Community-responsive, youth-driven comprehensive sexual and reproductive health interventions to achieve optimal health for BIPOC and LGBTQIA2S+ adolescents in western Iowa and eastern Nebraska - Planned Parenthood of the Heartland (PPH) proposes youth- and community-driven comprehensive sexual and reproductive health interventions to achieve optimal health for BIPOC and LGBTQIA2S+ youth ages 12-24. The Project will serve at least 500 youth annually in Iowa counties Pottawattamie and Woodbury, Nebraska counties Cass, Douglas, and Sarpy, as well as the Ponca and Winnebago Tribes of Nebraska.
Alongside a robust network of current and new community partners, we will implement this five-year initiative with the goal of increasing the community’s capacity to engage with BIPOC and LGBTQIA2S+ youth around their sexual and reproductive health in an effort to decrease teen pregnancy and STI rates. We will achieve this goal with three primary objectives:
1. Implement evidence-based programs in each community served
2. Mobilize parents, adults, and communities through health fairs and trainings
3. Provide continuous quality improvement by assessing progress toward outcomes and adjusting as needed
PPH has been operating in the states of Iowa and Nebraska since 1934. Our mission as educators is to improve sexual and reproductive health outcomes (prioritizing the outcomes of BIPOC and LGBTQIA2S+ communities) by increasing communities’ access to medically accurate, culturally relevant, age appropriate, and inclusive sexual and reproductive health education, information, and resources. Our implementation partner, Sanford Center, has 90 years of experience engaging with BIPOC communities in Woodbury County, IA, as well as a foothold in schools and additional organizations in the nonprofit realm.
