September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

The Healing Project wants to remind our community that while great strides have been made in the treatment of childhood cancers there is an an enormous need for contiued and focused research to find a cure for these diseases. It requires both money and parents to permit there children to particpate in clinical trials.

The purpose of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month is to bring attention to childhood cancer and survivorship issues across the continent. Candlelighters asks its members and friends to contact local media outlets to bring these matters to the attention of the press. Although it has historically been hard to get articles about childhood cancer in newspapers and magazines, we think that personalized letters from parents in individual communities might help turn the tide.

For more information, click here.

The Healing Project Applauds the Senate Accord to Expand Health Coverage For Children

The Senate Finance Committee reached agreement Friday on a bipartisan plan calling for a big increase in the cigarette tax to pay for a $35 billion expansion of the Children’s Health Insurance Program over the next five years that subsidizes health coverage for families with incomes too high to qualify for Medicaid but too low to afford insurance on their own.

The plan will cover more than 3 million additional children. The current program covered 7.4 million people at some time in the last year. Renewal of the children’s insurance program, which is set to expire on Sept. 30, is the most important health care issue facing Congress this year.

The agreement would refocus the program on low-income children. The Senate compromise reduces payments to the states for coverage of children with family incomes exceeding three times the poverty level. (The poverty level is $20,650 for a family of four.)

To pay for the plan, the federal excise tax on cigarettes would be increased by 61 cents a pack, to $1 a pack. Taxes will also increase for other tobacco products.

On the negative side, Federal officials could not grant additional waivers to the states for coverage of adults. About 670,000 adults were covered last year as a result of such waivers, some of which were granted or renewed by the Bush administration.

The Healing Project Annouces a New After School Health Education Program for Children 3 to 8

We look forward to keep you updated on news with impact on you and your loved ones.
The Healing Project (THP) has launched its first, after school arts programs, focusing on nutritional awareness and health education for children between the ages of 3 and 8. Both programs are produced in association with the WIC Program at the Morrisania Diagnostic & Treatment Center, 1225 Gerard Avenue, Bronx, NY 10452.

THP believes good health begins at an early age. This program is intended to reach children in populations at-risk with a fun, innovative program that will benefit their well being for life.