"These folks give 100% to preventing HIV infection," says Lisa Sloane, project director of The Greater Harrisburg Foundation’s (GHF) one-year-old Initiative on HIV & AIDS in the African American Community. She’s talking about core groups of individuals who have surfaced to break the deadening silence surrounding AIDS in the African American community.

One year ago, The Greater Harrisburg Foundation (GHF) gathered more than 200 people in Harrisburg to address AIDS in the African American community. As a result, four committees now function to collaborate with faith communities, educating the community, women and families, and youth.

"We need one more chair for the women and families committee," Sloane says. Otherwise, the Initiative has been busy in a way that has allowed the African American community to deal with AIDS without scaring off anyone.

Convened by GHF, the Initiative gathered faith communities, public health professionals, and volunteer groups from around the region. Anyone who is anyone in the regional AIDS community was in attendance — or should have been. For a whole day, groups moved with furious energy between panel discussions and speakers. They faced one common enemy: nationwide, African Americans account for the majority of new AIDS cases. The virus is the number one killer of African Americans between the ages of 25 and 44. Black women are 18 times more likely than white women to be infected with HIV. Fifty percent of the nation’s infected elderly population is black. Of all adolescent AIDS cases, 62% are African American. By 1999, although African Americans make up 13% of the population, they account for 54% of all new AIDS cases.

In Dauphin County, about 60 percent of the AIDS caseload known to AIDS Community Alliance (ACA), the local AIDS service organization offering services to Dauphin County residents, are African Americans. "Within that 60 percent of the whole, about 60 percent are African American men," points out executive director Phil Goropoulos.

Fueling HIV infection in the African American community are the twin culprits of silence and fear. They are the bogeymen of AIDS and may be as big a killer as the disease itself. Recognizing this fact, Sloane and the local foundation worked with funds from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to kick off the "Who Will End the Silence?" campaign. Like other cities around the country, the Initiative recognized the significant role faith-based organizations play in communities of color and the key role they can play in ending the deadening silence on HIV.

Respected for his steady hand and leadership, Carlisle pastor Reverend Lawrence Henryhand was chosen as chair of the Initiative’s Faith-Based Committee. Since he began one year ago, five core churches have trained members in the Red Cross AIDS 101 Course. Seven pastors have declared a "proclamation" and made a public commitment to deal with HIV issues in their congregations. Last spring, 30 churches throughout Harrisburg and Steelton held a "Day of Healing" at which time pastors spoke from pulpits about the alarming need to address AIDS in the African American community. Henryhand is ACA’s senior case manager and represents the organization in the Initiative’s efforts.

"We are very pleased with the work done by the churches. Every person we reach will eventually reach someone else. If each person teaches another, we’re making progress," Henryhand says. He hopes to bring the HIV message out into the open so people won’t be afraid or embarrassed to talk about it.

The beast of AIDS is also addressed in secular settings. Chair of the Educating the Community Committee, Renee Hartford carries the message to the African American community through barber and beauty shops. She is also project coordinator of STOP, Street Outreach Prevention Project, an ACA program.

There are five core barber and beauty shops working openly with AIDS issues as part of discussions with customers. "These shops are great. We display posters and brochures and they offer customers a $5 gift certificate for their services if customers agree to attend one AIDS 101 training session and take a pre- and post-test," Hartford explains. The next training sessions are scheduled for October 28 and November 4.

The Initiative’s efforts have had a positive effect on the youth of the region. "We had 150 high school students from Central Dauphin, Susquehanna Township, and Harrisburg High School attend our Youth Conference," Sloane says. Anecdotally, the buzz indicates that as many as 15 students came forward to take the HIV test as a result of the experience.

The region has evolved into a petri dish of experimentation with innovative ways to prevent HIV infection. "We need new strategies for new challenges," explains Goropoulos, "and ACA has responded." His agency recently started Girlfriend-to-Girlfriend for African American women. "This approach allows women to tailor the program to their needs. They will decide what is discussed, what the issues are, and how to proceed," Goropoulos says.

His agency is also rolling out Brothers Coming Together based on the same idea that the participating men will take charge of the discussion, the resources, and plan and empower themselves with programs that meets their needs as they define them. "Participation is the key. ACA will provide the form. We need participants to shape the substance," Goropoulos says.