New York Times Profiles Not-For-Profit Group Fighting HIV/AIDS Through the Faith Community
The New York Times on Wednesday profiled the Balm in Gilead and its founder and CEO Pernessa Seele (Higgins, New York Times, 6/21). The not-for-profit group seeks to stem the spread of HIV/AIDS by encouraging churches and faith-based groups to provide education and support networks for all people living with or affected by the disease (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 6/9/03). The organization -- which originated in Harlem, N.Y., as the Harlem Week of Prayer -- reaches out internationally to all faiths, including Catholics, Ethiopian Hebrews, Muslims, Protestants, traditional African religion practitioners and followers of Native American faiths, the Times reports. When the group was first founded, "[F]olks stopped on Lenox Avenue to see all these black people being comfortable with their individual faiths," Seele said. The group this year is celebrating its 18th anniversary, the Times reports. "It's exciting when I see churches that have HIV testing centers with daily activities around helping people living with HIV and people affected by HIV and to watch that process -- the process of starting with prayer," Seele said (New York Times, 6/21).
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