On My Heart: Women Share Personal Journeys with Heart Disease

Lynette Bloise, a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker has been a psychotherapist for over thirty-six years.  Originally from Puerto Rico, she has made Massachusetts her home.  After graduating from the Smith College School for Social Work in 1988, Lynette initially worked at the Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton, MA.  She then worked in the Mental Health Clinic, (renamed the Center for Counseling and Psychological Health), at the University of Massachusetts Amherst for 27 years. For twenty of those years, she was the Associate Director of the Center.  In addition, she taught in the UMASS Amherst Sociology Department as a part-time Adjunct Professor for 13 years, while maintaining a private practice up to the present.  Lynette developed Atrial Fibrillation in 2008.  Her heart disease challenges became significantly more difficult as the years went by, but she never gave up on looking for answers to her condition.  In 2019 she was trained by the WomenHeart organization at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester MI to be a WomenHeart Champion, of which she felt very proud.   Since then, she has been an active supporter of women with or at risk of heart disease, who, like her need lots of support.  Lynette runs monthly support groups where she is a compassionate, empathetic, and caring woman, who welcomes women from all walks of life into her group.

Rolanda Perkins lives in Tennessee works in the office of Training & Professional Development as a Training Officer for the Department of Children’s Services. At the age of 39, she had a heart attack. She began volunteering with the American Heart Association in 2008 and in 2019 was named as one of the National Ambassadors for the Go Red for Women campaign. She has spent a lot of her journey volunteering with the AHA on behalf of the Go Red for Women campaign.

In 2011, Ms. Perkins began volunteering with WomenHeart and became a WomenHeart Champion Facilitator. Through that work, she and another “Heart Sister” facilitated establishing a support group in Nashville and the surrounding areas. She credits with WomenHeart with providing a wealth of opportunities for her ability to enlighten and empower women to take charge of their hearts and to become their own best health advocates. Within the past two years, Ms. Perkins was honored to be named as one of WomenHeart Champions’ District Leaders. As a result of her heart event, for the past 18 years Ms. Perkins has been actively & enthusiastically dedicating her time and efforts towards this cause.