Shobha

01/30/2020

A video snapshot of L.A.'s Skid Row

You can get a sense of the scope of the Southland's homeless crisis when you see it from the air.

01/26/2020

In the process of compiling a resource guide for women experiencing homelessness (and breast cancer, and other overlapping issues) in Skid Row, Los Angeles. I'll be highlighting organizations as I go! Here's an advocate I admire: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Km8ztUGdkh0
-Eva Dittrich, Shobha Founder

Shirley Raines offers food, showers, and beauty services to the homeless people of Skid Row in Los Angeles. She always had a passion for helping out the home...

01/04/2020

Progress! Posted • Now in the final stages of my doctoral dissertation, about the complex experiences and needs of women living homeless with breast cancer, and available services in the Skid Row LA area, with the goal of a resource guide and website for women in need to easily access through . I really wanted my dissertation to be something that makes a difference and doesn’t just get filed away somewhere. This paper and the 501c3 nonprofit I started to help these women and families are the culmination of 12 years of my on-and-off research on the topic of breast cancer in extreme poverty and across cultures. Reeeeeally excited to bring the academic portion of this to a close in the next 4 months and turn my research and ideas into reality!

10/07/2019

Helpful perspective on supporting loved ones with a breast cancer diagnosis

Try to think of these nuggets of wisdom as suggestions — not as edicts or threats designed to freak you into silence. Most people just want to know that you’re there, and that you care.

06/24/2019

Researching Skid Row services for the homeless and came across General Jeff Page, a local advocate. Go Jeff!

The unofficial mayor of Skid Row shares secrets of the neighborhood, where there is a "true sense of community."

06/15/2018

In my words, here is an overview of the research and a straightforward way to think about the experience of being a homeless woman with breast cancer:

It is clear that the process of breast cancer from diagnosis through treatment for the average American woman profoundly disturbs not only her physical but also her psychological well-being, as she may experience painful physical side effects, symptoms of posttraumatic stress, existential questions, body image issues, pauses or delays in her family life and career, financial strain, and more. The literature on homelessness has emphasized the multidimensional challenges that the population faces and the urgent need for improved healthcare accessibility and substance use intervention, including reducing to***co use. There is a distinct link between homelessness and a significantly increased risk for cancer and dying from cancer overall, and breast cancer was the second leading cancer incidence and cause of cancer death among homeless women in one large recent study. Combining this information leads to the logical conclusion that if each of the experiences of breast cancer and homelessness is painful, complex, and often traumatic in itself, then the experience of being homeless with breast cancer is likely, simply put, a living nightmare that, without intervention, may lead to a horrific, lonely death.

-Eva Dittrich, Founder, Shobha

06/08/2018

When cancer hits the streets

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5486377/

Toby had been living rough, sleeping on the street until his cancer-riddled body could no longer tolerate the cold. He was proud to have found housing for a few months before he died. He lived in a 10×12-foot room, on a mattress on the floor. His diet consisted of two cans of Boost daily (traded fo...

06/04/2018

You may be surprised by some of the risk factors for breast cancer as well as things that are not related to breast cancer risk:

https://ww5.komen.org/BreastCancer/BreastCancerRiskFactorsTable.html

Find a table of factors linked (or not linked) to breast cancer risk as well as factors still under study..

04/03/2018

Our current project focuses on learning about the experience of breast cancer for homeless women living on Skid Row in L.A. and what they are missing from the current available services, then figuring out how to help. Watch this video to learn more about the most densely populated homeless section of the city!

11/06/2017

Shop for everyone on your gift list this holiday at smile.amazon.com/ch/45-2211997 and Amazon donates to Shobha!

When you shop at AmazonSmile, Amazon will donate to Shobha. Support us every time you shop.

10/09/2017

Good news! I've heard back from a large women's mission on Skid Row LA to connect me with several ladies there struggling with breast cancer. Biggest barriers to appropriate treatment reported so far are mental health, lack of self-worth, and health insurance issues. We have a safe place to meet downtown and do interviews to assess their needs and get to know them so that I can start fundraising and gathering resources on their behalf. Now I need a professional filmmaker/team to come with me and record interviews of these women, then edit into cohesive individual stories. Must have your own equipment and follow through on producing polished work as a volunteer. Please email me at [email protected] for more info and to chat. Thank you!!!

09/21/2017

Attention professionals in LA working with the homeless and other underserved: Seeking a woman with breast cancer to help support, someone who has fallen through the cracks of the system and really needs personalized attention. Please email me at [email protected] to discuss the details. Thank you!!