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North Carolina

A relentless force for longer, healthier lives in North Carolina.
North Carolina
Nancy Brown, chain of survival
chain of survival

Local North Carolinians head to nation’s capital to advocate for stronger chain of survival

American Heart Association advocates from across the country were in Washington, D.C. May 22nd and 23rd to ask Congress to support legislation that would improve the chain of survival in elementary and secondary schools. The advocates, including cardiac arrest survivors, families who have lost a loved one and health care providers, are part of the American Heart Association’s national grassroots network, www.youarethecure.org

During their meetings on Capitol Hill, fellow advocates for NC shared their personal stories and urge elected officials to swiftly pass the Cardiomyopathy Health Education, Awareness, Research and Training in the Schools Act or HEARTS Act (H.R. 6829) and the Access to AEDs Act (S. 1024), the former of which was approved unanimously by the House Energy and Commerce Committee in March.

The group emphasized the need for comprehensive legislation, such as the HEARTS Act and Access to AEDs Act, to support CPR and AED training in K-12 schools, enable the purchase of AEDs for use in schools, foster new and existing community partnerships to promote the importance of defibrillation in schools and create cardiac emergency response plans, which can help reduce death from cardiac arrest in school settings.

Cardiovascular Emergency Response Plans

Cardiovascular Emergency Response Plans

The Greater Charlotte Community Impact Team has been busy engaging regional school systems and companies with resources to build Cardiovascular Emergency Response Plans. Irini McCarthy represented the AHA at the Iredell SHAC (School Health Advisory Committee) and shared our focus on building a Nation of Lifesavers. With input from the AHA, Iredell School System recently completed a Cardiac Emergency Response Plan (CERP) for five school district buildings, as well as tailored a plan for each of the 40 schools.

Bringing nutrition & change to High Point

Bringing nutrition & change to High Point

The American Heart Association’s Simple Cooking with Heart program, made possible by The Earl & Kathryn Congdon Family Foundation, completed eight different six-class series of healthy cooking classes at five different locations in food insecure areas of High Point. One hundred and nine participants graduated from classes, receiving skills, tools and healthy meals to share with their families. High Point youth also received 4000 servings of fruits and vegetables in collaboration with Simple Cooking with Heart, the Power of Produce program and High Point Mobile Library.

Featured Recipe: Indian-Spiced Pumpkin-Apple Soup

Indian-Spiced Pumpkin-Apple Soup

Add warmth to your tummy with this delicious soup full of fall fruits! It’s a perfect light lunch or side dish on a cold day.

Give Thanks Today with 2X Impact

Thanks to medical breakthroughs funded by the American Heart Association – and donors like you – many families have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving season.

Many more families still need your help – heart disease is our nation’s leading cause of death. Give today and your donation will be DOUBLED to support pioneering research, education and prevention programs and more.

Events in Your Area

Triangle Heart Ball

Location: Raleigh Convention Center

Date: Saturday, March 8, 2025 - 06:00 PM

Learn More

In Your Community

The American Heart Association is committed to driving equitable health impact in North Carolina through five key priority areas: women, readiness, tobacco and vaping, patients, and healthy living. Equity is always at the center of our work, and it will continue to guide all that we do.

Through our focus on these key impact areas, and with collaboration among local organizations, sponsors, businesses, and others that serve the community, we are working to improve the health and well-being of North Carolina citizens while saving and improving countless lives.

Throughout the state of North Carolina, we’ve seen our community impact work grow, including efforts around creating avenues for greater access to care, expanding healthy food access and education, building a network of first responders through CPR kits in schools, supporting blood pressure screenings and education, and educating on the dangers of tobacco and vaping.

People are counting on us as never before. We at the American Heart Association, along with our supporters, will drive change, and we will be relentless.

Advocacy has had a mission-critical role in the Association's work for more than 40 years. Our legislative and regulatory priorities help to mitigate risk factors and protect survivors in communities across the country. We support the enactment of evidence-based public policies that lead to longer, healthier lives.

Public policy advocacy is an essential strategy used by the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association to affect necessary and sustainable policy, system and environmental changes that help Americans build healthier lives free of cardiovascular disease and stroke.

Health Care

Bold Hearts style
Bold Hearts barber

The American Heart Association's Hair, Heart & Health program is expanding to barbershops and beauty salons in Caswell County.

For the past three years, this program has collaborated with salons and barbershops throughout the Triad, making health conversations in the barber’s chair even more possible. At participating salons and shops, staff have been trained, blood pressure checks are being encouraged, and stylists and barbers are engaging their clients with accurate, heart health information to help reduce risk factors for heart disease and stroke.

According to the American Heart Association, over half of Black adults have high blood pressure, with high blood pressure developing earlier in Black Americans and often being more severe. Black Americans also have a higher prevalence of stroke and the highest death rate from stroke. Increased prevalence of high blood pressure, increased overweight and obesity rates, and increased prevalence of diabetes, makes the focus of this awareness, education and preventative program so vital.

“Barbershops are pillars in the neighborhood and imperative to the education of our people. We encourage our neighbors to come in, sit and talk about everything related to having a healthy family,” shared Derek Brooks, Owner of Gentleman’s Grooming Lounge in Winston-Salem.

“For the past few years, I have been focused on living a more health conscious lifestyle for myself and my family. I am intentional about my heart-healthy lifestyle and share any helpful information I can to bring forth awareness. I converse with so many clients from different walks of life, but the one thing we all have in common is the desire to live a long, heart-healthy life. If any of my knowledge and experiences can help the next person, I'm ready to share it,” said Jermaine Foster, Owner of Supreme Legacy Barbershop in Winston-Salem.

For barbershops and salons in Caswell County that are interested in participating in the Hair, Heart & Health program, contact: Jennifer Graziano, Senior Community Impact Director at [email protected].

Made possible by:
Bold Hearts NC

Are you doing your part to keep the Queen City healthy? Healthy Charlotte, a popular coalition of leaders and organizations dedicated to the health and wellbeing of our city, is back in action and we need your help! Learn about the “refresh” of this important initiative and how you can get involved in improving your health and the health of your friends, family and workforce.

Chair
Gary Michel

Community Volunteer

President
Sherry Saxonhouse, M.D.

Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute, Atrium Health

Leadership Development Chair
Stacy Gray

Weisiger Group

Board Members

Sandy Charles, MD
Novant Health

Denise Coleman
Norsan Media

Le Roy Davis

Mike Desmond
Grant Thornton

Erika Duncan
Bank of America

Jamie Ergle
Cushman & Wakefield 

Shaina Hall
Belk

Lynn Hansen
Crowder Constructors

Ty Jeffers
SPX Flow

David Legrand
Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools

Chuck Munn
Harris Teeter

Nancy McNelis

Amy Roberts

Jerry A. Saunders, M.D., Ph.D
Amity Medical Group

Dan Soto
Ally Financial

Raynard Washington, Ph.D.
Mecklenburg County

Angela Yochem

2022 – 2023 Campaign Chairs

Greater Charlotte Heart Challenge
Dan Soto

Ally Financial

Brian Weisker
Natural Gas Business Unit Duke Energy

Heart Of Charlotte / Heart Ball
Melany Arjona & Vicente Reynal

Ingersoll Rand

Go Red For Women
Kimberly Moore-Wright

Truist

Janice Dupre
Lowe’s Corporation, Inc.

 


Chairman
Brad Roehrenbeck

Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton

Past Chairman
Vern Hawkins

Syngenta North America Crop Protection

President
Cynthia Williams Brown, Ph.D.

Winston-Salem State University

Leadership Development Chair
David Daggett

Daggett Shuler, Attorneys at Law

Board Members

Suzie Burrow
Piedmont Federal Bank

Alison Ashe-Card
Duke University School of Law

Debra Diz, Ph.D.
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist,
Hypertension & Vascular Research

Ruth Fisher
Cone Health System 

Julia Hyett
Novant Health 

Sandy & Lafayette Jones
SMSi Urban Call Marketing,
SMSi Healthy Living Solutions, Inc.

Stephen Powell, M.D.
Wake Forest School of Medicine
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist
Forsyth County Emergency Services

Richard Spangler
Alex Brown, a Division of Raymond James

Sherita Eastmon Sutton, MPH, MSW, CHESM.D., MPH
Forsyth County Department of Public Health

Iulia VannM.D., MPH
Guilford County

P. Kevin Williamson
Kinetic

2024 - 2025 Campaign Chairs

Heart of the Triad / Triad Heart Ball Chair
Matthew Belford, M.D.

Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist

Triad Heart Challenge Chair
Preston Hammock

Cone Health

Triad Executives with Heart Chair
Robert Braiman

Cogent Analytics

Triad Go Red for Women Chair
Sowmya Lakshminarayanan, M.D.

Novant Health



Chairperson
Tiffany Gholston

Gholston Consulting Group LLC

President
Christopher Kelly, M.D, MS, FACC.

North Carolina Heart & Vascular

Leadership Development Chairperson
Katelyn Petti Hokenberg

Board Members

Peter Benton
Worldwide Clinical Trials

Calvin Crosslin
Lenovo and Lenovo Foundation

Wayne Feng, M.D., FAHA
Duke Health 

Deana Labriola
Fox Rothschild, LLP

Bob Myer
SKANSKA USA Building

Neha Pagidipati, M.D., MPH
Duke Heart/Duke Clinical Research Institute

Terri L. Phillips, M.D.
Merz Aesthetics

Kristen Soler
Advance Auto Parts

Trevor Upham, M.D.
WakeMed Heart & Vascular

2024-2025 Campaign Chairpersons

2025 Triangle Heart Ball Chairperson
Antwan Lofton 

Duke University

2024 Triangle Heart Challenge Chairperson
Mark Morelli

Vontier


Contact Us

Charlotte

Mail-Only 
5445 77 Center Drive, Suite 60
Charlotte, NC 28217

(704) 417-5750

Triad

Mail-Only
1818 Patterson Street
Nashville, TN 37203

(336) 542-4825

Triangle

By appointment only
5001 South Miami Blvd, Suite 300
Durham, NC 27703

(919) 463-8300

Eastern NC

Mail-Only
5001 South Miami Blvd, Suite 300
Durham, NC 27703

(919) 463-8300

Heart and Stroke News

Find science-based stories about heart and brain health and inspiring survivor profiles from American Heart Association News.