Description
Back in the Swing was founded in 2000 to promote joyful, healthy, and proactive living after breast cancer. Through the development of community partnerships and an innovative fundraising approach known as “Retail Therapy”, Back in the Swing has started and funded these specific programs and services, as well as academic medical research, for breast cancer survivors.
The programs and research that Back in the Swing has funded have covered a broad range of delivery models and content. Some have been comprehensive in their scope, others more narrow. Collectively, these programs and organizations have delivered for Kansas City breast cancer survivors the most advanced, evidence-based, individualized, integrated, multi-disciplinary care in the country:
As Back in the Swing’s awareness-building, educational, and fundraising efforts have been successful, the organization and some of the programs, services and research have been recognized by others across the country. From Los Angeles to Chicago to Boston, from Miami to Minneapolis, and from Branson to Charlottesville, practitioners and researchers have become aware of the “new movement” of cancer survivorship that Back in the Swing has championed on a grassroots level for the past 10 years.
Key Staff
Ms. Barbara Unell is the Founder and Board Chair of Back In the Swing. Ms. Unell brings to the organization her 30 years as a publisher, business owner, author, speaker, educator and philanthropic/social entrepreneur. She got back in the swing herself, after her diagnosis of, and treatment for, breast cancer in 1998. She created Back in the Swing originally in 2003 as a fundraiser for breast cancer survivorship programs, services and research.
Accomplishments
• Have awarded $1.2 million in grants to support cancer survivorship research and programs
• Established a Back in the Swing Working Group made of local hospitals and community based organizations
• Have raised over $1.3 million in contributions through its
Goals
• Full implementation of the Back in the Swing working group
• Continued funding support for KU Cancer Survivorship Center.
• Funding for implementation of pilot programs providing individualized delivery models of survivorship care in both medical and community-based settings.
To learn more about Back in the Swing, please contact Whitney Hosty at 816-627-3441 or visit their website at http://www.backintheswing.org/Index.asp.
