Grantees
From left to right: Marisol Morales and Elena Alvarado from the National Latina Health Network; Dr. Elizabeth G. Nabel, Director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; Tim Gunn, Project Runway mentor and Chief Creative Officer of Liz Claiborne Inc.; Kim Jefferies Leonard from The Links Foundation, Incorporated; and Meredith Green and Emily Lard from The Cardiology Associates Foundation.
The Heart Truth’s Community Action Program
Through funds provided by Heart Truth partner Diet Coke, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health have come together to create a competitive grant program to address the lack of awareness about women and heart disease called The Heart Truth Community Action Program. This program aims to empower community organizations to assist women—especially those of color, low income, or in rural areas—in identifying personal risk factors for heart disease and motivating them to take action to lower their risk.
The Community Action Program seeks to:
-
Increase awareness among women that heart disease is their #1 killer.
-
Promote The Heart Truth, Red Dress symbol, and the campaign’s key messages.
-
Provide heart disease risk factor screenings to inform women of their personal risk for the disease.
-
Educate women about lifestyle behaviors that promote heart health and lower their risk for developing heart disease.
-
Encourage and motivate women to take steps to adopt a heart healthy lifestyle.
-
Increase outreach to underserved women, particularly those of color, low income, or in rural areas.
The Heart Truth Community Action Program’s 2008 Grantees are:
- Cardiology Associates Foundation, Arkansas
- The National Latina Health Network
- The Links, Incorporated
Cardiology Associates Foundation, Arkansas
The Cardiology Associates Foundation, founded in 2003, serves as a vehicle to educate the public in the area of cardiovascular health through programs focusing on: women and heart disease; corporate cardiovascular health education; children and cardiovascular health; and community cardiovascular health education.
The National Latina Health Network
The National Latina Health Network (NLHN) has a community-based constituency that consists of a network of over 1,500 Latina leaders. Their mission is to address critical public health concerns affecting Latinas and their families by promoting leadership, advocacy, community health partnerships and initiatives through education and outreach that will improve the health and well-being of the Hispanic/Latino community nationwide.
The Links, Incorporated
The Links, Incorporated is an international women's non-profit social welfare and service organization of over 12,000 members in 270 chapters across the United States, and the Bahamas. It was founded in 1946. From its inception, the organization's members are developing and implementing programs targeted to issues that affect its members and communities. Community service has been the corner stone of the organization's outreach with members contributing more than 500,000 documented hours of community service annually. For the past 60 years, The Links, Incorporated has been internationally known for its programs that are focused on those topics such as health, economics and education, youth, and policy efforts.
