Mautner Project: The National Lesbian Health Organization, today announced a collaboration with Whitman-Walker Health (WWH). Mautner Project's mission to provide health and wellness education and outreach to Washington's lesbian and bisexual community will now occur through WWH, giving both organizations access to larger populations and expanded service offerings.
"We are very excited that we'll be working with Whitman-Walker Health," said Leslie Calman, Executive Director of Mautner Project. "It has a long, prestigious history of providing culturally sensitive health care services to Washington's LGBT community." Calman added, "This collaboration will allow us to offer more critical services to a greater number of women who need those services throughout the region; it's a natural fit."
"Mautner Project has been dedicated to the health and wellness of Washington's lesbian community for over 20 years," said Don Blanchon , CEO of Whitman-Walker Health. "We've been looking for a way to expand our health care services to women and Mautner Project's programs and reach within their community will help us fulfill that mission."
This historic collaboration will bring the Mautner Project program and staff under the umbrella of Whitman-Walker Health. The Mautner Project services will continue to operate at the WWH 14th street headquarters uninterrupted, led by Jacquetta Brooks , the current Director of Client Services at Mautner Project, along with Meghan Davies , the Director of Community Health at Whitman-Walker Health. Mautner Project's current Executive Director, Leslie Calman , will move on to serve as the CEO of Engineering World Health, a global health organization.
Mautner Project's health and wellness programs, like weight loss, smoking cessation, access to critical cancer screening, and culturally sensitive peer and support groups will continue. New programs like mammography and breast health services, gynecology, dental and pharmacy services, and legal support can now be accessed through WWH.
In addition to bringing more clients to Mautner Project's programs, and more women to Whitman-Walker Health, the programs' collaboration was made desirable by ever-diminishing grant opportunities, particularly for direct service activities. Grant dollars are more likely to flow to organizations that can provide research with a substantial base of clients and staff, and where overhead costs are held to a minimum.
The much-lauded social and charitable benefits the Mautner Project community has enjoyed will remain in tact through the collaboration with Whitman-Walker Health. In addition, CAMP Mautner Cares, a collaboration with CAMP Rehoboth, Delaware will continue as before under the guidance of Mautner Project staff.
Wellbeing in the USA shows significant disparities, driven by race, sex, age, and location