Community Voices: Healthcare for the Underserved

Community Voices: Healthcare for the Underserved has 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.

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. Last year, Soledad received the first Soledad O’Brien Freedom’s Voice Award, which was created in her honor by Community Voices at the Morehouse School of Medicine.

"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."

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.

"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."

Soledad O'Brien Freedom's Voice Award

On April 11, Soledad received the first Soledad O’Brien Freedom’s Voice Award, which was created in her honor by Community Voices at the Morehouse School of Medicine.

At the conclusion of the three-day conference of national leaders in health care disparities and civil rights, the organization honored CNN anchor and special correspondent her with the award created to recognize her accomplishments and willingness to be a voice for the voiceless in our society, and her determination to cover stories that might otherwise go untold.

It will be given annually to mid-career professionals who serve as catalysts for social change in their given fields. In years to come, Ms. O'Brien will guide an advisory committee in naming future recipients for the award who, like her, have worked tirelessly and effectively to expose problems our society has not wanted to face.

The event was hosted by Ms. O'Brien, and co-chaired by philanthropist and actor Jane Fonda, Joseph Stewart, Trustee of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and CNN Worldwide President Jim Walton.