This Breast Cancer Awareness Month, The Storehouse Community Center is highlighting the power of partnership and prevention.
Through its collaboration with the Golden Cross Academic Clinic and Methodist Health System’s Mobile Mammography Unit, the Plano-based nonprofit provides free on-site mammograms three times a year, ensuring lifesaving screenings are within reach for women who might otherwise go without.
“Our partnership with Golden Cross Academic Clinic first began in 2022, enabling us to refer our neighbors to healthcare services at their clinic as well as to provide health education classes through our Academy education program,” said Candace Winslow, CEO of The Storehouse Community Center. “Through Project Hope, our case management arm, we’re able to walk alongside our neighbors and connect them to resources beyond food and clothing — including medical care. We are deeply grateful to Golden Cross and Methodist Health System for their partnership and for bringing critical breast health services directly to our campus — ensuring that more women have access to life-saving screenings.”
Since the mobile unit’s first visit to The Storehouse in June 2022, more than 200 neighbors have received free mammograms. When a concern is identified, patients are referred for follow-up care through a patient navigation process that helps connect them with low-cost or charitable medical services whenever possible.
“Since partnering with The Storehouse, we’ve seen firsthand how access changes outcomes,” said Elizabeth Brewer, medical director of internal medicine at Golden Cross Academic Clinic. “Working together, we are providing both women and men access to ongoing medical care, education, and preventive services. Programs like the mobile mammography unit help us meet neighbors where they are, empowering them to take charge of their health.”
For Storehouse neighbor Nancy Ferguson, the mobile mammography program arrived just in time. After losing her mother to breast cancer and being identified as high risk herself, Ferguson knew the importance of regular screenings. But after a divorce left her uninsured, she had gone years without a mammogram.
“I had been searching for somewhere to get screened, and then one day I passed by a mobile mammography unit in front of The Storehouse,” said Ferguson. “It was like God had put it there for me.”
Originally from Honduras, Ferguson has lived in the U.S. for nearly three decades and works as a nanny near The Storehouse. She was already familiar with the organization’s food pantry and classes when she discovered that the mammography bus offered free screenings.
“I went inside to see if they had time to see me and was able to make an appointment,” she said. “I felt so blessed.”
For Ferguson, breast cancer is deeply personal. Her mother battled the disease twice, and multiple family members have faced other cancers.
“I’ve always done self-exams, but a screening is so important,” she said. “The Storehouse provides this at no cost, and that can save your life.”
Today, Ferguson focuses on maintaining a healthy lifestyle and sharing her story to encourage others.
“My advice to other women is simple — don’t wait,” she said. “Be healthy for yourself and your family. The Storehouse has helped me in so many ways — with food, clothing, mammograms, doctor visits and referrals. Everyone has taken such good care of me. I feel truly blessed.”
The Golden Cross Academic Clinic, an outpatient department of Methodist Dallas Medical Center, provides comprehensive healthcare for patients in Oak Cliff, South Dallas and surrounding communities. Through its partnership with The Storehouse, it extends that mission to Plano-area residents through free screenings and education initiatives.
