Climbing Steep Hills

This week I spoke over lunch to a local service club. PP was asked to come and talk about the Prevention First Campaign/our agenda for 2008, what services PP provides in the local areas, and low cost health care options for women, men, and teens. I arrived at the restaurant and was greeted warmly by a huge Planned Parenthood supporter. She briefed me on the climate of the group and told me that some people were concerned that "Planned Parenthood" was coming to speak and not a lot of people may show up. I stood up to room of mostly men and began talking about my job as an organizer of Planned Parenthood, the 2008 Legislative and Policy Agenda, the Prevention First Campaign etc. I addressed the teen pregnancy issue in the county and how important comprehensive sex education was. I looked around - blank faces. When it was time for questions, I was pleasantly surprised by an older gentlemen - in his late 70's - he said, "...there has never been a time in my life where I did not completely agree that it is a woman's choose" he looked around the room and said, "I know a lot of you (speaking to his colleagues) may not agree with this but it is important to talk about".



After I was finished most of the participants came up to me and thanked me for coming. I know that they went home that night with a lot to think about. For many years, they may have had mis-conceptions and unknowns about "Planned Parenthood", my hope is that they tell just one person about the comprehensive services PP provides, the teen peer education groups for high school students in several communities, the breast and cervical cancer prevention programs for older woman, the advocacy work that the organizers who work at PPAM do everyday and the hundreds of volunteers who are "foot soldiers" in our mission.



Lesson Learned: "To climb steep hills requires a slow pace at first." Shakespeare