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Sisters Network
Sisters Network, Buffalo, New York
An Affiliate Chapter of Sisters Network®, Inc.
A National African American Breast Cancer Survivors’ Organization
Sisters Network, Inc. is committee to increasing local and national attention to the devastating impact that breast cancer has in the African American community.
The Sisters Network is a breast cancer survivors’ organization for African American women in the Buffalo area. African American breast cancer survivors started a local Sisters Network chapter after recognizing the need for an organization that provides support, education, advocacy, and research. An affiliate chapter of the national Sisters Network, the Western New York chapter provides a warm, nurturing environment for women to share experiences, bond, rebuild and find comfort, knowing they are not alone in their journey back to wholeness.
African American women with breast cancer tend to be diagnosed in later stages of the disease, possibly involving more radical treatment. As a result, African American women may have different symptom management issues than those experienced by Caucasian women.
Together, Sisters Network members can learn the effects that this disease and its treatments can have on women and their personal lives. With the support of their peers, they will become stronger self-advocates in receiving appropriate, holistic care, and standard care.
The ladies in the Buffalo area Sisters Network are learning to become chemo coaches and spiritual prayer partners, in addition to addressing issues such as body image, support, educational outreach and coping mechanisms for living with a breast cancer diagnosis.
Local Sisters Network members are joining in national efforts of Sisters Network Inc. to increase breast health awareness, including the "Gift for Life Block Walk®" and the Pink Ribbon Awareness Campaign. These national initiatives seek to educate women in underserved areas and to increase the number of women obtaining mammograms.
The Buffalo area Sisters Network meets generally on the 1st Thursday of the month, from 6 – 7:30 p.m. and every 3rd Saturday, 10:30 a.m. – 12 noon, at the Rev. Bennett W. Smith Sr. Family Life Center, located at 833 Michigan Avenue in Buffalo. A complete schedule of meetings for 2002 follows:
The national Sisters Network was started in 1993 by Karen E. Jackson, founder and national president, in Houston to fill a void of culturally sensitive material and support for African American women with breast cancer. Today, there are 35 affiliate chapters nationwide. The national headquarters serves as a resource and referral base for survivors, clinical trials and private/government agencies. Teleconferences are held to update chapters with the latest information and to share new ideas. Individual chapters across the nation help to provide individual/group support, community education, advocacy and research. You can visit the national website at www.sistersnetwork.org.
