Westside Communities Alliance

A partnership between Atlanta's westside communities and institutions of higher education.

Breast Cancer Awareness Dinner and Play

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Westside Communities Alliance at Georgia Tech teams up with Susan G. Komen Greater Atlanta and HEALing Community Center for Breast Cancer Awareness

Breast cancer is the second-leading cause of death and the most commonly diagnosed cancer among African-American women. The Westside Communities Alliance, of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts at Georgia Tech, in partnership with Susan G. Komen Greater Atlanta will sponsor a night out for 50 westside community residents and leaders for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. These women will be treated to a HEALing Dinner Party focused on breast health and FREE tickets to a play at the Ferst Center Theater.

This Friday, October 16th, our westside residents will meet at the Neighborhood Union Health Clinic on Sunset Avenue, a newly-opened location of the HEALing Community Center. A bus will transport them to the Ferst Center at Georgia Tech where they will be treated to a special dinner catered by local favorite Urban Cannibals. Susan G. Komen Greater Atlanta and the HEALing Community Center will discuss the importance of breast health and affordable healthcare options available in the westside communities.  Participants will also have the opportunity to make appointments to receive mammogram referrals. Following dinner, attendees will enjoy the play Sister Outsider inspired by the writings and teaching of Audre Lorde, author of The Cancer Journals.

This event provides the unique opportunity to reach communities of color with textured narratives that speak to their experiences as women. Working with campus and community partners, and with generous support from Georgia Power, we seek to encourage more women of color to get breast health screenings, while also promoting general health and wellness in the areas we serve.

Breast Cancer Awareness Flyer

Quilting Workshop – April 27th

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The NAMES Project Foundation, the international caretaker of The AIDS Memorial Quilt, invites the public to gather to create new Quilt panels for members of the community lost to HIV/AIDS.  This is a free, panel making workshop titled “Call My Name” and will be hosted by AIDS Memorial Quilt Curator Jada Harris and Julie Rhoads, President & CEO of The NAMES Project Foundation.

The “Call My Name” workshop will be presented on Sunday April 27th 2014, at the Lindsey Street Baptist Church (550 Lindsey St NW, Atlanta GA 30314) from 2:00 pm – 6:00 pm.  No sewing experience is necessary and materials will be provided. Williams explains, “We have all been touched by HIV/AIDS and by creating a panel for The Quilt, we, as a community, are honoring those we have lost and we are transforming that loss into something that offers hope and can keep others safe from this horrible disease.”

QuiltingWorkshopFlyer

The AIDS Memorial Quilt was created one 3 x 6 foot panel at a time by more than 100,000 individuals from across the country and around the world. With everything from teddy bears to wedding rings, B

oy Scout badges to love letters, the more than 48,000 handmade panels that comprise The Quilt are as varied as the individuals they honor and the people who created them.  Each year, sections of The Quilt are presented in nearly 1,000 displays around the world — in community centers, schools, places of worship, corporations, etc. — in an effort to share the messages of hope, healing and action found on The Quilt.

As HIV/AIDS claims more and more lives in the African American community, the demand for Quilt is growing.  Communities understand the power of The Quilt to open hearts and minds and to save lives, but right now we simply don’t have enough Quilt made by and for the African American community to meet this demand.  Atlanta Harm Reduction Coalition (AHRC), a partner on this project, uses the harm reduction model as a key prevention tool to fight the transmission of HIV and other blood borne diseases. Please consider attending and helping us remember, create and strengthen our greatest HIV prevention tool– The AIDS Memorial Quilt.

This program is supported in part by the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, the Westside Communities Alliance, and Africa Atlanta 2014. For more information on the “Call My Name” workshops, please go to aidsquilt.org/callmyname or e-mail sheridf@iac.gatech.edu.