Connections

Sharing our resources with the community

Each January, many of us take time to make plans for the New Year. It is no different here at WHYY, your member-supported public broadcasting company. We are also making plans for 2002 that will allow us to continue to find new and innovative ways to connect Delaware Valley residents to each other and to their community.

This year, one of the many ways WHYY will share our resources with our community partners is to cover issues particular to women -- on TV, FM, the Web and in the community. For all the progress made by and for women during the last few decades, opportunities exist for further advancement, particularly in the areas of communicating medical information and delivering health care services.

In 2002, WHYY will use our multimedia capabilities to create conversations in the community that will break down barriers and help our community partners make it that much easier for women to access health care. We are excited to work in partnership with such organizations as the United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania and Womens Way to extend their messages to a wider audience.

This month on WHYY-TV, we will begin airing a series of life-saving informational spots about women's health, enlightening women about breast cancer and mammography, heart disease and other medical issues of broad concern. These public affairs messages are made possible because of our partnership with the United Way, which was forged through the extraordinary leadership of Molly Dickinson Shepard, chairman of WHYY's Board of Directors.

In March 2001, Molly received the prestigious Paradigm Award from the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce in recognition of her commitment to the region, and she has worked tirelessly to develop a campaign that will spread the word to women and families about important health issues. We thank Molly for her generosity and for helping us to see how invaluable two organizations working together can be.

Another initiative that will heighten awareness about women's health concerns, and at the same time, allow us to listen more effectively to our diverse audiences, is the Latina Health Project. Through a generous grant from The William Penn Foundation, we launched this project to address concerns raised during a series of focus groups held by WHYY in the fall of 1999. At these sessions, local citizens of all genders and ethnicities and from all walks of life noted that Hispanic women are particularly at risk because certain cultural barriers often inhibit them from seeking preventative health care.

After listening to the perspectives of Hispanic women during additional focus group meetings in WHYY's Independence Foundation Civic Space, we are developing a series of programs on WHYY-TV and FM, a resource Web site on whyy.org and other community events that will explore and explain disparities in health status and access to medical care affecting Hispanic women, while promoting strong, healthy families in these thriving communities in our region.

In May, WHYY will present its second annual "Speaking of Women's Health" conference, a daylong event addressing all facets of women's health. At this year's conference, WHYY will honor the contributions of three women and award six grants to regional organizations that work to promote the health, welfare and safety of women in the Delaware Valley.

This month, I am also pleased to announce our new partnership with Womens Way, a premier funding organization for women's services and advocacy programs in the region, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. WHYY will use our on and off-air resources to help Womens Way celebrate this milestone, while sharing its legacy and ongoing contributions.

The generous support of you, our members, helps us to continue the work that we do at WHYY, and we in turn want to make an investment in this great region. By sharing our resources with our community partners, together we can empower women and enrich the lives of everyone in the Delaware Valley.

Warm regards,
William J. Marrazzo
President and Chief Executive Officer