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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Bethann Witcher, PhD and Juan Britt Cottrell, MDiv. Vine City Health and Housing Ministry, 3864 Harts Mill Lane, Atlanta, GA 30319, 678-530-9449, drbwitcher@earthlink.net
The Vine City Health and Housing Ministry (VCHHM), a collaborative of churches, formed in 1986, saved the historical black churches of Vine City from destruction by the Georgia Dome. As a redevelopment ministry in a deteriorating neighborhood, VCHHM soon realized that it was not enough to build houses for people but that people must be built for houses. The VCHHM thus formed an alliance with a local hospital to develop a Total Wellness Ministry (TWM) within the churches. Presenters will discuss how the TWM model combines a faith community, clinical support services and a training institution to build a vibrant health ministry in eleven collaborating churches. Participants will be able to describe the development of a successful health ministry model within an inner city African-American community. The TWM is based on pastoral commitment and the leadership of a health cabinet along with parish nurses and lay health promoters. The presentation will included a discussion of TWM congregational assessments and Freire-based Transformation for Health training as a basis for developing health ministry. Participants will recognize the distinctions between Transformation for Health and traditional health education. Examples of fully functioning Total Wellness Ministries reaching their congregations and communities through health promotion and disease prevention programming as well as spiritual and social support will be presented. Participants will be able to list the steps followed by the VCHHM for the creation of a TWM within each church.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: African American, Faith Community
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.