Posted by About T.E.A.L.®:
During this Women’s History Month, T.E.A.L.® is highlighting the work we do to raise awareness of the health disparities experienced by women worldwide. The Tell Every Amazing Lady® About Ovarian Cancer Louisa M. Mcgregor Ovarian Cancer Foundation is a national women’s health nonprofit organization located in Park Slope, Brooklyn. T.E.A.L.® was founded to help bring awareness to ovarian cancer and its signs and symptoms, support survivors, and raise funds for medical research. Focusing on the unique pressures of being a woman, and the fact that women’s health is often neglected, T.E.A.L.® also aims to connect with women to support, uplift, and educate them so they can have freedom from pain and stress, and know their bodies in order to advocate for their overall health.
Historically within the country’s public health system, there has been inequality in research and treatment for areas of healthcare that are unique to women — especially in today’s world, where recent events have helped to shed light on the fact that women’s health is consistently underfunded, overlooked, and under attack. Gender disparities within our healthcare system have led to some jarring statistics in areas related to women’s reproductive health. Ovarian cancer, for example, is the leading cause of death due to gynecologic related cancers and is the fifth leading cause of death among women. There is currently no accurate screening test for ovarian cancer. At present, only 15% of cases are caught before the cancer has spread.
With statistics like these, the need for intervention-based approaches to women’s health is imperative. All women benefit from knowing the signs and symptoms of this disease and whether they could be at risk, due to its often-subtle symptoms and its lack of an effective and universal screening test. With no medical screening test currently available, our programs provide the only tools available to the public in order to fight ovarian cancer. Our services are critical to women’s health throughout the country, especially in New York City where our T.E.A.L.® Community Center is based.
T.E.A.L.®’s programs educate women on their overall health and wellness and give them the knowledge, skills, and confidence to address their health concerns and advocate for themselves. It is our hope that with this knowledge, women will understand the importance of regular gynecologic health visits, and through being on top of their gynecologic health needs, are positively impacting their overall health and wellness as well, which will ultimately lead to better women’s health outcomes.
This work is in addition to also staying true to our roots of offering support and resources to ovarian cancer patients and survivors. We give those touched by the disease at any point in their lives the opportunity to meet other ovarian cancer survivors in fun and social settings that celebrate their strength while providing comfort and support.
Opportunites for NYU Students:
Since 2009, Tell Every Amazing Lady® has collaborated with NYU to offer students internships that allow interns to have a hands-on role within the foundation, learn the ins and outs of working in a small nonprofit, grow their advocacy skills, and engage with our community of survivors, patients, caregivers, and supporters. T.E.A.L.® has even hired some NYU student volunteers and interns and well as work with student’s practicums.
NYU cheerleaders have served as the official cheer squad at the Brooklyn T.E.A.L.® Walk/Runs, our premier event in Prospect Park, to cheer on ovarian cancer survivors and event participants. Various NYU clubs have also volunteered their time to assist the foundation with events and program needs. In addition, T.E.A.L.® has conducted on-campus public health outreach, participated in a social media take-over, and contributed on health awareness podcasts, among many other amazing collaborations with the school.
If you are someone who is interested in pursuing a career in non-profit work here are some things you should know:
- Working for a non profit organization regardless of its mission is extremely rewarding in the sense that you get to directly see the impact your work has on the targeted community. While working for a non profit you have the unique opportunity to go out into your communities and work to make a difference. Non profit organizations are multifaceted jobs that have several roles within them. This means that whatever your career path currently is, or whatever experience or skills you may have within a field, there roles within a non for profit that exist for you that you may not even be aware of.
- While working for a non profit you have the opportunity to gain valuable skills and experience. You will become very comfortable with networking whether it be with other organizations, government agencies, the community and much more. Networking plays a large role in the work non profits do to acquire partnerships, sponsorships funding etc. Non profits also foster a strong teamwork mentality. While working for a non profit you will really learn how to work with a team to achieve the goals set forth by the organization.
There are year round opportunities for students and alumni to be involved within our organization, which can be found on our website www.TellEveryAmazingLady.org, as well as on handshake https://app.joinhandshake.com/emp/employers/120168
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