The Hicks Foundation's Programs

EDUCATION
The Hicks Foundation believes that with education and access to health care all women can prevent cervical cancer. Cervical cancer is virtually 100% preventable, yet many women lack the education tools and prevention services to protect against this deadly disease. We strive to raise awareness about the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and its link to cervical cancer.
Partnerships are crucial to our work as we strive to educate Vermonters about HPV and cervical cancer. In the past three years, we have collaborated with many local, statewide, national, and international organizations including Women in Government, the global Pearl of Wisdom Campaign, The Vermont Department of Health, the Vermont Girl Scouts, Vermonters Taking Action Against Cancer – Cervical Cancer workgroup, Vermont State legislators, and many local health care professionals and service providers.

These partnerships have already ushered in many successes. By working with the Girl Scouts, we reached over 6,000 girls through educational mailings and an interactive televised HPV forum that included a medical panel comprised of doctors from our medical board, including Dr. Emmanuel Soultanakis, MD; Dr. Julia Brock MD, OB/GYN; and Dr. Wendy Davis MD.  Sharon Baade, CEO of the Vermont Girl Scout’s noted, “This is the first time a group has done something this land-breaking for cervical cancer: eradication through HPV awareness. We hope this program will grow and be a national model for the Girl Scouts.” We were thrilled when our collaboration lead to a new Girl Scout patch, the "HPV Patch: In the Know" for teenage Girls Scouts to earn by participating in education, community outreach and understanding of HPV and its link to cervical cancer.

In 2008, we launched an innovative new education program called “Mission Possible,” a series of grassroots educational gatherings that encourage dialogue about HPV and cervical cancer. See More about this program under the "mission possible" link under Programs.

MEDICAL
  Across the globe and here in our home state, millions of women are unable to afford or access screening for cervical cancer. For that reason, helping women access affordable medical care is central to our mission and hosting “Free Screening Days” is a focus of our work. We held our first Free Screening Day (FSD) on January 20, 2007 which spurred a tradition of holding our FSDs
in January, which is National Cervical Cancer Awareness Month. In addition to providing medical care, FSDs are an opportunity to link women with state health insurance and other programs to set them on a path of maintaining regular affordable health care.
The Hicks Foundation has partnered with Maitri Health Care for Women, Champlain OBGYN, and the Open Door Clinic to provide free cancer screenings days. In October 2008, we co-hosted a migrant worker free screening day to reach the many migrant workers who are rarely, if ever, screened.  In 2009 we expanded our annual Free Screening Day from one to three sites. Many women have come to rely on our annual screening days and we plan to continue to work with the Department of Health and local health care providers to host Free Screening Days across the state. 

Our Free Screening Days have already made a difference in the lives of hundreds of women struggling to access affordable care. One young woman reached out to Allison after the first screening to give her thanks. With her permission, her Ob/Gyn told us that this young woman had very advanced pre-cancerous cellular changes and that it was entirely possible that attendance at our free screening day had saved this 28 year old’s life.

POLICY & ADVOCACY
The Hicks Foundation was instrumental in advocating for the state to earmark $2,000,000 for HPV vaccinations for individuals aged 9-18 in Vermont. The HPV vaccine was FDA approved in 2006 and represents a tremendous breakthrough in cervical cancer prevention. It prevents over 70% of HPV which is linked to over 90% of cervical cancer. We continue to work closely with policy makers to re-visit state HPV education plans, vaccination funding, and attaching education dollars to money set aside for vaccine so Vermonters can make well-informed individualized choices about whether to receive the HPV vaccine series. The Hicks Foundation strongly believes that this choice should not be based on cost or availability. The vaccine costs a minimum of $360 for the three dose series and is simply unaffordable for many women and teens at that high cost.

The advocacy work of the Hicks Foundation has been recognized by the City of Burlington as well as the Vermont State Legislature as a pioneer in championing access to HPV tests, screening and vaccinations that could save Vermonters’ lives. Allison was interviewed in 2008 by CNN for a month long piece which aired nationwide, she has also been interviewed by local news affiliates for our local advocacy work.