F
eb. 4 marked something very important
and exciting for all who fought, and fight,
on behalf of reproductive rights—Planned
Parenthood of Indiana’s 75
th
anniversary!
For three-quarters of a century, PPIN has
been fighting the good fight here in
the
Heartland. Seventy-five years of protecting,
providing and promoting reproductive
health. Seventy-five years of advocating on
behalf of a woman’s right to control her own
body, to choose—in the words of Margaret
Sanger—whether and when she will be a
mother.
PPIN’s 75 years of success didn’t happen
by accident. It happened because legions of
good people gave their time, energy and
financial resources to make it happen. We
fight every day to raise awareness, to provide
affordable health services, to educate and to
advocate for the reproductive freedom of
Hoosier women, men and families.
In the past year alone, at our 35 health
centers across Indiana, we:
■ Had nearly 300,000 patient visits—
mostly young, low-income women;
■ Dispensed nearly 500,000 units of
contraceptives—no organization does
more than PPIN to reduce the abortion
rate in Indiana;
■ Provided nearly 1,000 Pap tests a
week to screen for cervical cancer; and
■ Performed more than 93,000 tests to
identify STDs and treated them before
they resulted in tragedy.
The fact is, we are the only provider of
health care for many of the women and men
who use our services, 75 percent of whom
are living at or below 150 percent of the
poverty level.
Our $7 million
Tapestry of Strength Capital
and Endowment Campaign
—which is nearly
complete—is a critical building block in the
bridge to PPIN’s future. The long-overdue
relocations, renovations and upgrades of
many our health care facilities around the
state, and the creation of a $2 million endow-
ment fund, will ensure continued access and
high-quality medical care and education
services for the tens of thousands of women
and men we serve each year. Helping us to
achieve these goals is a $750,000 challenge
grant from The Kresge Foundation’s Capital
Challenge Grant program. It is the largest
grant ever received by PPIN; however, we
must meet our $7 million
Tapestry goal by the
end of 2007 to receive the funds. We are well
on our way—thanks for that!
This past year, PPIN helped roll out a new
website for Get Real, Indiana!, a coalition of
39 Hoosier organizations that supports
medically accurate, age-appropriate sexu-
ality education for Indiana students. The site,
www.GetRealIndiana.org, includes statistics
on contraceptives and STDs, up-to-date
information on state requirements for sexu-
ality education and links to other valuable
resources. Individuals may also sign a petition
calling for comprehensive sex education for
all Indiana students. In March, the project was
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PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF INDIANA
A letter from Betty Cockrum, President and CEO
Brilliance, Strength and Courage