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Community Voices: Healthcare for the Underserved Announces Second Annual Freedom's Voice Conference and Awards Gala

Posted on: Monday, 2 February 2009, 09:55 CST

Conference to Focus on Finding Solutions to Healthcare Crisis Affecting Communities of Color

ATLANTA, Feb. 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --- Community Voices: Healthcare for the Underserved today announced the second annual Community Voices Freedom's Voice Conference and Awards Gala, to be held April 30 - May 1, 2009 at the Renaissance Waverly Hotel in Atlanta, GA. The conference, themed "Strengthening Families During Incarceration and Homecoming," will bring together local, state, and national experts and advocates who are currently working to reform policies and improve health services and outcomes for all individuals impacted by the criminal justice system.

"We are at a point in our nation where we must think about things differently," said Henrie M. Treadwell, Ph.D., director of Community Voices of the Morehouse School of Medicine. "The Community Voices Freedom's Voice Conference does just that, by shining a light on a story that many are not willing to tell or discuss: we have a health and prison crisis that is limiting opportunities for people of color and devastating our families and communities."

CNN anchor and special correspondent Soledad O'Brien, political strategist and commentator Donna Brazile, radio personality Warren Ballentine, and a host of other high-profile guests are among those featured as guest speakers for this year's conference. In addition, humanitarian Malaak Compton-Rock will be the recipient of the 2009 Soledad O'Brien Freedom's Voice Award at The Foundry at Puritan Mill in Atlanta on the evening of Thursday, April 30, 2009.

"I am very excited and deeply honored to be a part of this year's Community Voices conference," said O'Brien. "Community Voices is truly committed to improving access to quality health care for the underserved, and this year's conference is an excellent example of that commitment. We all have much to learn during this exciting event."

This year's conference agenda will consist of plenary sessions, an array of advocacy workshops led by distinguished organizational and community leaders from around the nation, and a town hall meeting to examine current research and perspectives on the issues related to re-entering family and community structures after incarceration.

Community Voices, an initiative of the National Center for Primary Care at the Morehouse School of Medicine, is dedicated to finding real-life solutions to help provide increased access and quality health care to the underserved, incarcerated and re-entry communities. The United States is currently experiencing the greatest inequalities, since the 1920s. Racial and ethnic health disparities are on the rise and have been aggravated in great measure by our current social policies.

For more information about the conference and to register, please visit the website at www.communityvoices.org/freedomsvoice. All media interested in attending the conference may register with Melva Robertson at mrobertson@msm.edu.

About Community Voices: Healthcare for the Underserved

Community Voices: Healthcare for the Underserved is dedicated to making health care available to all and ensuring the survival of safety-net providers that strengthen community support services. Launched in 1998 by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Community Voices works to discover and support programs that work to meet the needs of those with inadequate or no health care. Community Voices is based in the National Center for Primary Care at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia. For more information, please visit www.communityvoices.org.

About Morehouse School of Medicine

Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) recruits and trains minority and other students as physicians, biomedical scientists and public health professionals committed to improving the health and well-being of communities. MSM is a member of the largest consortium of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the world -- the Atlanta University Center (AUC). For more information about Morehouse School of Medicine, visit us online at www.msm.edu.

Contact: Melva Robertson (404) 752-8649

SOURCE Community Voices: Healthcare for the Underserved

Source: PR Newswire

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