Service Learning Proposal for Voices of Planned Parenthood
By: Patricia P.
September 22, 2010
Meredith Tweed
WST 3015-0001
Community Partner Profile:
Community Partner: Voices of Planned Parenthood
Address: 4000 Central Florida Blvd. Orlando, FL 32816
Contact: Cristina Caldruccio; ccruz1017@yahoo.com
Community Partner Mission Statement: “Being pro-choice, we believe that every man and woman have the right to make choices pertaining to their own bodies. In short, every individual should have the fundamental right to manage his or her fertility. VOX supports full access to comprehensive reproductive and complementary health care services in settings that preserve and protect the essential privacy of and rights of each individual.” (VOX)
Political and/or Social Basis for Organization: VOX acts as liaison between the university and the reproductive health centers and promotes safer sex practices through education and organizing events for the advocation of public policies that guarantee these rights and ensure access to such services. (VOX)
The Proposal
Memorandum
TO: Meredith L. Tweed
FROM: Patricia P.
DATE: September 22, 2010
RE: Proposal to Write a Feasibility Report for a Service Learning Project
The following is a proposal to outline the needs, rationale and feasibility for a service learning project to benefit VOX: Voices of Planned Parenthood. The following proposal contains background on the need for and benefits of a VOX project, an outline of the work I plan to do, the rationale for its inclusion in WST 3015, and a scheduled timeline. This proposal may need to be revised after beginning the project and must be flexible to meet the needs of the Service Learning project and the community partner.
The Need For Increased Awareness Regarding Reproductive Health
In our current polarizing political climate, the need for substantive information about reproductive health is at an all-time high. Anti-choice activism threatens public policy and opinion, abstinence only education has proven ineffective, but is still employed in many areas, including our neighboring counties, and unsafe sexual practices are commonplace, often with little regard to the implications of STI/STDs. With the support of student volunteers, VOX provides a link between Planned Parenthood and the university, enabling students who have been put into compromising positions with their reproductive health to have peer advocates. Beyond that, education is paramount to the prevention of such situations, as evidenced by VOX’s other goals.
Plan Proposal:
To that end, in addition to participating in the yet developing event concerning awareness about men and HPV and assisting in providing the vaccinations, Kara and I are planning an off campus movie night, centering on reproductive health for the purpose of consciousness raising by creating a dialogue about the implications of choice, as well as donation-based fundraising for VOX's other events. Because we're using off-campus facilities, most likely a privately owned business, such as Natura or Austin's, the subject matter will not be as dark as it possibly could be (we're debating between Juno and a documentary called Speak Out: I Had An Abortion, if we're able to procure the latter, as it would be preferable), but the goal is geared more the opportunity for analysis and dialogue than offending anyone, of course.
Rationale for Women's Studies:
While we've yet to cover sexuality in relation to feminism in this class, theorizing sexuality and its identitarian implications is central to the mission of women's studies. As an organization, Planned Parenthood's central goal is to educate about the execution of safe sex practices, and beyond that, to allow women in all socioeconomic situations a way out of reproductive situations which would threaten their education, livelihood, and/or emotional and physical wellbeing. An unwanted pregnancy is an incredibly difficult situation for any woman (and her partner, assuming they're involved) to go through, and the attempts of anti-choice activists, most problematically politicians, to shame women for grappling with these issues is deplorable. Because Women's Studies provides a safe place to grow from the perspectives of uniquely female experiences, abortion is central to our understanding of our history (the fight for choice in the second wave), and we must continue to be vigilant in its defense, especially in the wake of the "growing gap between legality and access" (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 214). Furthermore, "sexually transmitted infections affect some 19 million people each year, half of them aged 15-24" (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 215), and despite this alarming statistic, education is not nearly pervasive enough. Most men are unaware that the HPV vaccination is now available them. While they may live with this STI for years asymptomatically, they can transmit it to female partners who can have their fertility threatened by cervical cancer if it goes undetected. For all of these reasons, VOX is an perfect example of valuable activism pertaining to Women's Studies.
Action:
I have spoken with the vice president of VOX, Rachel, about the organization's plans for the semester, and expressed my interest in assisting her with the HPV event, also mentioning that Kara and I want to plan our own event under the VOX banner, and she is very open to it, as long as our dates don't conflict with other events. I'm going to email Cristina with my plan and when they work out all of their dates, I'll have a better grasp on my own.
Timeline:
Movie Night - some weekend day in November, most likely
HPV Awareness - TBA, contingent on Rachel
Write Preliminary Draft - November 22
Final SL Reflection Paper - December 1
Plan Proposal:
To that end, in addition to participating in the yet developing event concerning awareness about men and HPV and assisting in providing the vaccinations, Kara and I are planning an off campus movie night, centering on reproductive health for the purpose of consciousness raising by creating a dialogue about the implications of choice, as well as donation-based fundraising for VOX's other events. Because we're using off-campus facilities, most likely a privately owned business, such as Natura or Austin's, the subject matter will not be as dark as it possibly could be (we're debating between Juno and a documentary called Speak Out: I Had An Abortion, if we're able to procure the latter, as it would be preferable), but the goal is geared more the opportunity for analysis and dialogue than offending anyone, of course.
Rationale for Women's Studies:
While we've yet to cover sexuality in relation to feminism in this class, theorizing sexuality and its identitarian implications is central to the mission of women's studies. As an organization, Planned Parenthood's central goal is to educate about the execution of safe sex practices, and beyond that, to allow women in all socioeconomic situations a way out of reproductive situations which would threaten their education, livelihood, and/or emotional and physical wellbeing. An unwanted pregnancy is an incredibly difficult situation for any woman (and her partner, assuming they're involved) to go through, and the attempts of anti-choice activists, most problematically politicians, to shame women for grappling with these issues is deplorable. Because Women's Studies provides a safe place to grow from the perspectives of uniquely female experiences, abortion is central to our understanding of our history (the fight for choice in the second wave), and we must continue to be vigilant in its defense, especially in the wake of the "growing gap between legality and access" (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 214). Furthermore, "sexually transmitted infections affect some 19 million people each year, half of them aged 15-24" (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 215), and despite this alarming statistic, education is not nearly pervasive enough. Most men are unaware that the HPV vaccination is now available them. While they may live with this STI for years asymptomatically, they can transmit it to female partners who can have their fertility threatened by cervical cancer if it goes undetected. For all of these reasons, VOX is an perfect example of valuable activism pertaining to Women's Studies.
Action:
I have spoken with the vice president of VOX, Rachel, about the organization's plans for the semester, and expressed my interest in assisting her with the HPV event, also mentioning that Kara and I want to plan our own event under the VOX banner, and she is very open to it, as long as our dates don't conflict with other events. I'm going to email Cristina with my plan and when they work out all of their dates, I'll have a better grasp on my own.
Timeline:
Movie Night - some weekend day in November, most likely
HPV Awareness - TBA, contingent on Rachel
Write Preliminary Draft - November 22
Final SL Reflection Paper - December 1
Works Cited
Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010.
Word Count: 884
Excellent Work.
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