Member Feature: American Heart Association

On Mondays we like to shine a spotlight on one of our Chamber Members. This week’s Member Feature shines that spotlight on the American Heart Association. Read the following Q&A to learn more about this wonderful Member of our Chamber!

Please provide a short description of your organization.

The six cardiologists who founded the American Heart Association in 1924 would be amazed. From humble beginnings, the AHA has grown into the nation’s oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke. A shared focus on cardiovascular health unites our more than 33 million volunteers and supporters as well as our more than 3,400 employees. Heart disease is the No. 1 killer worldwide, and stroke ranks second globally. Even when those conditions don’t result in death, they cause disability and diminish quality of life. We want to see a world free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke. Our size and scope let us have real impact. We have invested more than $4.5 billion in research, more than any U.S. nonprofit organization.

The American Heart Association is a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives. We are dedicated to ensuring equitable health in all communities. Through collaboration with numerous organizations, and powered by millions of volunteers, we fund innovative research, advocate for the public’s health and share lifesaving resources.

The American Stroke Association is a division of the American Heart Association. The ASA amplifies our efforts to educate people about stroke prevention and treatment.

At the local level, the Heart of the Mercer and Youngstown takes our core events beyond the day of and turns them into a year-round campaign, bringing the work of the American Heart Association to life. The campaign focuses on the mission-critical work being done within our community by putting a spotlight on opportunities to save and improve lives by creating meaningful change. Together we will educate families on the importance of living a healthy lifestyle, we will fight to ensure our communities have the highest quality and most equitable care, and we will find cures for heart disease and stroke. We will do all of this so that more people in our community can experience life’s best moments together.

At the local level, we are focused on four pillars of health: Women’s health, blood pressure, tobacco and vaping and nutrition.

What is the story behind your organization or how it got started?

Before the American Heart Association existed, people with heart disease were thought to be doomed to complete bed rest — or destined to imminent death. But a handful of pioneering physicians and social workers believed it didn’t have to be that way. They conducted studies to learn more about heart disease, America’s No. 1 killer. Then, on June 10, 1924, they met in Chicago to form the American Heart Association — believing that scientific research could lead the way to better treatment, prevention and ultimately a cure. The early American Heart Association enlisted help from hundreds, then thousands, of physicians and scientists.

“We were living in a time of almost unbelievable ignorance about heart disease,” said Paul Dudley White, one of six cardiologists who founded the organization.

In 1948, the association reorganized, transforming from a professional scientific society to a nationwide voluntary health organization composed of science and lay volunteers and supported by professional staff. Since then, the AHA has grown rapidly in size and influence — nationally and internationally — into an organization of more than 33 million volunteers and supporters dedicated to improving heart health and reducing deaths from cardiovascular diseases and stroke.

What is the service that you provide that people use the most?

I can’t pick just one!

When is your busiest time / season?

Our Mercer/Lawrence Heart Walk is in the fall (usually September) and our Mercer/Lawrence Heart Ball is in late winter/early spring (usually February). Those are the busiest times locally.

The Heart Walk is the American Heart Association’s premier event for raising funds to save lives from this country’s No. 1 and No. 5 killers – heart disease and stroke.

The Mercer/Lawrence Heart Walk is a community event with something for everyone. There are kids zones, pet areas, stretching stations and gifts for survivors. The American Heart Association also offers free blood pressure screenings and Hands-Only CPR Training at the walk.

The Heart Ball is the American Heart Association’s premier social event to celebrate survivors and the lifesaving achievements of local physicians, philanthropists and volunteers committed to helping the association fulfill its mission, to be a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives. Through events like the Heart Ball, the American Heart Association is funding local and national research, along with prevention and education programs, to reduce the ravages of cardiovascular disease.

What is something people would be surprised to know about your organization?

One of our major focuses is around social determinants of health. Increasingly, we know that the most significant opportunities for reducing death and disability from cardiovascular disease in the United States lie with addressing the social determinants of cardiovascular outcomes.

Our priorities are to:

• Continue our support for affordable, accessible and quality healthcare
  • One example is advocating for Medicaid expansion. 8.2 million more Americans are now covered by this important policy. In 2015-16, two more states passed laws around Medicaid expansion.
• Keep advocating for access to healthy food for everyone in America, especially kids.
  • Our work via Voices for Healthy Kids, with a strong focus on increasing the number of states that have statewide policies for schools to implement both federal competitive foods standards and the meal standards outlined in the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.
  • Through Voices for Healthy Kids, we are also generating change that provides greater access, including: Healthy food financing initiatives (public funding to increase the amount of healthy food being offered in under-resourced communities.), SNAP (allowing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients to use their benefits at the market and/or funding for programs that significantly increase SNAP benefits when used on fruits and vegetables.), healthy food procurement (support healthy vending, service, and institutional feeding food procurement policy on government property.), healthy restaurant meals (ensuring all restaurant meals marketed to children meet nutrition standards and remove sugary drinks from all restaurant children’s meals.)
• Ensure everyone has safe places to be active
  • We need to continue to advocate for important policies that keep our roads, bike paths and walking paths to school safe and accessible.
• Support partners in housing, banking, education and employment
  • By working together, we can improve the health, safety and financial situations of all Americans.
• Invest in more research
  • We need donor dollars to conduct more research that will help us gain a better understanding of the most under-resourced populations and the kinds of interventions that are needed to improve health outcomes within these communities.
• And continue our community transformation work

Can you tell us about a memorable or favorite experience?

Every year we honor a Heart Hero (a child that has survived heart disease.) This year, our heart hero is Bronson Shirley.

Here’s Bronson’s story: https://www.sharonherald.com/news/local_news/outlook-2020-straight-from-the-heart-bronson-shirleys-life-is-ahead-of-him-because-of/article_9c484122-22ac-5713-a0b5-51843cd54647.html

How has your organization responded to COVID-19?

The American Heart Association is deeply concerned about the public health crisis facing our country. Our top priority regarding coronavirus (COVID-19) is the health and well-being of all individuals and their families today and in the future, in every community, everywhere. This virus is impacting everyone regardless of race, religion, age and gender. And now, the recent focus on racism and discrimination in the U.S. has shed a light on the health disparities that impact people of color.

Historically excluded communities have been hit particularly hard by coronavirus. African Americans, Latino, Native People and those in rural areas are experience higher rates of disease or severe complications – even death. People living in these communities are more likely to have underlying health conditions (like high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease and obesity), are more likely to work unstable or frontline jobs limiting their ability to socially distance themselves and are less likely to have access to quality healthcare.

With two public health threats looming – coronavirus and the impact of systemic racism – the American Heart Association’s mission – to be a relentless force for a world of healthier, longer lives – is more important than ever. Millions of people are counting on us for science-based information, health resources, community programs and patient support. We are continuing our mission-critical work in these challenging times. We know that people with cardiovascular diseases and people living in under-resourced communities are more likely to be seriously impacted by the virus than others.

No matter who you are or where you are, the American Heart Association is here to help you through these times. We’re providing trusted, science-based tools and resources to empower you to take charge of your health and well-being. And, we are advocacy for change and working in communities across the country to address health disparities. Our website, www.heart.org, is a good place to start for the most up-to-date information.

As a science-based organization, the American Heart Association, is investing research dollars in the search for answers to coronavirus and health disparities.

We funded a special $2.5 million fund for rapid response scientific research projects to investigate the specific cardiovascular implications of coronavirus, investing in short-term projects that can turn around results quickly.

In addition, the AHA’s Bernard J. Tyson Impact Fund is a national fund with a local investment focus supporting and investing in evidence-based, locally led solutions that are breaking down the social and economic barriers to health equity.

You can also be assured that:

• We are working diligently to provide reliable, science-based information for the approximately 120 million people in the United States who currently have one or more cardiovascular conditions and who already may be at higher risk for COVID-19 complications as well as those who live in historically excluded communities hit hard by COVID-19 and systemic health disparities.
• We are collaborating with global public health experts, state and local governments, our corporate supporters, schools and hospitals in communities large and small to provide the very latest information and resources to help you and your employers and colleagues manage their overall health and well-being during this pandemic and beyond
• We are expanding our efforts to meet people where they are in social media – in real time – sharing our science-backed health information to both engage and empower communities.
• We are supporting health care professionals and scientific researchers – including our own professional members — who are the heroes fighting on the front lines of the pandemic. We are ensuring they have rapid access to the very latest scientific evidence, information and resources that will be helpful in their work with patients and communities – particularly those who are most vulnerable.
• We are supporting community-based efforts to end health disparities and help ensure equal access to affordable health care, nutritious food and safe places to be physically active.
• We are working at the federal, state and community levels to support public policies that ensure families nationwide have access to care in the face of COVID-19, frontline health workers have the ability to care for people with medical needs during this crisis and charitable organizations can continue their life-changing work in communities nationwide. We are working with partners to urge Congress to ensure nonprofits large and small are eligible for forgivable federal loans and charitable giving incentives. Lend your voice and become an advocate at yourethecure.org

How can the community support you now and going forward?

Get involved! Volunteer for the American Heart Association. Attend an event. Advocate for our mission.

Financially support our mission: Donate, give the gift of stock, join our Cor Vitae Society, Honor a loved one, be a part of our Social Impact Fund, etc!

For more information on getting involved our volunteering, please contact Tracy Behnke at Tracy.Behnke@Heart.org

Is there anything else you’d like us to talk about?

Please visit our website at heart.org

Member Feature: American Heart Association

1575 Corporate Woods Parkway, Suite 150, Uniontown, OH 44685