I am raising money through our Heart Walk because I personally know some of the millions of Americans affected by heart disease and stroke (and you might too), and I want to do something about it.
A specific passion of mine is women's heart health. Nearly 45% of women over the age of 20 are living with some form of cardiovascular disease. That's over 50 MILLION women, causing 1 in every 3 women’s deaths each year.
And disparities across races are striking with over 57% of black women and nearly 43% of Hispanic women living with cardiovascular disease today.
What are we doing to address these concerning stats? To start, we’re talking about it. We’re raising awareness and telling stories. We’re also working to communicate with women where they are and in a way that speaks to who they are. This is not a one size fits all message because women are not a one size fits all population.
We create tools and resources designed to easily build healthy habits wherever they are and working to build communities to support women who are living with cardiovascular disease and stroke, we’re working to close the gender gap in research through Research Goes Red, creating opportunities for younger girls through STEM Goes Red which in turn engages more women to create solutions FOR women, and we’re addressing inequities in care by working with our internal partners like advocacy and science as well as external organizations to really address critical issues with things like maternal health and mortality, provider and consumer education, using data to identify gaps and needs, changing systems and much more.
With your help, we are excited to continue to lead the way for women’s health and tackle these risks by leveraging some of our greatest strengths, our science, our generous donors, our brand equity and trust to advance our understanding of the complexities of women’s heart health and in turn translate those into actionable solutions that help women live longer, healthier lives.
Thank you in advance for your generosity,
Brittany
