Helmsley Grants $3M To American Heart Association To Launch HeartCorps In Iowa, Minnesota, And Wyoming

The Helmsley Charitable Trust is granting $3 million to the American Heart Association to launch HeartCorps in Iowa, Minnesota, and Wyoming.

As an inaugural grantee of the Public Health AmeriCorps Program, AHA will launch HeartCorps this fall to address health inequities and develop a new generation of public health leaders in rural America. The three-year program aims to grow a sustainable pipeline of public health workers, reduce cardiovascular risks among rural residents, and accelerate the adoption and implementation of systems changes to improve cardiovascular health.

"HeartCorps is an excellent opportunity to bolster the public health workforce in communities across the country,” said Walter Panzirer, a Helmsley trustee. “Developing local expertise and resources to improve health outcomes will provide long-term benefits to these communities.”

The AHA will place HeartCorps members in counties that rank among the least healthy in Iowa, Minnesota, and Wyoming according to county health rankings. These members will focus on improving cardiovascular health through increasing blood pressure awareness and control.

The Public Health AmeriCorps Program is a joint partnership between AmeriCorps and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).