December 1, 2006 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

Mayor joins 40 leaders taking the HIV antibody test

by Rachael Siebert

Cleveland Nearly 40 community leaders, including Mayor Frank Jackson, publicly took the HIV antibody test last month.

The test, using the Orasure method, was part of a November 16 community forum.

"Test for Life: Know, Access, Live" was co-sponsored by the AIDS Taskforce of Cleveland and the National Minority Health Month Foundation, and was held at the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland.

"We are blessed to have the kind of community leadership in Cleveland that is willing to not merely to talk the talk, but walk the walk," said Taskforce executive director Earl Pike.

Dr. Gary Puckerein, executive director of the National Minority Health Month Foundation, offered a national perspective: "I've traveled to many cities where people are still afraid to talk openly about HIV/AIDS. But here in Cleveland, the sense of leadership and community involvement is apparent."

Speakers included Cleveland health director Matt Carroll; the Rev. Dr. Marvin McMickle, senior pastor of Antioch Baptist Church; Bill Tiedemann, administrator of the Ryan White Title II Program at the Ohio Department of Health; and community advocate Naimah O'Neal.

The event was organized after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidelines for HIV antibody testing which encourage all adult Americans to voluntarily take the test.

Cleveland has been selected by the CDC as one of two U.S. cities that will carry out a social marketing and outreach campaign to encourage African American women to get tested.

"We have to reach out to everybody," said community advocate Naimah O'Neal, one of the panelists for Test for Life. "Everybody should know their HIV status, and seeing so many community leaders lighting the way, I hope others follow suit."

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Community leaders participating in the event, and taking the HIV test, included George Gund Foundation president Da David Abbott and trustee V Cathy Lewis; Mt. Sinai Health Care Foundation president Mitch Balk; Andrews Foundation president Laura Baxter-Heuer; Center for Community Solutions CEO Greg Brown; and Len Calabrese of the Commission on Catholic Community Action, Diocese of Cleveland

Rev. McMickle and health director Carroll also participated and took the test, as did Cleveland City Councilors Joe Cimperman and Brian Cummins; State Reps. Michael Foley and Michael Skindell; Greg Clifford, Esq., board chair of 100 Black Men of Cleveland and chief magistrate of the Cleveland Municipal Court; Michael Cristal, president and CEO of Consolidated

Risk Management; Erica Crysler, acting City of Cleveland press secretary; and Shaker Heights health director Dr. Scott Frank, who also directs the MPH program at Case Western Reserve University.

They were joined by WJW Channel 8 anchor Bill Martin; WEWS Channel 5 co-anchor Danita Harris; WCPN 90.3 FM reporter Lisa Ann Pinkerton; Big Brothers/Big Sisters interim CEO Phyllis Harris; Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland program officer Kym Hemley; Western Reserve Area Agency on Aging executive director Ron Hill; United Way Services of Cleveland director of health programs Vincent Kavel; and Dr. Arthur Lavin of Advanced Pediatrics.

Cleveland NAACP executive director

Stanley Miller also participated, as did Cleveland Stonewall Democrats president Patrick Shepherd; Care Alliance CEO Linda Somers; Cleveland Public Library director Andrew Venable; Deaconess Community Foundation executive director Deborah Vesy; and Karen Malone Wright, president and CEO of Odyssey One Communications. In addition, medical students from Case Western Reserve University participated.

For information on HIV testing options in Cleveland, contact the Cleveland Department of Public Health at 216-664-2324.

Racheal Siebert is the development director of the AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland.

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