Supporters make difference
By Ruth SoRelle, M.P.H.
Recently, I attended a luncheon for a local organization called the Women's Fund for Health, Education & Research. It was one of those lovely affairs with fashionable table decorations, well-dressed women and an entertaining speaker.
At the same time, at this meeting, the Women's Fund announced that one of Baylor College of Medicine's researchers would receive the group's research award for the next year. Peggy Smith, Ph.D., has long headed the work of the Baylor Teen Health Clinic, which works with young women and men at a vulnerable time in their lives.
The clinic itself is a story, operating at multiple sites in Harris County to provide free and accessible reproductive health services to adolescents and young adults. More than that, it works with youngsters to encourage healthy lifestyles that will put them on the road to a productive adulthood.
The Women's Fund grant will fund a pilot project called Project Passport, which seeks to empower young women by giving them the tools they need to avoid high risk behaviors that could put them at risk for future pregnancies, sexual transmitted diseases and substance abuse.
Such programs mean much to the subjects they touch and to those they may affect in the future, if the research proves fruitful. In this case, this research is part of a long-time and larger effort by the Baylor Teen Health Clinic to touch and affect the lives of some of the most vulnerable teens in our population.
Those who donate to the Women's Fund and similar organizations may not know that their money lives on in better lives for so many people. Giving to a disease-related organization means improving the lives of folks affected by devastating diseases and circumstances. For example, the recent bicycle ride called the Tour de Pink, sponsored by the Pink Ribbon Fund, provides help to women with breast cancer, a worthy cause. BCM fielded its own team that raised funds in support of this effort.
Some people dismiss such events as purely social or selfish. Certainly, I enjoyed both the luncheon and the Tour de Pink as opportunities to catch up with friends and take part in activities that I love.
The bigger picture, however, encompasses the chance such activities give us all a chance to contribute to efforts that are important to patients and the community in which we live.
