Girls Inc of Alameda County

Kaiser Permanente's Community Benefit at Work for Girls Inc.

For the past five years, Kaiser Permanente has helped to sustain the work and mission of Girls Inc. of Alameda County, through grant funding and event sponsorship. Kaiser Permanente Community Benefit grant support benefits Girls Inc.’s obesity prevention work in our WOW! program and our pregnancy prevention efforts through the HEART (Helping Everyone Achieve Respect Together) program. As a result of Kaiser Permanente’s generous support, girls learn more about health and sexuality topics, which empower our participants to make healthier choices.

HEART is a girl-driven, asset-based health and sexuality education program that focuses on expanding and improving access to important teen health and sexuality information for underserved youth.HEART is based on a unique, research-based model of peer education that optimizes girls’ positive influence on their peers through one-on-one conversations in their own informal social networks to reach over 650 teens annually (between our San Leandro and Oakland sites).

“The teen pregnancy rates in San Leandro, Ashland, and Cherryland areas are one of the highest in southern Alameda County,” said Sylvia Jimenez, Community Benefit Manager of Kaiser Permanente in southern Alameda County. “We are proud to partner with Girls Inc to address this high risk priority area and to support their unique program which involves young women in their own communities as peer educators and mentors health and sexuality issues.”

Through the information passed to youth in HEART, participants effectively educate their peers on topics they are trained on, such as teen pregnancy prevention, reproductive anatomy, pregnancy, HIV and sexually transmitted infections, birth control , and community resources for teens to name a few. The educators demonstrate an increased level of knowledge on these important topics and are in turn, able to advocate for youth in the San Leandro area.

Another important program supported by Kaiser Permanente is WOW! , a two-year youth development program designed to increase familial engagement, physical fitness, literacy skills, self-esteem, and the academic success of fourth and fifth grade girls. In the 2008-2009 fiscal year, WOW! expanded by 46 percent to serve 120 girls, thanks in large part to the support of Kaiser Permanente.

"Our support of Girls Inc. is one example of how we are extending health education beyond the walls of our medical centers," said Colleen McKeown, Senior Vice President and Area Manager of Kaiser Permanente in southern Alameda County, who also serves on the board of directors for Girls Inc. of Alameda County. "Kaiser Permanente is committed to improving the health of our members and of the communities we serve."