(Milwaukee, WI – October 10, 2003) United Way of Greater Milwaukee, our community's largest non-profit organization supporting health and human services, and Aurora Health Care, a nationally recognized leader in efforts to improve the quality of health care, have teamed up to bring greater emphasis to raising healthier girls and young women.

Aurora Health Care has announced a challenge match to benefit the United Way's Healthy Girls Project. During the 2003 United Way Community Campaign, Aurora Health Care will generously match up to $100,000 in gifts made to the Healthy Girls Project, as well as new or increased gifts to United Way from Women's Initiative members. The Healthy Girls Project is based on the premise that through prevention-based programs girls can make healthy choices.

The Healthy Girls Project is United Way's commitment to support gender-appropriate programming that will help girls make healthy decisions as they maneuver their way through girlhood into womanhood. Girls in the pivotal age group of 13-17 struggle at alarming rates with issues like alcohol, tobacco, nutrition, body image, sexual activity and depression. According to the Center for Disease Control more than 23% of ninth-grade girls reported using cigarettes within the past 30 days, 23% of ninth-grade girls binge drink at rates similar to boys and 34.5% of girls in ninth through twelfth grades reported to have felt sad or hopeless almost every day for two weeks. In 2001, 20.3% of births in Wisconsin were to teen girls according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Sue Ela, R.N., senior clinical vice-president of Aurora Health Care said, "Aurora Health Care is recognized for innovative women's health programs. One example is the Aurora Women's Pavilion in West Allis. That model of specialized and personalized women's health services is being replicated in other places. Our partnership with United Way in the Healthy Girls Project is a natural extension of our commitment to women's health. We believe that it is never too early to start thinking about healthy activities and behaviors. After all, it is a healthy girl that grows into a healthy woman."

Examples of Aurora's current efforts include:
Aurora's partnership with the University of Wisconsin Medical School to operate several clinics in the Milwaukee area. 67% of the people seen in those clinics are women (84,000 patients).

In 2002, the Sexual Assault Treatment Center, located at Aurora Sinai Medical Center and West Allis Memorial Hospital, did sexual assault exams on 580 women. 258 of those females were under the age of 18.

Aurora Health Care is the largest prenatal care coordination provider in the state, serving 1,100 clients annually. Aurora's "About You Girls Program," developed to help young women learn more about themselves and the health issues they face as they enter adolescence. Over the years thousands of mothers and their daughters have benefited from participating, and receiving this information.

Sue Dragisic, president of United Way said, "The Healthy Girls Project is a great opportunity for United Way to focus on the health and wellness topics that impact girls at one of the most vulnerable times in their lives. The decisions that girls make in their youth have a tremendous impact on their mental, physical and emotional health as adults. United Way is privileged to be able to work with a community partner like Aurora Health Care to support an issue of this magnitude."

The Healthy Girls Project will fund innovative girl-driven programs that encourage functionally independent young women, healthy families, improved mental health and decreased substance abuse. Contributions to the Healthy Girls Project can be made through the 2003 United Way Community Campaign. The campaign, which runs through December 9, seeks to raise $35 million dollars to support health and human services in a four county area. For more information about the Healthy Girls Project, the Aurora Health Care Challenge Match or United Way, please call 414.263-8100.