Cecilia Salinas and her husband, Jaime Galdames, have no money to pay for her mammograms.
They send some of their earnings to their son in Chile and pay for the treatment of Salinas's uterine cancer and thyroid problems, leaving nothing for the recommended annual screening.
The couple received help on Friday from the GW Mammovan, a breast exam clinic on wheels, parked at 22nd and I streets to provide free screenings to low-income, uninsured women in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
"All I want is for my wife to get better, but all I've been doing is spending money," Galdames said, adding, "at least (the Mammovan screening) is something. We appreciate that. We're very thankful."
For the past 12 years the Mammovan has traveled around Maryland, D.C. and Virginia four days a week to give breast exams to women who may not otherwise be able to afford them.
To be eligible for a Mammovan screening, women must be over the age of 40 and referred by a doctor. The mammograms are free for individuals making less than $21,000 annually and cost $241 if the woman is uninsured. About half of Mammovan patients have no insurance.
Beverly Herrera, the van's sole mammographer, said the failing economy is drawing more low-income uninsured women to the Mammovan.
"We're definitely seeing the economy have a trickle-down effect on our program," she said while sitting in the Mammovan, which resembles a trailer on the inside and includes a waiting area, television, changing rooms and doctor's office with a digital mammogram machine.
A study by the Rockefeller Foundation and Time magazine found that a quarter of the 2,000 respondents did not see a doctor in 2008 because of the cost, and 23 percent did not have health insurance.
But the Mammovan is not affordable for everyone.
Roxana Diaz, intake coordinator for the Mammovan, said she gets up to 10 calls a day from people making too much to qualify for the free screening but unable to afford the regular price for a mammogram.
They send some of their earnings to their son in Chile and pay for the treatment of Salinas's uterine cancer and thyroid problems, leaving nothing for the recommended annual screening.
The couple received help on Friday from the GW Mammovan, a breast exam clinic on wheels, parked at 22nd and I streets to provide free screenings to low-income, uninsured women in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
"All I want is for my wife to get better, but all I've been doing is spending money," Galdames said, adding, "at least (the Mammovan screening) is something. We appreciate that. We're very thankful."
For the past 12 years the Mammovan has traveled around Maryland, D.C. and Virginia four days a week to give breast exams to women who may not otherwise be able to afford them.
To be eligible for a Mammovan screening, women must be over the age of 40 and referred by a doctor. The mammograms are free for individuals making less than $21,000 annually and cost $241 if the woman is uninsured. About half of Mammovan patients have no insurance.
Beverly Herrera, the van's sole mammographer, said the failing economy is drawing more low-income uninsured women to the Mammovan.
"We're definitely seeing the economy have a trickle-down effect on our program," she said while sitting in the Mammovan, which resembles a trailer on the inside and includes a waiting area, television, changing rooms and doctor's office with a digital mammogram machine.
A study by the Rockefeller Foundation and Time magazine found that a quarter of the 2,000 respondents did not see a doctor in 2008 because of the cost, and 23 percent did not have health insurance.
But the Mammovan is not affordable for everyone.
Roxana Diaz, intake coordinator for the Mammovan, said she gets up to 10 calls a day from people making too much to qualify for the free screening but unable to afford the regular price for a mammogram.
