Other Programs and Initiatives

Plain Talk
A national program designed to increase communication between adults and young people around the issues of reproduction and sexual responsibility. Minneapolis is one of 20 sites across the nation that has been selected to implement this program. We are one of three bilingual sites in the United States focusing on African American and Latino populations in the Bryant and Central neighborhoods of South Minneapolis.

For more information: Plain Talk Minneapolis www.plaintalkmpls.org or Plain Talk National www.plaintalk.org

Testimonial
“Plain Talk means a lot for me, because teaching others about sexual responsibility and how to reduce teen pregnancy is really important to our community. The community has been very receptive to these presentations and they keep inviting us back into their homes. People enjoy talking about these issues in a safe environment. I have been in this program since the beginning and it has really helped me overcome my fears about talking in front of large groups. Plain Talk is very important to me and my community and I am in it for the long haul.”

Miriam – Mentor for Plain Talk
Minneapolis, Minnesota

The Birds & Bees Project - Testimonial from Nickki Madsen

Barbershop Campaign
LifeSource and Southside Community Health Services/Q Health Services are embarking on a new outreach initiative to bring the message of organ and tissue donation to Twin Cities African American men by utilizing the community's natural gathering place – the barbershop. The new program has the potential to reach more than 1,500 African American men through 98 barbers in 26 barbershops in the Twin Cities and Rochester.

The Barbershop Campaign is designed to provide barbers education and training to help their clients make positive changes in their lives. In addition to organ and tissue donation, additional areas of education the barbers will discuss with their clients include obesity, hypertension and diabetes.

For more information about the Barbershop Campaign, click  here
For more information about LifeSource: www.life-source.org

KMOJ Radio Station
"Community Health Dialogues" is a show designed to engage the community in discussing health issues that are relevant to their lives and the health of the entire community. "It's Your Health" is a radio show that focuses on holistic health issues that impact the community.

Veterans Program
A collaboration with the Minnesota Veterans Affairs Department to reach Veterans and their families to inform them of available benefits and services. As a result of our partnership, more than $3 million was brought back into the community within the first two years of operation. Click here to read more.

National Latino AIDS Awareness Day (NLAAD)
October 15th is established to draw attention to the critical role HIV testing and prevention education plays in stemming the spread of AIDS in the Latino community nationwide. Southside Community Outreach/Q Health Connections has chaired Minnesota activities related to this national day of testing, awareness and education for the past three years and in that time has expanded NLAAD services beyond the 15th to encompass the entire month of October.

Conference Organization
Q Health Connections was active in organizing, setting up and executing the following conferences in 2007 and 2008:

• The World Federation for Mental Health, an international organization that includes agencies from all over the world, held its first annual transcultural conference in Minneapolis to discuss the issues of global mental health.
• Collaborating with our community partner, LifeSource, we coordinated the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. Health Fair and Symposium entitled “Your Health, Your Responsibility” during the 78th Conclave in Minneapolis. The health fair benefited over 10,000 conclave attendants and all communities of color in the Twin Cities.
• Q Health Services co-hosted the 2008 16th Annual American Society of Multicultural Health and Transplant Professionals (ASMHTP) Conference in Minneapolis. The American Society of Multicultural Health and Transplant Professionals is a multicultural organization who serves health and transplant professionals by providing leadership in a national capacity on matters of diversity facing the transplant industry. For more information: www.asmhtp.org.