Churches commit to HIV Testing. 02/05/08

FLORIDA:

"Black Churches Shun Stigma of AIDS, Take On Job of Testing"

Orlando Sentinel   (04.15.08)::Rachael Jackson 

Across Florida, churches are signing up to participate in an AIDS-prevention initiative launched by the state Department of Health and the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME). The joint effort seeks to establish at least one house of worship in every Florida county as an HIV testing center 

"In the past it's been standoffish as far as the churches are concerned," said James O. Williams Sr., a regional AME leader. "But these are our family members, and the church should be part of the healing process." 

The effort is off to a good start: 12 churches so far have signed up in Volusia County alone. A church in Orange County is seeking to become a testing site, and a church in Polk County will be testing by summer's end. 

Recently, Williams took part in a testing training session in the basement of New Bethel AME Church in Ormond Beach. In one exercise, volunteers learned slang terms used to discuss sex and drugs on the street, and they practiced saying these so they would not be shocked upon hearing them in counseling sessions. 

That experience was "pretty different," admitted Harriet Nelson. "But these are the real facts. We do need to be familiar with the slang words." Nelson hopes soon to be administering tests at her own church, Mount Zion AME in Daytona Beach.

The faith-based effort is an extension of an ongoing drive to take HIV testing into communities. In Polk County, health care workers have established a presence in laundromats, beauty salons and convenience stores. In Volusia County, the Stewart-Marchman Foundation enlists restaurants to offer free meals to people willing to take the rapid-result oral HIV test.