The American Heart Association fights daily in Northwest Indiana to save lives through research, community awareness, and education. So, when it came time for the facilities underneath the management of Extended Consulting Care LLC, to show their support for the AHA for the second year in a row, they decided to make a strong stand by dedicating support for not only 2018, but also 2019!
“This is extremely profound and to be commended, as each year hundreds of highly meritorious research grants are denied due to a lack of funding. Last year alone that number exceeded 700 research grants. Among those are unfunded grants, which could delay or avoid a discovery that would allow science to substantially improve outcomes,” stated Jennifer Young, Socials Director with the American Heart Association.
Thus, Extended Care’s sponsorship permits the AHA to release those dollars now, when they are needed most during June’s grant award season.
Kelly Pero-Petty, Regional Director of Business Development of Extended Care, handed over the donation from the company to Young, building onto the support engagement between the two. Extended Care manages Sebo’s Nursing and Rehabilitation in Hobart, Lincolnshire Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Merrillville, Spring Mill Health Campus in Merrillville, Munster Med-Inn Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation, and Dyer Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.
Petty said is to help her community – from the one she lives in to the many she works in –that motivates her to help support the AHA on behalf of Extended Care.
The donation will go toward the AHA’s Go Red for Women in Northwest Indiana, to end heart and stroke disease in women, and those that they love through lifestyle change and education. A fact that surprises most, is that heart disease is the leading cause of death in women, specifically aged 22 to 55.
Funding is used to support research and education, and throughout the decades the American Heart Association has had a tremendous impact with advancements such as: Stents, Pacemakers (and the continual improvement on pacemakers), Angioplasty, Artificial Heart Valves, Defibrillators, Stroke Treatment, Knowledge of the role of blood pressure and cholesterol plays in heart disease, and Life’s Simple 7 response to management and prevention.
“The education focuses on preventative measures, since 80 percent of deaths due to heart disease in both men and women can be prevented through Knowing Your Numbers and applying the Life’s Simple 7 response to your daily routine,” Young said.
According to the AHA, Life’s Simple 7 steps are to control cholesterol, eat better, lose weight, get active, manage blood pressure, reduce blood sugar, and to stop smoking.
With the help of Extended Care Consulting, among many other local organizations, the AHA hosts the Go Red for Women Educational Symposium, Community Proclamations in Porter and La Porte Counties, the Heart of Gold Gala, Hard Hats with Heart, and Heart Walks in Lake and Porter County throughout the region during the year.
Extended Care’s help will go toward the AHA’s mission of spreading awareness and education of heart disease, and is one of the many organizations understanding the need to bring this disease into the public.
“We are truly proud and honored to work with Extended Care Consulting, as they are embracing the mission whole heartedly. Truly their support of joining in the fight with our presenting sponsors, corporate sponsors, executive leadership, volunteers and everyone who has been touched by this horrible disease in one way or another, is beyond admirable,” Young said.
To find out more about the effects of heart disease and how to lower your risk of heart disease, go to the American Heart Association website.