Organized by Friends of Vitala
#AyaContigoUS: Award-Winning Abortion Companion
Who We Are:
Hi there! We are Dr. Roopan Gill and Dr. Genevieve Tam, co-founders of Vitala Global. As emergency OB/GYNs working in humanitarian settings with organizations like Doctors Without Borders and the World Health Organization, we've seen the heartbreaking consequences of unsafe abortions and preventable complications. These experiences inspired us to create a digital lifeline for those in need—Aya Contigo.
What Aya Contigo Offers:
Imagine a world where accessing abortion and contraception support is as easy as a tap on your phone. No barriers, no judgment, just the help you need and a friend to help and guide you from the comfort of your home.
This vision drove us to develop Aya Contigo, a multi-award-winning, bilingual “abortion doula in your pocket.”
Aya Contigo provides comprehensive, end-to-end support on your reproductive health journey. With trusted resources and trained doulas available in both Spanish and English, our app offers emotional and navigational support, ensuring you're never alone.
Our goal is to deepen Aya Contigo’s impact across the United States. Since its launch, nearly 8,000 people in Venezuela and the US have accessed Aya Contigo. However, with the reversal of Roe v. Wade, underserved groups—especially Latina/x, migrant, and rural communities—face even greater barriers to care.
We need your help. Even before the Dobbs decision, many underserved US communities faced challenges accessing timely and affordable abortion and contraception care.
We partnered with the Planned Parenthood Federation of America through their Innovation Accelerator to test Aya Contigo’s emotional support module, which helped us adapt the app quickly and launch it in the U.S. in September 2023.
The usage of Aya Contigo increased by 500% in a month after a 6-week abortion ban took effect in Florida on May 1. Our ultimate goal is to raise $350,000 to extend our reach and remain a reliable option for those in need, ensuring everyone has access to safe and supportive reproductive health care. Reaching our first milestone of $100,000 will allow us to hire another doula and improve response times with automated features through human-centered AI integration.
How Your Donations Will Be Used:
- Expanding our abortion doula team for live chat support - 14,000 USD will allow us to hire one part-time doula to cover additional shifts for a year, exclusively for the US. Each doula can respond to hundreds of requests per year, at no cost for the users.
- Strengthening partnerships and community-building efforts - 5,000 USD will allow us to cover one in-person workshop with local organizations
- Creating communications campaigns in restrictive states - 17,000 USD will allow us to cover targeted communications for a year
- Ensuring sustainable and secure data collection and privacy measures - 20,000 USD will allow us to keep our security measures and adapt to changing legal contexts
- Scaling our service through AI human-centered integration to increase efficiency and impact more journeys - 80,000 USD will allow us to cover the entire project with AI specialists
Join Us in Making a Difference: Your generosity can help #AyaContigoforUS bridge the gap in reproductive care, providing essential support to those affected by restrictive health policies. With your help, we can ensure everyone can access safe and supportive reproductive health care.
Your contribution is tax-deductible in the United States. Friends of Vitala, Inc., is a tax-exempt nonprofit under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. EIN: 93-1674029. GoFundMe also welcomes DAF donations.
If you or someone you love needs support in their abortion journeys, please share hola.ayacontigo.org and connect with us on Instagram or TikTok: @ayacontigoapp!
Quotes from anonymous US users in 2024
“I am very grateful to have found this chat. Just having someone to talk to who isn’t judging me and isn’t involved in my life, giving me objective information, is a huge relief ❤️. Truly a wonderful thing you all are doing in such precarious times.”
“I’m an overthinker, and it helps calm my mind to have someone experienced tell me it’s normal and I shouldn’t freak out! Thank you so much!! You’ve been amazing any time I have questions ❤️”
“I feel validated. Now I just have to decide what to do.”
*Some quotes have been translated from Spanish.
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