Public Health Student Receives National Volunteer Award

Melissa Thomas, a Walden University Ph.D. student and program manager of cultural health initiatives in OhioHealth’s Community Outreach department, was one of five people nationally to receive a 2006 HOPE Volunteer Award from the Intercultural Cancer Council.

HOPE (Helping Other People Endure) Awards are presented to community-based volunteers in recognition of exceptional service in the areas of cancer control, prevention, treatment and survivorship in minority and medically underserved communities in the United States.

“After watching my grandmother die a slow, painful death from colon cancer—a death that was unnecessary with today’s knowledge of early detection—I knew what I wanted to do with my life,” Thomas said. “I am honored that I have had the opportunity to raise awareness and reduce cancer rates among a previously neglected sector of the U.S. population.”

Thomas was recognized for creating a program called Project Hoffnung (the German word for hope) to help address breast cancer issues facing Amish and Mennonite women.

Since its inception in 1997, Thomas has obtained more than $500,000 in grant funding, as well as thousands of dollars raised through other fund-raising efforts, to provide culturally competent breast health education to a population that resides in more than half of the United States.

Additionally, she has helped provide more than 2,000 mammograms, as well as other health services, to Amish and Mennonite women living in some of the most resource-starved sections of the state.

“Melissa dedicates her life to saving the lives of women who often do not have access to transportation, a telephone, insurance or even the funding to help detect cancer in its earliest stages,” said Margaret Hiermer, a Project Hoffnung volunteer.

Thomas received her award at the Intercultural Cancer Council’s 10th Biennial Symposium on Minorities, the Medically Underserved and Cancer in Washington, D.C.