Philadelphia church leaders are hoping to get the word out this Mother’s Day about an important research project called Voices of Black Women.<\/p>\n
This is a sweeping research project<\/a> to determine why Black women have such high cancer rates.<\/p>\n Church and community leaders met recently at Enon Tabernacle Church, aiming to reverse a deadly trend of Black women having higher rates of cancer.<\/p>\n They’re joining forces to be part of the American Cancer Society’s groundbreaking research project called Voices of Black Women<\/a>.<\/p>\n “It’s a great avenue to get the word out about this need to move from talk to action,” said Pauline Moore with Tenth Memorial Baptist Church. “Whether it’s a planned meeting or whether it just happens, we talk about this because it is an important issue.”<\/p>\n The study will collect information from 100,000 Black women ages 25 to 55 over a period of 30 years, aiming to understand and eliminate health and cancer disparities.<\/p>\n It’s personal for Shelly Pullian, whose mom and sister both battled cancer.\u00a0<\/p>\n “Historically, we have not been in the forefront of most studies that deal with health disparities,” Pullian said. “We’re hoping to figure out, how can we help women help themselves to be better advocates for their health?”\u00a0<\/p>\n Ellyn Jo Waller, first lady of Enon Tabernacle Church, and other first ladies will focus their efforts this weekend on getting more women to participate in the research.\u00a0<\/p>\n “So important that we find a way to eradicate many of these issues, particularly breast cancer that ravages the Black community,” Waller said.<\/p>\n To be part of the research, participants complete periodic surveys online at voices.cancer.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n More from CBS News\n <\/p>\n