HELP BUILD AWARENESS OF SICKLE CELL DISEASE       


 Minister Dr. Madge L. Barnes Director,  The Potter's House Medical Ministry  Dallas, Texas

 

Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is an inherited blood disorder which constitutes a global health

problem.  The disease causes red blood cells to take on the characteristic shape for which the disease is named. In addition to creating excruciating pain, each sickle crisis adds to the accumulated damage of vital organs; few people with SCS live beyond age 40. Approximately 100,000 Americans are living with the disease.  One in every 350 African Americans and one in every 1200 Hispanic Americans is born with SCD.  Many more Americans perhaps as many as 3.5 million - including 1 in 12 African Americans - are carriers for Sickle Cell Trait (SCT). Given that these carriers are generally unaffected by SCD complications, many are unaware that their children are at increased risk for the disease.

 


The Faith-Based SCD Awareness Tour

Historically, the church has been a core institution for American philanthropy. The church not only serves as a faith-based house of worship, but it facilitates organized philanthropic efforts including meeting spiritual, psychological, financial, educational and basic humanitarian such as food, housing, and shelter. These strengths are a natural complement to my community-based advocacy efforts.  As an individual with Sickle Cell Disease, who is facing the realities of SCD,  I feel a strong sense of urgency for action.  I have developed the faith-based Tour of Awareness to inform community leaders like you about Sickle Cell Disease.   

 

I hope that working together will  create a synergy that will multiply our efforts and create real progress in eradicating the misconceptions about SCD. At times I have been overwhelmed by the size of the task in front of me, and disheartened by the thought that I might not have the energy or the time remaining to accomplish what needs to be done.  

 

Your support encourages me that there can be an entire network of friends in faith who can help me create a difference, now and in their future, for those affected by SCD.

   

    

 

Dominique  Friend

 International Spokesperson 

Sickle Cell Disease Author/Activist 

 

 

The steps you are about to take will forever change the environment for battling Sickle Cell Disease. Each memebership in the network multiplies the effect of our efforts and supports the Faith -based Tour of Awareness that continues to spread the word about SCD throughout the faith community. I appreciate your support and I welcome you as a partner in fighting SCD.



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Dominique Friend is an activist for Sickle Cell Disease awareness and research who currently resides in South Central Pennsylvania, but who grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and attended Baltimore City Public Schools. She is a wife, the mother of five wonderful children and has one beautiful granddaughter. Although her illness prevented her from graduating high school, she obtained her GED and then completed post-secondary courses in Creative Writing. Now a published author, Dominique has captured the essence of her daily struggles with the unpredictability and pain of Sickle Cell Disease in her autobiography, SICKLE, A Story of Pain, Purpose and Perseverance.  Dominique has become an activist who is raising awareness of Sickle Cell Disease and advocating for improved treatment for people living with Sickle Cell Disease.   

 

Dominique has participated in numerous speaking engagements and has been featured in many magazines, news articles and television. Her outreach goes as far as Africa and beyond. She has been invited to participate in conferences sponsored by the National Institute of Health and she most recently visited the White House and met with the President's Special Assistant on Disability and Policy, Mr. Kareem Dale.  She is a highly sought after activist in the field of Sickle Cell patient advocacy.

 

  

 

 

   

  

    


 

     

  

The Sickle Cell Disease Faith Based-Tour of Awareness is the beginning stage of a national initiative to mobilize churches and other faith-based organizations to fight against Sickle Cell Disease.  The tour will provide the faith community with the tools and information needed to dispel the stigma associated with Sickle Cell Disease and to counter the misconceptions about individuals with this disease.    

  

Watch the Video

 

Bishop Noel Jones - Sickle Cell Disease
Bishop Noel Jones - Sickle Cell Disease

  Bishop Noel Jones

City of Refuge Church 

14527 South San Pedro Street 

Gardena, California  

310 516 1433 

    

   

Learn - Educate yourself about Sickle Cell Disease by participating in a Faith-based workshop in your area. View online presentations to hear from parti[ants in past events. 

 

 

Network - Share what you have learned with others in your congregation and in your community. Share information on upcoming events and brainstorm other ways to spread the word. 

 

Sustain -  become a partner of the Sickle Cell Disease Awareness Network, and receive information and updates on training, advocacy efforts and outcomes of our efforts. Your sixty dollar annual fee will support the Awareness Tour and will keep you informed of our plans and sucesses.

  

 

$60 a year 

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