A Life Lived Caring for Others

As the eldest of 11 children and a nurse for 30-plus years, Gladys Hampton has lived her life caring for others. That makes her work as the Faith & Health Ministries' liaison at Shorter Community A.M.E. Church seem almost predestined.

But it was through taking care of her parents, brothers and sisters, and nieces and nephews that Mrs. Hampton is most aware of all the health problems that affect African Americans. Prostate cancer, colon cancer, breast cancer, high blood pressure and diabetes all have touched the lives of the ones she loves.

At Shorter each month, Mrs. Hampton sees that health information is included in the Sunday bulletin. She also makes sure that health information is available in the fellowship hall where people mingle after services and where she has health education materials provided by the Center for African-American Health. The church also has held blood pressure screenings, cholesterol screenings, and provided flu shots for its members.

"If it weren't for the Center, I wouldn't know where to go to find any of this," she says. I put out the brochures the Center provides, work with the partners the Center finds to do screenings, and use all the Center's health education resources."

FAITH & HEALTH MINISTRIES (FHM):

Faith & Health Ministries was the first health program established at the Center for African-American Health, beginning in 2001 when it still operated as the Metro Denver Black Church Initiative. Faith & Health Ministries works through black churches to promote healthy lives and lifestyles, and prevent disease. Volunteer health outreach liaisons appointed by pastors at 80 participating churches throughout metro Denver work with Center staff to coordinate the routine delivery of health education and free health screenings and to promote increased physical activity and healthy eating habits.

For more information about Faith & Health Ministries, call the Center at 303-355-3423.

Learn more

Faith & Health Ministries' Fact Sheet