More Care Than Ever

Hemet Now Open

More Care Than Ever In Riverside County With The First Planned Parenthood In Hemet Now Open

Our new health center in Hemet was booked from the time our doors opened in July. Ten patient care rooms will provide care for 21,000 patients every year—patients who otherwise would have had to travel an average of 25 miles to reach a Planned Parenthood.

The center offers a full range of sexual and reproductive health services including birth control, STI testing and treatment, breast and cervical cancer screenings, abortion, pregnancy testing, and more.

It was opened with support from both a generous anonymous donor, who matched every donation up to $100,000 for the construction of both the Hemet facility and the in-progress Kearny Mesa health center, and a significant gift from philanthropist Christy Walton.

Christy has a special connection to the region and made the investment in this health center in memory of her dear friend, Jo Ann Homan, who died at 18 years old after undergoing an illegal abortion in 1968.

Coachella Expanded

Investing Care In Coachella With An Expanded Health Center

We made a significant investment in the care we are providing to the people of Coachella Valley by expanding our health center in Coachella. The addition of three patient care rooms will give us the ability to see 12,000 more patients each year. We also updated the look and feel of the center and made significant security updates.

Sex Ed To-Go

Breaking Down Barriers To Sex Ed

Too many young people face political, financial, or logistical barriers to the age-appropriate, medically accurate, comprehensive, and inclusive sex education they deserve. To ensure everyone everywhere can get the knowledge they need, we launched Sex Ed To-Go, a free online sex ed program.

More than 480 teachers and 380 students have already viewed our courses, which cover foundational concepts in sex ed like pregnancy prevention, anatomy, consent, and human trafficking. Student-facing content is complemented by bite-sized courses that support busy teachers in being effective sex educators.

We also offer a three-course series for parents and caregivers to support family communication about sex and sexual health.

Learn more or access courses at planned.org/sexedtogo

Building Together

Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

We continue to make progress on the long journey to reduce health disparities in our community and live up to the Commitment to Black Communities we made last year. With people of color, particularly Black people, those in the LGBTQ+ community, and young people centered, we have launched an ambitious plan to map health disparities within our own patient base and address gaps in access, outcomes and experience.

One priority is to make sure our staff have the tools they need to live out our workplace value “We respect and honor all people.” Ninety-five percent of staff completed an 8-hour training on unconscious bias and how our brains react to difference plus an additional 2-hour training on microaggressions.

Our supervisory staff and Board of Directors have engaged in deeper conversations about white dominant culture and learned to apply an equity decision-making tool to evaluate the impact of systems and policies. In the spirit of “building with, not for,” our work is informed by a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council made up of staff from across the organization and six Employee Resources Groups.

Read our Commitment to Black Communities at planned.org/commitment

Care No Matter Where

Virtual Celebration Success

On May 20, we celebrated 58 years of compassionate care with our first-ever virtual anniversary event, Care, No Matter Where. More than 600 supporters tuned in to the broadcast, chaired by tireless supporters Cathy Stiefel and Keith Behner.

In her powerful conversation with Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest Board Chair Kate Nyce, author Heather McGhee (The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together) spoke about how everyone is harmed when policies are guided by inequality and racism, and what we have to gain when we stand together.

The event ended with a rousing finale featuring singer Maiya Sykes, who reminded all of us to keep making “good trouble.” Planned Parenthood is so grateful to our supporters, our staff, our elected officials, our partners in the community, and our patients for their commitment and passion.

We are especially indebted to the invaluable Honorary Chairs and Honorary Committee, and our incredibly generous match donor, Gwendolyn Sontheim, who pledged to match every gift made up to $500,000. We are so pleased to announce that thanks to the support of so many, we blew past the match, raising an astounding $694,000!

In total, Care, No Matter Where helped raised nearly $1.5 million for Planned Parenthood’s services and programs.

Giving Patients A Lift

Since transportation is one of the biggest barriers to care for many people, we provide ride-share services to some of our most marginalized patients. Last year, we provided more than 500 no-cost rides for patients who had limited access to transportation, when they needed services at our health centers. This program has been primarily funded by one generous, anonymous donor since it launched in January 2018.

Virtual Capitol Day

More than 40 of our volunteers, staff, and board members lobbied 11 local state legislators during this year’s Capitol Day to explain why our state government should expand reimbursements for telehealth audio and video visits. In a video presented to legislators, one of our clinicians, Avis, explained that these visits are critical to our patients she cares for every day. We also lobbied for laws that would improve access to abortion care in California, patient privacy, and health center security.

Reel Women’s Film Festival

The Reel Women’s Film Festival went virtual in its seventh year, expanding its reach well beyond the Coachella Valley to supporters across our tri-county region. Championed by a passionate committee, this special event directly benefits Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest local programs and services.

The lineup of short and feature-length films was available for viewing over a two-week period, entertaining audiences in the comfort of their own homes. We were especially honored to get to hear directly from The Little Rock Nine’s Carlotta LaNier, as well as former armed service workers The Donut Dollies during our interactive online panel sessions. Thanks to the incredible support of our cinephile community, more than $50,000 was raised

Learn more at planned.org/rwff

Expanding Abortion Education for New Physicians

Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest’s residency training program trains 60 to 65 residents annually from UC San Diego, Kaiser Permanente, Scripps, UC Riverside, and the Navy to address the shortage of new doctors trained to provide abortion services.

Throughout the year, medical residents and clinicians participate in rotations at Planned Parenthood health centers to learn the full range of reproductive health services including abortion care. These residents go on to provide care for thousands of patients in our community and beyond. Dr. Jasmine Lai went through this training program and she is now an experienced perinatologist who volunteers as a physician at Planned Parenthood.

Learn more at planned.org/residencytraining