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History

In 1999, Sue Patterson, a retired U.S. Foreign Service Officer living in Guatemala, received a phone call from a friend asking for financial help to provide seven women, each of whom had at least eight children, with voluntary tubal ligations. Moved by the women’s desire to take charge of their reproductive lives and better provide for their existing children, Sue solicited donations from her friends. The generosity she received as a result of her plea and the realization of the immense need for reproductive health and family planning services in Guatemala inspired Sue to found WINGS. Today, WINGS runs five programs that reach nearly 40,000 women, men, and youth annually and that have won international recognition for innovation and effectiveness.

  • 1999
  • 2000
  • 2001
  • 2002
  • 2003
  • 2004
  • 2005
  • 2006
  • 2007
  • 2008
  • 2009
  • 2010
  • 2011
  • 2012
    • Developed a partnership with APROFAM, the largest private provider of reproductive health services in Guatemala, and began subsidizing family planning services.
     
    • Expanded service area to include two low-income areas of Guatemala City and several communities in the departments of Chimaltenango and Escuintla.
    • Incorporated officially in the U.S. State of Delaware.
    • Achieved U.S. 501(c)(3) non-profit status.
    • Hired first full-time staff member to provide reproductive health education.
    • Began providing Pap smears to screen for cervical cancer, referring women to appropriate follow up services when necessary. 200 women were screened in the first year.
    • Continued building family planning and cervical cancer programs.
    • Achieved official non-profit status in Guatemala.
    • Launched Youth WINGS program in October 2004 to educate adolescents about reproductive health and provide access to family planning services.
    • Hired first full-time Executive Director.
    • Conducted prevalence study on sexually-transmitted infections (STIs) in Chimaltenango.
    • Conducted barrier analysis to determine factors contributing to low contraceptive prevalence in Guatemala.
    • Incorporated VIA/Cryo method into Cervical Cancer Prevention Program, allowing for same-day delivery of results as well as same-day treatment for up to half of abnormalities.
    • Launched WINGS for Men program to raise awareness among men about sexual and reproductive health and counter common myths and misconceptions about family planning.
    • Developed Advocates for Youth program (which evolved into the Advocacy program), working with the Ministries of Health and Education in Chimaltenango to improve sexual health education and services for youth in accordance with the 2006 Law of Universal Access to Family Planning.
    • Hired first full-time Finance Director and second Program Director.
    • Evaluated programs to strengthen implementation and increase impact.
    • Janeen Simon joins WINGS as its second Executive Director.
    • WINGS’ operating budget passes $500,000.
    • Expanded the family planning initiative to the Petén, Guatemala's northernmost province.
    • Partnered with major global donors such as USAID and the Open Society Institute of the Soros Foundation.
    • Feature film, "It All Begins with Family Planning..." produced in honor of WINGS' 10th Anniversary in 2011.
    • WINGS for Men begins working with laborers at sugar cane plantations in Escuintla department, a group that is high-risk for HIV and other STIs.
    • Youth WINGS initiates new street theater program to convey family planning message to adolescents.
    • WINGS’ Advocacy Program begins three year initiative to train women leaders in basic advocacy skills, leadership, and community mobilization
    • New partnership with World Bank.
    • WINGS’ operating budget passes $1,000,000.

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