Program areas at Planned Parenthood of the Heartland
- healthcare services -in fy22, Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, Inc. (ppheartland) served 30,894 patients in 11 health centers located in Iowa and nebraska.our health centers in Iowa and Nebraska provided annual exams; birth control; emergency contraception; pregnancy testing and options counseling; fertility awareness education; breast/chest exams and mammography referral; transgender hormone therapy; lgbtq+ care; pep for hiv prevention after exposure to hiv; prep for hiv prevention; hiv testing, education and referral; screening & treatment for anxiety and depression; testing and treatment for stds/stis, utis, vaginal and bladder infections; hpv and hepatitis b vaccinations; and referrals for additional care.
- public affairs -public affairs staff in Iowa and Nebraska engaged volunteers in almost 4,000 hours of outreach, advocacy and engagement activities at health centers, on college campuses, and in the community. Engagement tactics continued to be conducted virtually to protect the health and safety of our staff, volunteers, and communities while the pandemic persisted. (continued in schedule o)in Iowa, despite the covid 19 pandemic, public affairs staff and volunteers executed an extensive outreach program to increase support for sexual and reproductive health and participation beyond central and eastern Iowa. This effort included using more digital communications, social media, and shifting in-person events to online events.iowa public affairs staff continued working with the latinx community via their raiz program by collaborating with latinx organizations, creating well-being workshops with allied partners, and tabling at events with covid precautions like latino festival in des moines.in Nebraska, staff conducted civic engagement work in the community. We worked with health center staff, volunteers, and community businesses, organizations, and partners to focus on voter engagement. Staff also participated in the Nebraska civic engagement table to work in partnership with over 60 other 501c3 organizations working to empower the diverse american electorate.in the fall, Iowa public affairs staff empowered several health center patients who expressed their desire to become volunteers and worked with the speaker's bureau program members to share their stories. It also empowered and supported youth activism via generation action student groups on two active campuses. Engagement and outreach continued online for members on the other campuses. Two new campuses were involved in starting a youth group via a generation action program at their universities.staff in Iowa and Nebraska continue to engage patient storytellers through the health center advocacy program, both through health center advocacy tables in eight health centers in Iowa and two in Nebraska that allow patients to sign up to participate in various advocacy and educational programming and through the actual speakers bureau program. All programs shifted into the digital space in response to covid-19.in Nebraska, public affairs staff worked with 21 active speakers' bureau members to share their stories with lawmakers, media, and other pp supporters. Members also provided education to others about how to share their story and provided virtual programming during annual fundraising events in omaha and lincoln, helping to steward over 150 donors.the Iowa public affairs staff reached out to supporters and voters on national voter registration day and in the latinx community via their raiz program.in Nebraska, public affairs staff provided educational programming to over 100 community supporters on how to talk to their state representatives and others about sexual and reproductive healthcare. This was conducted entirely online due to the pandemic. In lincoln and omaha, public affairs staff continued to train supporters to volunteer as health center patient escorts at their respective health centers. Supporters filled 373 volunteer shifts and contrubuted over 700 hours to escort patients and ensure they could safely enter and leave the health center.staff in Iowa and Nebraska spoke regularly with memebers of the press/media about sexual and reproductive health services and rights. Iowa public affairs staff gave press interviews with state and national journalists to share information about the temporary ban on abortion in the state that occurred at the beginning of the pandemic when governor reynolds determined that abortion is not an essential service. the organization filed a lawsuit in response and was able to protect abortion services. Later in the spring of 2020 the potential constitutional amendment restricting abortion begin to generate media and press attention from across the region.
- public & professional education services -ppheartland provides age-appropriate, research-informed education programs in reproductive health, human development and sexuality education for youth and adults in a variety of community- and school-based settings.ppheartland education programs reached 28,678 youth and adults across Iowa and Nebraska during fy2022. Forty-three percent of all presentations occurred in partnership with k12 schools. (continued in schedule o)the department's mission is to improve sexual and reproductive health outcomes by increasing communities' access to medically accurate, culturally relevant sexual and reproductive health education, information, and resources.ppheartland's trained educators work in communities through a broad base of collaborating agencies. Educators conduct community outreach at health fairs and community events and facilitate educational programming with youth and adults. In fy2022, educators facilitated 569 single- and multi-session presentations and tabled at 55 events.