Local advocates, healthcare providers, and community leaders gathered tonight at Space Connect to celebrate a significant boost in the fight for health equity. The evening’s highlights centered on a $6,000 check presentation from Advanced Surgical Physicians (ASP), naming Sojourners With Healing Hearts as the official beneficiary of the 2025 ASP 5K obstacle course race.
The funds from Advanced Surgical Physicians will directly support Sojourners With Healing Hearts’ mission to provide free screenings, education, and financial assistance to those who need it most.
“We chose Sojourners with Healing Hearts as the beneficiary for our 5k obstacle course this year, because of the important, amazing work that they do in the community,” said Andrew Shapiro, MD of Advanced Surgical Physicians. “Like bringing a mobile mammogram van to the community to provide screening to folks who may not be able to get to an imaging center. Early detection is the key to survival. And if we can have patients screened and identify these breast cancers at their earliest and smallest stage, they’re going to have a much better chance of survival.”
In addition to the 5K proceeds, Sojourners With Healing Hearts officially received a $5,000 micro-grant from the United Way of Broward County. This funding is earmarked for the launch of a new media campaign aimed at saving the lives of women of color by dismantling systemic barriers and addressing alarming rates of delayed breast cancer diagnoses.
Attendees at the event were given an exclusive first look at the health equity media campaign, produced by Khanna House Studios, which leverages local media assets to reach thousands of residents, ensuring that geography or socioeconomic status no longer dictates a patient’s survival rate.
“Health equity is so important,” said Sojourners With Healing Hearts board member Taraneisha Burgess. “It can help with early detection and allocating funds to the community can help with education and resources.”
Fellow board member Jeanette Gordon emphasized the strategic importance of the new campaign: “The reason why this grant was so important to us is because we’re using education as a tool to shrink the gap and give individuals an opportunity to learn about what’s happening. We felt like this was the best way to expand on the great work that Sojourners is already doing in this community.”
