About Us

The National Witness Project® is a culturally competent, community-based organization dedicated to improving health outcomes through outreach, education, patient navigation, community engagement, and research partnerships.

Founded as a breast and cervical cancer outreach, education, and navigation program, the Witness Project was built on the belief that trusted community voices have the power to improve health outcomes. Through the leadership of cancer survivors and trained lay health advisors, we increase awareness, knowledge, screening, and early detection behaviors within African American communities in an effort to reduce the mortality and morbidity associated with cancer.

Our goal is to reach underserved and never-served communities by empowering individuals with knowledge about cancer prevention while directing, connecting, and referring them to affordable preventive health care services, screenings, wellness resources, and other community supports that promote healthier lives.

Our Vision

We envision healthy, informed, and empowered communities where everyone has equitable access to quality health care, trusted information, and the resources needed to thrive.

Through education, advocacy, navigation, research, and collaboration, the National Witness Project remains committed to reducing health disparities and creating lasting change, one individual, one family, and one community at a time.

Where We Are Today

While our roots are in breast and cervical cancer education and patient navigation, the National Witness Project has grown into a trusted community health organization serving individuals and families across Western New York. We continue to build on our foundation of culturally responsive outreach by connecting communities with the knowledge, resources, and support they need to achieve better health outcomes.

Our Services

The National Witness Project provides culturally competent outreach, education, patient navigation, and referrals for a wide range of health and wellness services, including:

• Breast, cervical, and lung cancer education and screening

• Diabetes prevention and education

• Mental health education and resilience training

• Primary care and preventive health services

• Women's health and OB/GYN care

• Patient navigation and health care system navigation

• Health insurance enrollment assistance

• Translation and interpretation support

• Transportation resources

• Housing resources

• Food access and nutrition resources

• Voter registration and civic engagement

• Community health education workshops

• Referrals to health care providers and community-based resources

Community-Engaged Research

The National Witness Project is a trusted partner in community-engaged research, collaborating with universities, health systems, public health agencies, and community organizations to ensure that community voices help shape research that is meaningful, equitable, and impactful.

Our team provides expertise throughout every stage of the research process, including:

• Community engagement and partnership development

• Community advisory board facilitation

• Participant recruitment and retention

• Community-based participatory research (CBPR)

• Culturally responsive program development

• Health education and implementation support

• Dissemination of research findings back to the community

By combining lived experience with scientific research, we help create programs and interventions that improve health equity and produce lasting benefits for the communities we serve.