Chicago Tribune - October 29, 2006
Ofelia Casillas, Tribune staff reporter, ocasillas@tribune.com

"We really approach the issues looking at the totality of women's lives," said Toni Bond Leonard, co-founder and chief operating officer of African American Women Evolving Inc. The Chicago-based non-profit reproductive rights advocacy group hosted the event at Malcolm X College on the West Side.

"The one issue that most black churches fall short on is women's reproductive health."

Throughout the day, sessions focused on topics from menopause to sexually transmitted diseases, and the symposium offered a "retreat room," where women could get manicures and massages.

Nichelle Etheridge, a 39-year-old college student and childcare worker, said she hoped to gather information that she could pass along to the parents of the children she cares for.

"The AIDS prevention--we as women need to protect ourselves," she said. "It's important for women to get out and talk to other women about financial issues. Anything that can make your life easier."

Verlinda Holloway, 56, who lives on the West Side and is studying to be a chef, said she wanted information.

"At 56, you could never learn too much, just being educated on all of these different topics," she said.

Holloway said she hoped to learn more about HIV.

"My concern is how it evolved. Where did this come from? I know prevention, but how long is it going to be before there's a cure?"

Trying to get women to eat healthier and exercise, Annie Robertson, an American Heart Association volunteer, handed out pamphlets and said she lost weight by changing her lifestyle.

"We get up in the morning, we eat and sit down. We don't exercise. We use too much sodium in our food. We drink pop instead of water," she said.

"I'm hoping to share information with the community at large and to help change their eating habits and their routine."

Courtney Avery, regional coordinator for the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, said she was advocating for faith-based curriculums to educate teenage youths about sex and abstinence.

"We have to live in the real world. We have to give them the proper tools to help change and save their lives," she said.

Jessica Terlikowski, policy coordinator for the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, spoke to women about microbicides, products being developed in the form of lubricants or gels that could be used in the future to protect against HIV infection and other sexually transmitted diseases.

"It is the African-American community that is bearing the brunt of this epidemic," she said.
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