PICS: The I AM My Sister's Keeper Movement stops by The Expo for Today's Black Woman

April 02, 2014

Here are some of the images from our weekend-long stop at The Expo for Today's Black Woman.

A special thank you to all of community members who stopped by our booth, helping us push the I AM My Sister's Keeper Movement forward these three days, as we were able to garner so much strength from working together towards The Dream of an AIDS Free Generation.

CLICK HERE to check out all of the images from this event, and if you haven't already, please take a second to join THE MOVEMENT, take THE PLEDGE, and show THE WORLD that you are Your Sister's Keeper.

PICS: I AM My Sister's Keeper members come together for female condom demonstration

March 12, 2014

Here a a few of the images from this weekends female condom demonstration.

A special thanks to Rayna Brown for sharing her female condom expertise with us.

PICS: The I AM My Sister's Keeper Movement stops by The Lighthouse

February 12, 2014

Here are some of the images from our 2014 Black History Month stop at The Lighthouse.

A special thanks to the HIV/AIDS ministry of New Life Covenant Church for making this event possible and to Activist and Author Ray Lewis Thornton for her candid presentation.

PICS: The I AM My Sister's Keeper Movement stops by First Church of Deliverance

February 12, 2014

Here are some of the images from our Luncheon at First Church of Deliverance.

A special thanks to I AM My Sisters Keeper member and member of First Church of Deliverance, Sherman, for making this event possible.

Meet this Months "Sister's Hall of Fame" Inductee --- Mrs. Michelle Watkins of Heartland.

September 28, 2013

Michelle Watkins currently works for Heartland Alliance where she has been for the last year and a half working as a lead HIV prevention and education specialist focussed on the South Side and South Suburban communities.

Of all her many works, Michelle is very passionate about The Community Promise Project --- a CDC endorsed prevention and intervention project, aimed at making condom use a norm among sexually-active African Americans.

Michelle says that over the last year and a a half, she has distributed more than 10,000 condoms and that she expects the project to continue for another 2 years, and the impact that it has had thus far, to be amplified even further.

She says that when community members are requesting condoms on their own --- when support from community advocates is readily available --- when partner sites are more than willing to help with distribution --- and when her role model series are getting into the hands of more and more people... she only expects that things will continue to get better and that more and more impact will be made.

You can expect to see Michelle at any community health fair, on any busy corner, in any empty lot, or in any high-traffic ally-way behind laundry mats, etc... lately, she has been making it her business to be found inside the community rooms of low income housing facilities, and soon, you can expect to see her every month at Olive Harvey College.

Michelle says that she is committed to making sure that there are premier services available in the community... and, making sure that younger and older community members have the information that they need.

As busy as she obviously is, Michelle assures us that she is "Her Sister's Keeper'' and that we can expect to see her on the home page, standing with those who have taken THE PLEDGE.

Meet this Month's " Sisters Hall of Fame" Inductee --- Mr. Harold Cherry of The South Side Help Center

August 28, 2013

If you mention the name Harold Cherry anywhere in Chicago and in certain places around the country, you will find that he is a highly regarded HIV/AIDS prevention and education specialist --- most notably for his work at The South Side Help Center. The My Sisters Keeper News Team visited The South Side Help Center recently, to kick of a series of educational share-ables, featuring Mr. Cherry himself.

Harold shared with us, how an early 80's experience with a close uncle dying of AIDS, drove him down the path he has been on for the last 15 years --- provoking him to become educated so that he could educate other family members who were finding it necessary to mistreat their own relative for lack of knowledge.

He then later had to spend some time in rehab dealing with his own deamons, upon the completion of which, he was offered a part time position as a peer educator at The Henry Booth House --- where he would be allowed to use everything he learned in support of his uncle, and build on it --- and begin a passionate affair that could never end.

15 years later, his passion is still strong, as evidenced in the level of creativity that is laced into everything that he does. And so... over the months to come, we will have the pleasure of sharing much of Harold's works and to actually experience doing his life's work, live and in action.

MSK and SMILE for CHANGE @Nu Beginnings Day Care...

July 30, 2013

This Saturday, I AM My Sister's Keeper, teamed up with Smile for Change and Dominique Wilson to bring much needed scholarship information to our young people on the West Side of Chicago. Hosted at a local business, The Nu Beginnings Day Care was quickly turned into a community roundtable where information was distributed to soon-to-be college students, and testimonials were shared by existing college students offering insight on the road ahead. And, as a nice bonus, refreshments were served, prizes were given away, and Charmane DuPont the Psalmist was in the house, treating all in attendance to her soulful sounds.

Why is prayer so important to community transformation?

July 03, 2013

After an impactful collaborative effort, we followed up with some of the key players to ask them why they think prayer is so important to the community, especially as it relates to the success of last week's "Prayer with Purpose for Community Transformation" event. We spoke to Harriet Cross of Englewood United Methodist Church... and here is what she had to say.

" The bible tells us that we should pray to make God aware of our needs, and conversely as we pray we too become more conscious of our needs as well. It is from this state of consciousness, that God makes us aware of the solutions to our problems." This weekend's event allowed us to create witnesses in the community as we prayed with them or even if they watched us pray from a distance, which all goes a long way to send the message that we can and must look to God for the community to truly be transformed.

PICS: The I AM My Sister's Keeper Movement swings thru Chicago's South Side Communities

June 26, 2013

Here are some of the images from our South Side Wide Participation in the 2013 Prayer Walk.

A special round of applause to those members of the I AM My Sister's Keeper Movement who lent their services to this Saturday's "Prayer with Purpose for Community Transformation." The collective effort was impactful and goes a long way to prove that community and collaboration go hand and hand if we are going to successfully eradicate HIV/AIDS in our community, especially when it comes to our women. All of us at MSK would like to thank the sponsors, participating organizations, and churches for helping to make Saturday's efforts a success. A special thank you to MICTAN, Emmaus Ministries, SHARP, WHARP, South Side Help Center, SSHARC, Hartzell Memorial, Heartland Alliance, Alexian Brothers, Bridging The Tys To Jordan, St. Anselm, Englewood United Methodist Church, Trinity United Church of Christ, Holy Angels, Apostolic Faith Church, Da House, Walgreens Pharmacy take-care-clinic, and Illinois Department of Public Health.

OUR FIRST PROMO

April 03, 2013

PICS: The I AM My Sister's Keeper Movement stops by The LIGHTHOUSE

February 06, 2013

Here are some of the images from our Black History Month stop at The Lighthouse.

A special thanks to the HIV/AIDS ministry of New Life Covenant Church for making this event possible and for their theater arts ministry for their thought provoking presentation.