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Providing health education to the “forgotten” woman |
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WFFH Mission Statement
WFFH’s mission is to empower women ― through patient education ― to be proactive about healthcare in order to achieve ultimate well-being in mind, body, and spirit.
WFFH’s Objectives and Impact Goals Include:
-Providing health and wellness information to women, via live presentation by licensed nurse practitioners, to residents of transitional residences/halfway houses in the U.S., and around the world.
-Providing health care opportunities to these forgotten women, which will include an understanding of the healthcare system and where to go for help, screening locations, and by establishing a Q&A hotline.
The Women in Transition (WIT) Program Overview
Women in transition are among the most vulnerable, whether their situation is dictated by homelessness, drug or alcohol addiction, incarceration, or domestic violence. Transitional residences, also known as halfway houses, are a respite for women who are not where they need to be in their lives, but who are not in fact where they were. In their time at a transitional center, women are safe, sober, and open to new information that may, in fact, make their lives better. Through the WIT Program, WFFH will have an impact on these forgotten women at a time when they are standing at a crossroads in their life, when their thinking is clear, and when education about health care can actually make a difference.
Educating the forgotten woman will stimulate social change in that women previously not part of society can rejoin as productive citizens, and can then teach their children and other family members about health care, thereby lessoning the burden on government and other social agents.
Through test programming, WFFH has determined that women who are most appreciative of health information, who were most in need of the information, and whose future most benefited from the information are those women in the halfway house/transitional residence (HH/TR) setting. Our test programming also concluded that no such programs currently exist. Halfway house staff were, in fact, resistant to our offer of the free service, and when convinced that we were a credible non-profit source, were delighted that an organization was finally addressing their residents’ needs.
WFFH has as its goal to reach over one million women in five years through the WIT program. Outcomes will be measured with full-time staff monitoring evaluation forms submitted by halfway house staff, nurse presenters, and educated residents. Outcomes will also be measured by ongoing telephone and internet contact.
Why is the WIT Program important?
-Because women in transition are the forgotten women, and are falling through the cracks of the health care system
-Because women who regain their footing will return to society armed with credible information about their own health
-Because women so armed will, as the caretakers of the family, share this information with children, husbands, parents, and friends
-Because healthier women – and healthier families – will ease the burden of health care costs on a global scale
-Because we as a non-profit foundation – and as members of society – have a social and moral obligation to help women who are struggling to help themselves.
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