Pernessa C. Seele (born October 15, 1954) is an American immunologist and interfaith public health activist. Seele is the CEO and founder of Balm in Gilead, Inc., a religious-based organization that provides support to people with

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

and their families, as well as working for prevention of

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

and AIDS. In 1989 she initiated the

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

Week of Prayer, with 50 churches, synagogues and mosques participating. This became an annual event and organizing force for the religious community to respond to the AIDS crisis. Seele incorporated a growing organization as "The Balm in Gilead, Inc." This national movement to address public-health issues through communities of faith"Christine Gorman, "Pernessa Seele"
''Time'', April 30, 2006, accessed January 23, 2009 has grown to include more than ten thousand churches, and numerous branches in the United States, Africa and the Caribbean. After 30 years in New York, Seele and the organization are now based in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

.Denise Rolark Barnes and Gloria Wheatfall, "When it Comes to Churches, Pernessa Seele is the Balm"
BlackAids.org, August 9, 2008, accessed January 23, 2009

Early life and education

Pernessa Seele was born to Luella and Charles Seele in Lincolnville, South Carolina, about 20 miles from

Charleston Charleston most commonly refers to: * Charleston, South Carolina * Charleston, West Virginia, the state capital * Charleston (dance) Charleston may also refer to: Places Australia * Charleston, South Australia Canada * Charleston, Newfoundlan ...

. It was an all-black rural town, where religious revivals were part of the community fabric and a way to mobilize civic action.Dorie J. Gilbert and Ednita M. Wright, ''African American Women and HIV/AIDS''
Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Company, 2003, p. 155, accessed January 23, 2009 Seele studied biology as an undergraduate at

Clark College Clark College is a public community college in Vancouver, Washington. With 11,500 students, Clark College is the largest institution of higher education in southwest Washington. Founded in 1933 as a private two-year junior college, Clark Colleg ...

(now Clark Atlanta University) where she earned a B.S. In 1979 she earned a master's degree in

immunology Immunology is a branch of medicineImmunology for Medical Students, Roderick Nairn, Matthew Helbert, Mosby, 2007 and biology that covers the medical study of immune systems in humans, animals, plants and sapient species. In such we can see there ...

Atlanta University Clark Atlanta University (CAU or Clark Atlanta) is a private, Methodist, historically black research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Clark Atlanta is the first Historically Black College or University (HBCU) in the Southern United States. Founde ...

. She went to New York to start a career in science research.

Career

Seele went to New York to work at

Rockefeller University The Rockefeller University is a private biomedical research and graduate-only university in New York City, New York. It focuses primarily on the biological and medical sciences and provides doctoral and postdoctoral education. It is classif ...

in the immunology of malaria.Dorie J. Gilbert and Ednita M. Wright, ''African American Women and HIV/AIDS''
Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Company, 2003, p. 154, accessed January 23, 2009 Then she took a job at Sloan Kettering Memorial Hospital in cancer research. Still in her twenties, she moved out of that to do what she called "little jobs". In the early 1980s, the biological mechanisms of AIDS were still unknown, but the medical community was becoming aware of an epidemic crisis. Seele felt called to use her immunology degree in a different way. Seele developed one of the first AIDS education programs, held at a

methadone clinic A methadone clinic, or substance use disorder services clinic (SUDS), is a clinic which has been established for the dispensing of medications used in the treatment of opiate dependence —historically and most commonly methadone, although buprenor ...

. She worked at

Harlem Hospital Harlem Hospital Center, branded as NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem, is a 272-bed, public teaching hospital affiliated with Columbia University. It is located at 506 Lenox Avenue in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City and was founded in 1887. The hosp ...

as an administrator in the AIDS Initiative Program. Confronted with the needs of patients and their families in the wards, she decided to try to organize the large Harlem religious community in their support. Harlem religious communities at first associated the disease with downtown gay men.

Religious leaders like Frederick Williams and Preston Washington credit a fiery former immunologist, Pernessa C. Seele, for changing the way they see the disease. As an administrator at Harlem Hospital, Ms. Seele grew weary of watching dozens of patients die alone, without the spiritual support of their congregations.

In 1989 Seele met with leaders of 50 churches, mosques, and Ethiopian Hebrews, to ask them to come together in prayer and education, for the first Harlem Week of Prayer. Religious congregations were encouraged to include education programs on AIDS and its prevention, as well as to create support for patients and their families. Her leadership was supported by major religious leaders in Harlem: Dr. Preston Washington, Dr.

Frederick B. Williams Frederick Boyd Williams (23 April 1939 – 4 April 2006) was a religious leader of national importance in the United States. As Canon of the Church of the Intercession in Harlem, New York from 1971 to 2005, he led an influential congregation, the ...

, Dr. Wyatt Tee Walker, Dr. Calvin O. Butts, Bishop Norman N. Quick, Dr.

James A. Forbes James Alexander Forbes, Jr. (born September 6, 1935) is the Senior Minister ''Emeritus'' of the Riverside Church, an interdenominational (American Baptist and United Church of Christ) church on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City. He ...

, and numerous others. By 1991, 100 congregations participated in the annual week of prayer, as the Harlem community came to realize that HIV/AIDS was their disease, too. The Harlem Week of Prayer and mobilization began to receive national attention. Seele was invited to churches and public health groups in other cities to speak about it. Seele's effort to address public health issues through communities of faith received technical assistance and support from the federal government. She received funding from the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...

(CDC) to expand the program to six pilot cities. The CDC recognized the potential of the movement to prevent HIV/AIDS and support patients. Seele incorporated the Balm in Gilead, Inc., to create an organization with non-profit status. By 2003 the organization reached 10,000 churches, and 70 community organizations had been created to implement its programs in the United States, some African nations, and the Caribbean. Through a cooperative agreement with the CDC, the Balm in Gilead, Inc. operates the Black Church HIV/AIDS National Technical Assistance Center. For years CDC has provided funding and technical assistance to communities of faith to mobilize efforts in education and prevention of HIV/AIDS.Dorie J. Gilbert and Ednita M. Wright, ''African American Women and HIV/AIDS''
Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Company, 2003, p. 156, accessed January 23, 2009 In 2004 Seele and her organization launched the African American Denominational Leadership Health Initiative. It was a partnership between the Balm In Gilead and the women's societies and councils of three Black religious denominations: the

African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Black church, predominantly African American Methodist Religious denomination, denomination. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology and has a connexionalism, c ...

(AME), the

African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

and the

Christian Methodist Episcopal Church The Christian Methodist Episcopal (C.M.E.) Church is a historically black denomination within the broader context of Wesleyan Methodism founded and organized by John Wesley in England in 1744 and established in America as the Methodist Episcopal ...

. It was designed to build the capacity of these denominations to address cervical cancer, HIV/AIDS and other health issues in Black communities.

Legacy and honors (selected)

*2006 - Seele was the guest of President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

and his wife for his fifth

State of the Union The State of the Union Address (sometimes abbreviated to SOTU) is an annual message delivered by the president of the United States to a joint session of the United States Congress near the beginning of each calendar year on the current conditio ...

address, in which he renewed the government's commitment to the fight against HIV/AIDS in the black community. *2006 - ''Time'' magazine listed her among the Top 100 Americans. *2008 - Seele was a featured speaker at the XVII International Conference on AIDS at

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

. *1996, Manhattan Borough, President Award *1997, Harlem United Community AIDS Center, Life Award *1997, State of Michigan, special tribute *1997, Community Works, Harlem Women Making a Difference Award *1998, Unity Fellowship Church, Bishop Carl Bean Visionary Award

Citations

References

* ''American Journal of Public Health'', August 2003, p. 1207. * ''Essence'', October 1996, p. 42. * ''Los Angeles Times'', June 7, 2003, p. B20. * ''New Pittsburgh Courier'', February 15, 2003, p. A1. * ''New York Times'', March 2, 1999, p. F7.

External links

The Balm in Gilead, Inc.
Official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Seele, Pernessa C. 1954 births African-American religious leaders American activists People from New York (state) People from Charleston County, South Carolina Clark Atlanta University alumni Living people 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people