Community Corner

Local Woman is Dearborn's Trusted Source for Cancer Concerns

Hiam Hamade, a breast cancer survivor herself, works with cancer patients in the black, Latino and Arab communities.

Hiam Hamade was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004 in her own offices at ACCESS in Dearborn.

“That day, we had the mobile unit and we didn’t have enough patients, so I screened myself,” Hamade told Patch. “I came back stage zero–but it was something.”

Because she is a cancer survivor, Hamade knows what the community needs to hear. As chronic disease prevention programs supervisor at ACCESS, she works to provide free health and cancer screenings and educates the community on cancer and chronic diseases.  She is one of the science and technology leaders whom Patch is highlighting in recognition of Women's History Month.

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"This is a trust between the community and ACCESS," she said. "I'm well known. I build a bridge between our programs and the community."

Hamade has been a community leader for 17 years in her work through ACCESS, the largest Arab American human services nonprofit in the U.S. She does not sit behind her desk and push papers all day. Instead, her work lies in connecting with the community.

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"We are continuously in the field. Everywhere you will find us," she said.

She worked specifically with women who had breast and cervical cancer and now supervises programs dealing with those and other chronic diseases like colon cancer and diabetes.

"Not everybody can work with cancer and cancer patients," she said. 

Hamade spent much of her career working with women, who often aren't comfortable getting educated or screened for cancer by men. She works with multicultural communities through ACCESS, including Latino, black and Arab communities. She said workers need the knowledge to deal with diversity, as in some cases women who adhere to Arab culture are reluctant or against getting screened for breast cancer.

Ghada Aziz, community health educator with the breast and cervical cancer program at ACCESS, has worked with Hamade for 12 years. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009 and then again last year. 

She said she is doing well and appreciates Hamade's support — visiting her in the hospital, calling and bringing herbal teas when she was too sick to eat.

"She’s like a big sister to me. My own family didn’t do what she did for me," Aziz said.

Hamade trains community health educators, like Aziz, to build stronger bridges by visiting homes, churches and mosques. Hamade said there is now an influx of refugees in the area to whom cancer is often a mystery, so her work is far from over.

In addition to working with cancer patients, Hamade works in nutrition programs and researches with Wayne State University on topics like diabetes in the Arab community. 

Hamade continues to educate herself by annually attending programs with the American Society of Clinical Oncology. She is also a patient advocate at the University of Michigan's Cancer Center and works with cancer survivors at Karmanos Cancer Institute. 

"You have to love this job," she said.

She said it isn't easy working with cancer patients, but she sees it as a blessing.


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