Since 1995 the Center for Multicultural Wellness and Prevention (CMWP), located in Orlando, has been in the forefront in addressing health issues affecting minorities, especially African American women and Haitians.
In 2004, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta awarded a multi-year grant to CMWP and its two partners-Nehemiah Educational and Economic Development Inc (N.E.E.D.) - and Reach Out, Inc. This grant is in response to the rising concern that African American women across the United States, Florida and in the Central Florida Region are the fastest growing population infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. The goal of the project is to ensure that Black women living in Orange and Seminole Counties know their HIV status; and have ready access to information, counseling, treatment and other support services.
There are three major
components of this grant. One is called SISTA or Sisters Informing Sisters
about HIV/AIDS. The main elements of the SISTA program are: 1. Convening up
to five 2-hour group sessions facilitated by a peer health educator
2. Educating participants about condoms through hands-on exercises
3. Emphasizing gender and ethnic pride as a means to reduce HIV risk
behaviors
4. Educating participants about HIV and other STDs
5. Teaching sexual assertiveness, communication and negotiation skills.
Reach Out provides CTR or counseling, testing and referral services for women; and NEED recruits and refers participants to the project.
For more information on this program as well as other free educational, counseling and referrals services offered by CMWP please call us at 407-648-9440 or 407-884-9070 or fax us a request at 407-648-8879.
