Gallery Church, HopeSprings and Jacques Initiative held their annual city-wide HIV testing event in Baltimore on Tuesday June 28, 2011. This is the third year that City Uprising has reached out to test hundreds of people in Baltimore City in one day. Over eight hundred and fifty (850) people were tested this year.
Baltimore is one of the top five cities with the highest number of HIV infected persons in the United States. Yet, it is estimated that 6,000 to 7,000 people in Baltimore do not know that they are infected. City Uprising strives to reduce the number of people who do not know their status.
HopeSprings, University of Maryland's Jacques Initiative and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's Infectious Disease Environmental Health Administration (IDEHA) provided free HIV testing. They also provided information about HIV, how HIV is spread and how to prevent the transmission of HIV. City Uprising's collaborative effort keeps Baltimore in line with the National HIV/AIDS Strategy to reduce the spread of HIV.
City Uprising partnered local churches to provide testing sites. BioScrip Pharmacy, Central Church of God, East Assembly of God, Garden Community Church, LaEsperanza Center, St. Mathews United Methodist Church and St. Ambrose Family Outreach Center opened their doors from 11:00 am until 7:00 pm. Volunteers manned each of these sites - welcoming, directing, talking with and encouraging community members to get tested. In addition to HIV testing, prayer, and support was handled by volunteers, as well as the distribution of box lunches to everyone who was tested.
Kudos to Gallery Church, HopeSprings, Jacques Initiative, IDEHA, the hosting churches and all the volunteers for a job well done.
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