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Church plans HIV/AIDS observance
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Carolyn Faucette, a member of Elizabeth Missionary Baptist Church in Youngstown, is coordinator of activities for National Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS.
Elizabeth Missionary Baptist Church, 1012 Himrod Ave., Youngstown, will mark the National Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS, Sunday through March 12, with special music, a prayer service and an educational workshop. Youngstown City Health District will provide technical assistance and speakers. Programs are free and no registration is required.
Sunday: A a special worship service will be at 10:45 a.m. with Pastor J. Dwayne Heard delivering a message to raise the level of AIDS awareness. Thee will be on-site HIV screening. A representative of Youngstown City Health District will speak at 5 p.m.
Wednesday: A prayer service will be at noon in the Mahoning County Courthouse Rotunda, 120 Market St.
March 12: An educational workshop and HIV prevention forum will begin at 10 a.m. at EB Family Life Center, 7 S. Garland St., Youngstown (across from the church). There will be speakers, entertainment by Psalms 91 mime group, breakout sessions for target populations of men, women, youth, young adults and elderly. A continental breakfast and lunch will be provided. There will be on-site HIV screening.
By LINDA M. LINONIS
YOUNGSTOWN
Breaking the “silence and stigma of HIV and AIDS” is the goal of a three-event effort planned by Elizabeth Missionary Baptist Church in conjunction with the National Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS.
The observance, scheduled Sunday through March 12, is promoted by The Balm in Gilead, a national organization that helps black churches become centers of support for people with AIDS and HIV. The church plans a special worship service Sunday, a prayer service on Wednesday and educational workshop March 12.
Carolyn Faucette, a church member and licensed social worker, is event coordinator. She credited Pastor J. Dwayne Heard on working toward heightening awareness in the black community about the disease. “The church must respond because we all have people in our pews, in our congregations, who are impacted by this disease. Only the church can provide love, along with the other help we as a community offer,” he said.
“The church is the backbone of the African American community but it has been reluctant to address this issue,” she said. Among many blacks, she said, HIV/AIDS is perceived as a homosexual disease.
“Abstinence before marriage is promoted,” said Faucette about the religious belief. “But that’s not reality” she said. Because abstinence is promoted as a way to avoid sexually transmitted diseases, the use of condoms isn’t advocated.
Faucette said the National Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS highlights how faith communities play a role in the prevention of and education about HIV/AIDS. She said the churches offer spiritual help but in addition must provide practical help and guidance in this area.
Among speakers will be Olga Irwin, who was diagnosed with HIV in 2000 and is on medication. She has taken training through the AIDS Alliance in Washington, D.C. Irwin will speak at 5 p.m. Sunday and share her story; at the workshop on March 12, she will discuss prevention and counseling. “It’s important to educate people and talk about prevention,” she said.
She applauded Elizabeth Baptist for sponsoring an educational event. “It’s so hard to get the faith-based community involved,” she said. “It’s a non-subject.”
Though Irwin is white, she said she wants to reach out to the black community. “I have my own inner faith,” she said, adding she is of the Orthodox tradition. “Not facing it alone” is one way the faith community can help those with HIV and AIDS.
Monica Walters, administrative assistant for minority health in Youngstown City Health District, will present AIDS 101 at the workshop. She will speak on prevention, show a film and distribute educational packets geared to youth.
Kate Wallace, AIDS coordinator for Youngstown City Health District, said the agency “works with target populations to make people aware of the risks.” HIV is contracted through having sex with an infected person, sharing needles with users of illegal drugs and breast milk.
“The incidence of HIV is higher in the black community ... they’re not dealing with it,” Wallace said. “The issue hasn’t taken hold culturally.”
Wallace said a “target population” in the black community is men having sex with men who then have sex with women.
She said HIV testing is offered from noon to 2 p.m. Tuesdays and Fridays at the agency office, 345 Oak Hill Ave., and on the first and third Tuesdays by appointment at the American Red Cross, 661 Mahoning Ave., Warren. Wallace said the agency also does presentations at events.