen Inland Empire Grant and the annual breast cancer walk, the foundation provided services ranging from mammograms to biopsies to 125 women last year, and reached almost 4,000 women for exams, treatment and outreach.

Beyond grants, the foundation relies on three annual fundraising events to supplement its budget, which this year is $602,000. Tyler-Smith took over as executive director in the midst of planning for one of them, a charity golf tournament earlier this month that raised about $30,000 for the foundation.

Next up is the 13th annual "Our Local Fight" Breast Cancer Walk on Saturday, Sept. 24, at the Shops at Dos Lagos. Last year it raised more than $15,000. Participating in the event this year is the Greater Corona Valley Chamber of Commerce, which is hosting a Health and Wellness Expo at Dos Lagos.

To sign up individually or as a team for the walk, registration is available at www.ourlocalfight.org.

The foundation's third major event is the black-tie Evening to Remember in the spring.

Raising money, Tyler-Smith said, is particularly difficult these days. "People are tired of hearing about the economy. It's a hard world out there when you're always having to raise your own funds." The foundation recently lost one of its major grants when the agency lost state funding.

Still, optimism reigns at the foundation's office in the old Corona Civic Center. Tyler-Smith hopes to expand the foundation's services with a community health clinic and a childhood obesity program. She is writing grants to support those programs while looking for other sources of funding. "I want to create diversified funding streams beyond grants," she said, "and increase personal giving."

Community service runs in Tyler-Smith's family. Her husband, Brian, is a site maintenance ranger with the Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Council. One grown daughter, Summer, is a missionary in Thailand, and the other, Kari, is a 911 police dispatcher in San Bernardino.

In recruiting for an executive director, Cynthia Schneider, chairman of the foundation board, said the focus was "finding a person who could combine passion for our cause, the ability to write grants, and inspire community giving to ensure ongoing funding for the critical services we provide and someone who could share our vision for building new foundation programs. In Pam we got all of these qualities and abilities and then some."

As the economy has changed, Tyler-Smith said, so has the face of those in need. "They're our neighbors now. They're the people who had two family incomes and now they're out of work. They never had to seek help, so they don't know how.

"It makes us so happy to see smiles and relief on their faces. People cry and are amazed at how we help them. We provide them with hope; that's our mission."

On Tuesday, the Leadership class at Corona Fundamental Intermediate School packed a wagon filled with pencils, paper, glue, notebooks, backpacks and everything a student would need to start their school year off in a positive way. Not only was the wagon filled to the brim but students also carried bags stuffed with more supplies for school.

Once everything and everyone was loaded down, 50 members headed off on a walk to The Foundation for Community and Family Health to deliver the school supplies to be distributed to children so they could start the new school year off feeling good. The leadership class had a two-week school supply drive in order to make it possible for families that need a little extra help.

Leadership at CFIS is a service organization comprised of eighth-graders. The focus of the program is not only to serve the staff, students and parents of the school with activities such as lunch time events, dances, dress up days and all ASB responsibilities, but to reach out to the community. Students are encouraged to participate in local events and are required to perform 18 hours of community service.
http://www.pe.com/localnews/corona/stories/PE_News_Local_W_wleadership06.3d893ad.html

Researchers in City of Hope’s Center of Community Alliance for Research & Education (CCARE) have launched an initiative to increase awareness about routine screening for cervical cancer in Southern California’s Inland Empire region.

Cervical cancer is one of the most common cancers among women and can easily be prevented through early detection. “Unfortunately, too few women are getting regular screenings, so it remains one of the deadliest cancers to women worldwide,” said Kimlin Tam Ashing-Giwa, Ph.D., founding director of CCARE.

The Pap test is the most effective medical test to prevent cervical cancer, Ashing-Giwa explained, noting that it can detect abnormal, precancerous cells sampled through a painless swab.

National guidelines recommend that women start undergoing routine Pap tests every two years starting at age 21. Women age 30 and older can wait three years between screenings if they have had three consecutive clear Pap tests or they had a negative Pap test and negative test for human papillomavirus, the virus that causes most cervical cancers.

Women in the Inland Empire — a swath of Southern California including Riverside and San Bernardino counties — have some of the highest cervical cancer rates in the state, leading CCARE researchers to target the area. They will launch public service announcements on local radio stations and other media through their End Fear, End Stigma, End Cervical Cancer initiative, funded by City of Hope Excellence Award.

In addition, many African-American women and Latinas live in the region, and these groups have higher rates of cervical cancer and poorer survival, Ashing-Giwa said.

CCARE’s surveys in the Inland Empire found that one in three African-American women and one in four Latinas have not had a Pap test in the past two to three years. And 45 percent of African-American women and 34 percent of Latinas reported that their health-care provider failed to recommend a Pap test as part of their health screening in the previous three years.

“For both African-Americans and Latinas, peer support and increased education by their health-care providers may play important roles in increasing regular use of the Pap test, which may save lives,” Ashing-Giwa said.

By Jason Kimes, Circle City Marketing

It’s that time of year again! The Foundation for Community and Family Health is having their annual breast cancer walk ‘Our Local Fight’ to be held in the Dos Lagos Shopping center on Saturday, September 24, at 6:30 a.m. (8am Walk Begins) 

The popular 5-kilometer (3.1-mile) run/walk and is expected to draw more than 3000 participants from around the Greater Corona Area.

Not a runner or a walker? The Greater Corona Valley Chamber of Commerce (GCVCC) is hosting a Health and Wellness Expo professionals brings together local and national companies that specialize in natural and organic products, natural and organic foods, environmental, Green and Eco products for the home, pets, and the whole family, recyclable products, naturopathic & alternative practitioners, chiropractors, vitamins and supplements, as well as health food retailers and community non-profit organizations. At the expo, companies showcase information about their products and services to thousands of individuals interested in leading a green, clean and healthy lifestyle. The Health and Wellness Expo is a fun event for the entire family.

Our mission is to inspire and encourage individuals to embrace a life of health, wellness, fitness, environmental and green living through awareness of natural, organic and alternative products and solutions, advanced medicine research, education, nutrition, exercise and lifelong benefits of living a green, clean and healthy lifestyle.

The outdoor Health and Wellness Expo is free with your registration to ‘Our Local Fight’ and open to from 6:30 to 10:30 a.m. 

Registration is $25 for the walk and $10 for Children.  For more information and to register online, go to www.ourlocalfight.org. 

Interested in Participating in the Expo? This is a great and inexpensive way to showcase your business to more than 3000 local residents. Registration is $250 for Chamber members and $350 for non-member and includes a 10’x10’ pop up, a table, two chairs and linens to help make the event more festive. You are invited to participate if you are a health or wellness related business, or if you are a local business that is committed to helping the health of our community by giving back. If you would like to registrar to participate please call Denea at the Chamber (951) 737-3350 or visit the Chamber website at www.MyChamber.org for more information.

On Saturday, September 24th the City of Corona will turn pink for a day.  That’s when thousands of Inland Empire residents will meet at the Promenade Shops of Dos Lagos to take a stand against Breast Cancer and walk to save lives in the 13th annual Our Local Fight – Breast Cancer Walk and Health and Wellness Expo. 

Last year more than 3,000 men, women and children participated in the event which is hosted by The Foundation for Community and Family Health.  The purpose of Our Local Fight is to fund the Breast Health Detection program run by The Foundation for Community and Family Health.  “While other walks raise money for national or global research, all proceeds from our Walk stay right here in our community and provide direct diagnostic support for women and men in need through our Health Detection program,” shared Cynthia Schneider, Chairman of the Board for the Foundation.

The Breast Health Detection program was created to bridge the gap in service to women under 50 who have no medical insurance or who are underinsured.  The program is responsible for providing women in our community with critical breast health diagnostic care including mammograms, ultrasounds, biopsies and women’s health education. The Foundation also offers a support group for survivors and those currently going through treatment, and  wigs and scarf’s are provided to women through a partnership with local community organization Slick Chicks.

The Foundation for Community and Family Health strives to combat breast cancer by expanding and increasing the access to quality cancer detection and diagnostic services for our community.  The success of the program is a reflection of the joint effort between the Foundation and local authorized medical providers in the Inland Empire. Also significant steps are being made to educate women about the benefits of screening and early detection through our Women’s Health Awareness day, an annual event providing speakers, education and activities to community residents.

This year your company can contribute to the successful efforts of the Foundation by forming a Walk team.  Teams who have participated in past walks report an incredible experience and sense of pride in their efforts to make a difference in the lives of families facing Breast Cancer.  Make this your cause!  Form a team and make a difference.  The team with the largest number of walkers and the team raising the most money for the cause will be recognized.  Enjoy marketing exposure after the Walk and have a team photos taken that may be used in future advertising.

This year we are also partnering with the Greater Corona Valley Chamber of Commerce to feature a Health and Wellness Expo during the event. This Expo will be going from 6:30 - 10:30am, so come and register early so you have time to visit all of the great local businesses. If you would like to participate in the Health and Wellness Expo, please contact Denea at the Chamber by calling (951) 737-3350 or for more information visit www.MyChamber.org.

Every 13 minutes, a life is lost to Breast Cancer.

Every step you take can help to save the life of a woman in our community.

PLEASE join us in the fight.

For information about the Walk for Health or our Health Detection Program please call The Foundation at 951-270-0536 or visit www.OurLocalFight.org to register yourself or start a team.

By ALICIA ROBINSON
The Press-Enterprise To find Sharon Martinez at Saturday's breast cancer walk in Corona, just look for the biggest crowd. And her wheelchair.

Martinez, a 10-year Corona-Norco school board member and a volunteer for seemingly every organization in town, expects "Team Sharon" to have the most walkers of any group in the Walk for Health, and she's aiming to raise the most money.

The Corona resident also is eyeing another, perhaps more important, victory: just being there.

Martinez, 53, has had cancer four times and still must be hospitalized regularly due to complications. She uses an oxygen tube if she's going to be moving or talking a lot, and she'll need a wheelchair to travel the 3.3-mile walk route this weekend.

But to Martinez, more important than the walking is the opportunity to be with people, which she loves, and fact that she's helping to pay for breast cancer screenings for people in western Riverside County.

"Nothing gives you a better feeling than to be able to look in someone's eyes and know that all the money you're raising, it's going to help them," Martinez said.

Story continues below Carrie Rosema / The Press-Enterprise Sharon Martinez spends some time with her husband Richard and their dog, Yoda. A member of the Corona-Norco school board, she plans to take part in Saturday's benefit walk in a wheelchair. This year's Walk for Health is the 10th. The event has grown from about 500 participants in the beginning to an expected 6,000 this year, said Annie Bradberry, director of the Foundation for Community and Family Health.

The foundation hosts the walk and uses the money to help women get mammograms, biopsies and preventive care that isn't always covered by insurance.

Although younger women do get breast cancer, "Most insurance companies do not provide mammograms for women under 40," said Kristi King, the foundation's director of administration.

The foundation offers a variety of other free services, such as immunizations for schoolchildren, parenting classes and senior programs.

To some, the local nature of the foundation's work sets the annual walk apart from the many regional breast cancer fundraisers.

"Our walk is very personal," King said. "These are women that we see in the grocery store. These are women that we drive our kids to school and see."

Martinez first got cancer when she was in her 30s. That time, it was cervical cancer. Her reflection on it now: "That was an easy one!"

When she got ovarian cancer a decade later, she had to have a hysterectomy and didn't even tell her parents because she thought they had enough worries of their own.

She said she has always dealt with illness in a practical way, looking ahead and refusing to dwell on it, and her husband, Richard, agreed.

"She never, ever complains that she's sick, even when I know she is," he said. "She just goes above and beyond, and that's the way she does everything in life."

Through the 26 years of their marriage, Richard Martinez said, his wife has gotten up every morning to make him breakfast and pack his lunch. She'll cut up fruit for him because he doesn't like it whole, even though she has trouble using the knife.

Illness has been a thread running through much of Sharon Martinez's life, but not the dominant one. Before her marriage she taught English, and then she stayed at home to raise two sons, both now grown.

Today, she devotes much of her time to volunteering and working on the school board. She serves on boards or helps out with the Women's Improvement Club, the YMCA and Peppermint Ridge, a care center for developmentally disabled people.

At last year's Walk for Health, Team Sharon had more than 135 volunteers walking, but Martinez wasn't one of them. After raising money and recruiting walkers, she became ill right before the event and had to go to the hospital.

This year, she's already gotten her hospital visit out of the way and she's ready for the walk. Martinez's doctors recently found skin cancer, but she's keeping a positive outlook.

"Ninety-nine percent of it is your mental attitude," she said. "I'm going to go out fighting."

Reach Alicia Robinson at 951-893-2107 or arobinson@PE.com

Ann Musselman started knitting in 2005 in part because she had so much time on her hands while recovering from cancer.

First it was scarves and beanies for soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Then, Musselman began knitting hats for young patients at Loma Linda University Medical Center.

Her goal was to knit 100 hats.

Story continues below Kurt Miller / The Press-Enterprise Ann Musselman knitted 104 caps for young patients at Loma Linda University Medical Center. "Knitting became a passion," said Musselman, who took up knitting in 2005 while recovering from cancer. So far, she has knitted 104. The last 42 will be taken to the hospital this week.

"If I figured it out right, it took about two years," said Musselman, of Norco. "I was doing a hat a week. I couldn't have done much faster than that."

A back ailment has prevented Musselman from going to the hospital to see the children who receive the hats, she said. But her efforts and those of others who knit everything from scarves and hats to blankets for patients are appreciated.

"We have a wonderful base of community supporters," said Denise Winter, director of volunteer services at Loma Linda University Medical Center. "We just couldn't do it without them. All of the patients are extremely grateful to receive gifts."

Musselman started knitting while she was undergoing chemotherapy for non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

She had gone to the doctor because her back hurt, and a subsequent examination located a noncancerous tumor.

The cancer was found on a lymph node.

Story continues below She underwent the first of eight chemotherapy treatments in August 2004, Musselman said.

By December, the treatment made her so sick she had to be hospitalized.

"I was in intensive care for four days; my energy level was practically zero," Musselman said of her time in the hospital.

That's when a friend, Ann Roberts, of Riverside, suggested Musselman take up knitting. Musselman declined, saying she told Roberts that she "wasn't good at technical stuff."

A couple of months later, Musselman said, she took up the needles.

"She felt that she wanted to learn to knit," said Roberts, whose husband, Fred, is in the same ham radio club as Musselman's husband, Norm.

"I would go to a meeting and knit. She was a very good student."

Story continues below Musselman said she started with scarves because she had noticed during chemotherapy that she was feeling cold.

She also found that she could not concentrate enough to read, Musselman said.

And she did not want to watch television all day.

"I'd have so much time," she recalled. "Reading was not very good. Knitting became a passion."

Musselman said she is starting her third cancer-free year. She still is knitting and has another project planned with Roberts in the future.

"Right now we're working on the soldiers' scarves," Musselman said.

Next, Musselman said, she plans to knit hats for the Foundation for Community and Family Health in Corona.

"The soldiers are the priority because they need to get off in the mail," Musselman said.

"But anybody who has a cause, we'll knit for them."

Reach Gene Ghiotto at 951-893-2115 or gghiotto@PE.com

About 100 young women spent the summer making fleece blankets as part of a service project with the El Cerrito Ward of the Corona Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The group donated 78 of the quilts to the Foundation for Community and Family Health in Corona on Aug. 28. The foundation assists women who are homeless, battered or in need of help with breast cancer screening.
The quilts will go to children and infants.
The volunteers spent time at girls camp and their evenings cutting, snipping and tying knots to create the soft quilts. The material was donated by church members.
"It takes about an hour or so to make one quilt," said youth leader Dee Rojo in a news release.
"The girls have to carefully measure and cut fringe to finish the fabric into cuddly, comforting quilts. We are proud of the girls for spending some of their summer serving the children of our community."
(as seen in the Press Enterprise 'Briefs')