The day before she died, Kati Rogers Johnson’s mother complained of fatigue and what felt like heartburn.
It was New Year’s Eve in 2016. The family assumed it was something minor, something many women push through every day.
The next morning, after church, Johnson’s mother went home to rest.
“She told my husband she was going to take a nap because she still wasn’t feeling well,” Johnson said. “She went to the bathroom and she died.”
Johnson later learned the symptoms her mother experienced are common warning signs of heart attacks in women. At the time, no one recognized them.
“Ever since that happened, it's been our mission as a family to ensure that more women know this, that more information is put out,” Johnson said. “So that maybe we can help one more family to realize that these are the symptoms that women have. They're different than men.”
This year, Johnson is channeling that mission into fundraising for the American Heart Association’s Women of Impact campaign in Hampton Roads, a nine-week fundraising competition that asks nominees to rally their communities around women’s heart health.
Participants raise money, host community events and spread information about cardiovascular disease. The nominee who raises the most money and engagement will be named the local Women of Impact winner.
Jaylyn Brown, executive director of the American Heart Association’s Hampton Roads branch, said the goal is to raise funds that will support heart health efforts locally.
“Our power lies in the community that we create and the relationships that connect our city and lay down the groundwork for change,” Brown said.
Funds raised help support programs such as CPR training, community education and research efforts focused on women’s heart health.
The initiative has been held twice before, with previous Women of Impact winners raising more than $15,000 each for the campaign, Brown said.
Local partnerships have helped fund community programs, she said. For example, Riverside Health has distributed infant CPR kits to new mothers, while Bon Secours has supported CPR education efforts.
Chesapeake Regional has worked on cardiac emergency response planning, and Sentara Health has partnered on hypertension awareness, including installing blood pressure kiosks in churches and other faith-based locations in Western Tidewater.
This year’s work has centered on hypertension, which Brown said remains a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke in Hampton Roads.
According to the American Heart Association, nearly 45% of women age 20 and older live with some form of cardiovascular disease.
Hampton Roads has some of the highest rates of high blood pressure in Virginia, Brown said, a condition that can increase the risk of heart attack, stroke and other cardiovascular complications.
Community driven fundraising
Johnson, an entrepreneur and Navy veteran who previously won the Women of Impact competition in 2023, is organizing several community events as part of her campaign.
One is a virtual race where participants pay a registration fee that goes toward the fundraising effort. She is also hosting a yoga class fundraiser and a family event in Suffolk that will include CPR demonstrations, exercise activities and heart healthy food education.
The idea, Johnson said, is to combine fundraising with opportunities for people to learn practical ways to protect their health.
Movement and exercise, she said, are central to her message.
“I’m really big on movement of your body,” she said. “It’s one of the most important things you can do for your heart.”
By raising money locally and supporting programs in Hampton Roads, Johnson hopes fewer families will have to learn the warning signs the way hers did.
“We’re raising money specifically for here,” Johnson said. “For our community.”
A pharmacist raising awareness
Another nominee, Jade Ranger, is also mobilizing her community in Williamsburg.
Ranger, founder of The Prescription Shoppe pharmacy, said she has been reaching out to family, friends, church members and patients to support the campaign.
A pharmacist, Ranger regularly counsels patients managing high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Those experiences, she said, have shown her how easily cardiovascular disease can develop without obvious symptoms.
“You can feel fine one day,” Ranger said. “But all along your arteries may be clogging. Heart disease can be a silent killer.”
Ranger’s grandfather died from a stroke at 63, and another relative died of a heart attack.
She said those experiences strengthened her commitment to educating women about the warning signs, particularly women of color who often face higher risks and barriers to care.
