Living in poverty can prevent people from receiving desperately needed high-quality
health care without public assistance. For example, we plan to focus our efforts on
economically disenfranchised Black women who live with illnesses like Crohn’s disease
and Ulcerative Colitis in Pinellas County. These women need specialized care,
educational resources, and customized care packages.
These services can be too expensive for them to afford. In addition, from experience working directly with our targeted clients, we know that large national nonprofit organizations simply cannot provide the customized services these women deserve. We describe the specific problems we plan to address below.
Up to 20 percent of people with Crohn’s have a first-degree relative (parent, child, or
sibling) with IBD. As many as 780,000 Americans live with Crohn’s disease and it
impacts men and women equally. Crohn’s can occur at any age, but often occurs
between ages 15 to 35 years old. Symptoms can range from mild to severe.
The Stephanie A. Wynn Foundation will have a positively profound impact on Black
women living with Inflammatory Bowel Disease specifically Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis Disease.