#carethatcounts

Story #100: Joan, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of New York City 

“I’m the President and CEO of PPNYC, and I’ve been here for 17 years. I came of age with the Supreme Court decision Roe, which legalized abortion. For me, that decision meant that with confidence I could build my future, figure out my life and do the work I wanted to do, and not be a second class citizen. That meant an enormous amount to me. I became a City Planner because I love to build communities.

I believe Planned Parenthood is about building communities. It goes back to providing opportunities and caring for people and caring for communities.

Planned Parenthood is 100 years old. We’ve been in New York City for 100 years. There have been enormous successes, great access to birth control and health care services, and I’m very proud of the work we do. Yet the challenges still remain. I work with an incredible team of staff, activists, board, who deliver on our mission everyday. I couldn’t be more proud to be a part of this team.

I love this campaign Care That Counts because to have the ability for people to tell their stories, people who don’t even know us all that well but know Planned Parenthood, wanting to tell the difference that we as an organization has made in their lives, it is so gratifying. They really want to show that gratitude and connection to Planned Parenthood.”

To celebrate Planned Parenthood of New York City’s 100th year birthday, we’ve shared 100 stories from patients and supporters. Here’s to 100 years strong -- and 100 more to come.

Story #98: Alex, Planned Parenthood of New York City Teen Advocate

“My name is Alexander Blanco. I’m 18 and I’ve been a Teen Advocate for a year and a half. Here at Planned Parenthood, we do workshops, we do outreach, we go outside to 14th street or another park or location with a lot of people and give out safer sex kits. We’re getting now into the social media piece, making videos and meme content about sexual and reproductive health. We did a hotline bling video to promote our call center.

Y’all should check it out!

I like giving back to the community because growing up I didn’t know this information and I see other kids that don’t know this information so going out into the field and sharing it, we’re just giving them something they can use for a whole lifetime and pass it on.”

Watch the Teen Advocate version of Hotline Bling.

Story #97: Lindsay Shea, Planned Parenthood of New York City Supporter

“My mother, Polly Guth, believed in the mission and work of Planned Parenthood. I’m proud to be able to represent her... When there was going to be that huge rally in Washington for Planned Parenthood, my mother funded the train going from Penn Station down to Washington... When we arrived in Washington, we finally made it to the mall and walked around and it was just so heartening, everybody was excited.”

Story #96: Elle Wisnicki, Intern at Planned Parenthood of New York City

“As a teenager, I was a patient... when I went to college I got really involved. I love being an intern at PPNYC because I’m able to give back so much... I haven’t ever had an internship before where I felt as a college student they really wanted me to be making a difference and to make connections and grow. 

As a Health Center Advocate I sit in our clinics and talk to patients about getting involved in our volunteerism, advocacy work, political organizing, and sex ed campaigns. I think its really important for patients to get involved because they are the ones who are experiencing being disadvantaged - not having insurance, not getting services because of something a politicians voted on. They’re the ones being affected and the ones we need to hear from and involving them is integral to our work.”

Story #95: Mariama, Teen Advocate, Planned Parenthood of New York City

Story #93: Peggy Danziger, Board Member Emerita at Planned Parenthood of New York City

“I started as a volunteer in the late ‘60s… and I went up to the clinic in the Bronx and what I was supposed to do was look after the children for the women who were coming in to get IUDs, birth control pills, whatever they were going to get… People ask me sometimes, okay, you’re now a Board Member Emerita, are you still really involved with Planned Parenthood? I say once you’re involved, you’re always involved.”

To celebrate Planned Parenthood of New York City’s 100th year birthday, we’re sharing 100 stories from patients and supporters. 

Story #90: Jacqueline Johnson, Vice President of Clinical Services at Planned Parenthood of New York City 

“My name is Jacqueline Johnson and I am Vice President of Clinical Services. I’ve been at Planned Parenthood of New York City for 19 years and what brought me here was my desire to work in women’s health care... When the opportunity came for me to work at Planed Parenthood of New York City, I jumped at it. When I think about the work that we do and what makes me proud I actually think about my daughter because I see in her as a young woman the fruits of my labor here at PPNYC. I see that she asks good questions about her health care, that she is someone her friends go to about reproductive health care services and that she knows the real deal.”

Story #89: Marcella Tillett, Vice President of Project Street Beat, Planned Parenthood of New York City 

“My name is Marcella Tillett and I am the Vice President of Project Street Beat and I’ve been here since 2010. I feel like I’ve been involved in reproductive health since I was a child because my mother was a registered nurse. She talked about reproductive health incessantly... we had condoms in the linen closet, we had science and biology books all around the house, right next to Dr. Seuss. It’s always been a part of my world in some way which I think is a really healthy way to approach reproductive health and health in general. One of the things I think that PPNYC is really good at is paying attention to the needs and paying attention to what our communities are experiencing and really pushing to be innovative. We want to be leaders in this field whether its related to sexual and reproductive health services, access to health care, insurance enrollment... we want to be on the cutting edge, establishing the best practices, and Project Street Beat is a big part of that. ” Read more about Project Street Beat, PPNYC’s innovative health care program that brings services to the hardest to reach communities in New York.