Community groups around Memphis are meeting at the Fogelmen Executive Center today to discuss the role of faith-based organizations in HIV/AIDS prevention.
"Our goal is to get more community leaders, so we can be a step closer to those we want to be reaching," graduate student Tamara Pugh said.
There is a great need for faith-based organizations to get more involved with the prevention of the disease said Theresa Okwumabua, assistant professor of psychology and organizer of the event.
"People will run from the government, they will run from the schools and the will run from the hospitals, but they will go to the churches," she said. "The federal government, other organizations and institutions can't touch the community as much as faith-based groups and churches."
The two-day event, "Can We Talk?" started Monday and will continue until 5:30 p.m. today. There will be a showcase presentation and a panel discussion on funding options for various programs.
Okwumabua said she feels that the conference has been effective so far, but that it will take a while before their goal has been met. It is going to take everyone mobilizing before the effects of the conference are felt, she said.
"It's helping me to see who all the players are," Patria Johnson of Christ Community Churches said.
Johnson said she also feels that the conference has been beneficial. She has seen information being exchanged between organizations.
The event has been concentrated on the black and Hispanic community because they are the largest minorities in the Memphis area.
Pugh said the event is important to her because HIV/AIDS plagues a lot of the black community.
"People are aware of it, but don't take an active part in preventing it," she said.
Okwumabua said that HIV in black females has been increasing faster than in any other group.
It was seeing this while working with pregnant teens that caused her to get involved with bringing the churches and faith-based organizations together in preventing the disease, she said.
So far, the speakers have gone over what the barriers of dealing with AIDS are, overcoming those boundaries and historical information about the church and AIDS, Okwumabua said.
"We had an opportunity to bring the churches and the faith-based community together," Okwumabua said. "We have to get the churches involved."
