Health & Wellness
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Healthbeat
N.C. groups win grants to
better fight homelessness
Three N.C. groups won $571,650 to provide training and
technical assistance to community agencies fighting home
lessness, Sen. John Edwards announced.
"This assistance represents an investment in the people
who arc building houses, counseling new homeowners,
renewing neighborhoods and making a difference for North
Carolina." Edwards said.
Training and Development Associates in Laurinburg
won $474,450 to train and advise local agencies and non
profits that serve low- and moderate-income families. Train
ing and Development Associate^ is a national nonprofit
organization committed to helping housing professionals
improve the creation and delivery of their products and
services.
The N.C. Association of Community Development Cor
porations in Raleigh will receive $67,200 to assist its 54
member corporations. Established in 1985, the association
provides technical assistance, training, organizational
development, resource identification, public policy educa
tion. and employee benefits to its jjiembers.
The Affordable Housing Group of North Carolina will
receive $30,000. In addition to training other agencies and
nonprofits, the Charlotte-based Affordable Housing Group
also builds its own homes, with a focus on small towns and
rural communities. Since 1972, the group has created more
than 3,000 affordable housing units.
The funds are from the Housing and Urban Development
Department's Community Planning and Development Tech
nical Assistance program. The program is dedicated to
empowering people in communities across our nation to
find local solutions to local problems.
Team captains needed for Relay for Life
The 2002 Forsyth County Relay for Life is scheduled to
take place May 17 and 18 at the Dixie Classic Fairgrounds in
Winston-Salem. The success of this fund-raiser, which benefits
the American Cancer Society, comes from the hundreds of
teams that participate.
A team captain meeting was held on April 2. Each tedht
captain is asked to gather a team of 10 friends, family members
or coworkers. Each team member is asked to raise at least
$100. All money raised by teams is used to support research,
education, advocacy and patient services sponsored by the
American Cancer Society.
Nearly $350,000 was raised through the 2001 Relay for
Life. That money supported research grants at Wake Forest
University Baptist Medical Center, volunteers who provided
transportation and medical services to cancer patients in
Forsyth County, and provided camp and academic scholarships
for children and young adults diagnosed with cancer.
Relay for Life is a great experience for everyone who par
ticipates in it. The event opens with a ceremony celebrating
cancer survivors. Those who have lost their lives to cancer are
remembered during the luminary ceremony that lights up the
fairgrounds after dark. Throughout the evening and into the
next day, walkers and those who come to cheer them on enjoy
a variety of entertainment, food and fellowship.
To learn more about Relay for Life, potential team captains,
walkers and sponsors may contact Beth Day at (336) 392
2810.
Brenner Children's Hospital to
hold open house for new tower
The public is invited to attend an open house for the new Bren
ner Children's Hospital on April 20 from I until 4 p.m. and April
21 from 2 until 5 p.m, A ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place at
I p.m. on the first floor of the new Ardmore Tower West, kicking
off the weekend's festivities.
Veteran CNN reporter Judy Woodruff will serve as guest
speaker at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Woodruff is CNN's prime
anchor and political correspondent and anchors "Inside Politics
with Judy Woodruff."
Parking is free on the campus of Wake Forest University Bap
tist Medical Center.
Beginning the week of April 22, free parenting classes will be
offered on a variety of health-related issues, including bedwetting,
positive approaches to parenting, complementary medicine and TV
violence.
For more information or to sign up for the parenting classes,
call Health On-Call at I -800-446-2255 or visit the Web site at
www.brennerchildrens.org.
Hosts needed for 'Dining for Friends'
Dining for Friends, the- annual springtime event that raises
funds for Triad Health Project (THPl through more than 160 indi
vidual dinner parties across the area, will be held on May 4. THP.
which provides services to people living with HIV/AIDS, is seek
ing party hosts for the event.
Dining for Friends, which started 13 years ago as a response to
the emerging AIDS crisis, relies on members of the community to
give dinner parties in their homes (or alternative locations they
choose) and to invite their friends, who are asked to make contri
butions to the agency. After the individual parties, all hosts and
their guests are invited to a Grand Dessert Finale - complete with
desseh. dancing, and music - at the Greensboro Marriott Down
town.
Hosting is easy: THP supplies the invitations and printed host
.materials In the past, parties have ranged from elegant gourmet
dinners to casual backyard barbecues.
"Dining for Friends is a wonderful Triad tradition that brings a
diverse group of people together to raise funds and awareness,"
said Jeff Prince, associate director of Triad Health Project and the
event's coordinator.
According to Prince, host materials are ready and may be
picked up in the agency's Greensboro or High Point offices. Din
ing for Friends is sponsored by Replacements Ltd. and the Greens
boro Marriott Downtown. For more information about hosting,
contact THP at 275-1654 in Greensboro or 884-4116 in High Point.
Triad Health Project, a United Way agency, is Guilford Coun
ty's leading AIDS service organization, providing HIV/AIDS serv
ice. support, and education since 1986. The organization, with
offices in both Greensboro and High Point, serves almost 6(X) peo
ple living with HIV/AIDS.
Polio eradication in sight, CDC says
Debilitating ailment
has been nearly
wiped out in U.S.
THE ASSOCI ATED PRESS
ATLANTA - Fewer than
600 cases of polio were report
ed worldwide last year, and
global eradication of the dis
ease is in sight. U.S. health
officials said Thursday.
The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention said
537 cases were reported in
2001. with 473 confirmed in
laboratories. In 2000, 2,971
cases were reported, and 719
were confirmed in labs.
Polio is now endemic in
just 10 countries, and only
three _ India. Pakistan and
Nigeria _ are considered major
reservoirs. Nations across the
world have sought to eliminate
the disease by intensifying
vaccination campaigns.
Polio usually strikes chil
dren under 5. It can cripple the
spinal cord and brain, causing
paralysis and " sometimes
death. It is transmitted through
food or water contaminated by
the fecal matter of an infected
person.
The Americas were
declared polio-free in 1994.
The CDC and the World
Health Organization are work
ing on a plan for how to keep
polio from returning after it is
eradicated. Those plans will
include a global strategy for
safely scaling back vaccina
tion efforts.
? V 1
KRT Photo
A man in India afflicted with polio begs for change on the street,
Learning Independence
Class teaches students with developmental disabilities survival skills
BY RAUL COLLINS
THE CHRONICLE
Karen, an African-Ameri
can, is proud that she and two
other women with; develop
mental disabilities are living
independently in their own
home. The three are among
about a dofeen students taking
a life skills class for adults
with developmental disabili
ties that is offered at Trinity
United Methodist Church.
(According to the New
York State Office of Mental
Retardation and Develop
mental Disabilities Web site,
developmental disabilities
are a variety of conditions
that become apparent during
childhood and cause mental
or physical limitation. These
conditions include autism,
cerebral palsy, epilepsy, men
tal retardation, and other neu
rological impairments. Peo
ple with developmental dis
abilities may not learn as
quickly as others or express
themselves clearly. Some
people may have limited
ability to take care of their
physical needs or may have
limited mobility. Many have
more than one disability.)
The life skills class, one
of several in Forsyth County,
is offered through a collabo
ration between Forsyth Tech
nical Community College
and Group Homes of Forsyth
County.
Instructor Marguerite
Abdullah teaches students a
wide variety of life skills,
including nutrition (such as
See Class on C4
8?^Eiair' ii ? ?
Photo by Paul Collins
Students shov/ God's eye they made. Sitting, from left to right - Dave, Rebecca, Shavmet
ta, Sheila; standing, from left to right - Linda, Jane, Karen, David, Danny, Tim.
St. Jude
shares info
on research
with people
of color
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - St.
Jude Children's Research Hos
pital last week announced its
Multicultural Outreach Initia
tive, a program designed to
share information with minori
ty communities about the
groundbreaking research con
ducted by St. Jude scientists to
treat and cure children who suf
fer from catastrophic diseases.
Some of these diseases dispro
portionately impact people of
color.
This initiative is designed to
encourage diverse groups to
partner with the institution to
create greater success in finding
treatments and, ultimately,
cures.
"Nearly 40 percent of our
patients are African American
or Hispanic," said Richard
Shadyac. national executive
director of ALSAC, the fund
raising arm of St. Jude. "We
want all communities to know
of our historic commitment to
their children. When Danny
Thomas founded the hospital in
1962, he envisioned a place
children could come for com
fort. aid and cures, regardless of
their ethnic or economic back
grounds. He made sure that the
See St. Jude on C4
Study: One in five N.C. women
sexually assaulted at some point
c.
UNC NEWS SERVICES I
I
CHAPEL HILL - A ran
dom telephone survey of N.C. (
women showed that one in ;
five had been sexually I
assaulted sometime in her |
past. University of North Car
olina at Chapel Hill j
researchers said. i
As a group, women who i
had been attacked tended to |
suffer more health problems ,
later in life, problems that
might be linked, at least in
part, to the earlier abuse, the
scientists said. Their study is i
the first to show a connection
between such assaults and |
poorer health in a random
sample of women..across the
state. ? ' i
A report on the findings
appears in the March issue of
the Journal of Epidemiology
and Community Health. ,
Authors are Suzanne Clotier. a
former graduate student now
with the U.S. Centers for Dis
:ase Control and Prevention;
Dr. Sandra L. Martin, associ
lte professor of maternal and
;hild health at the UNC
School of Public Health; and
Dr. Charles Poole, associate
professor of epidemiology.
"Sexual assault is traumat
ic when it occurs, but it also
may have long-lasting nega
tive effects on physical
health," Martin said. "Much
of the research linking specif
ic health problems to sexual
assault victimization has used
samples front special popula
tions. but we wanted to look at
victimization in the general
population."
The goal of the UNC
research then was to estimate
the prevalence of sexual
assault in a representative
sample of N.C. women, she
said. The three also wanted to
examine sexual assault in
relation to specific health risk
Set Study on C4
I ikr Photo
A survey conducted by the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill found sexual abuse of women is common.