The Who Touched Me Ministry
The Who Touched Me Ministry(WTMM) at AIDS Action Committee is a faith-based AIDS education program targeting Boston’s black community. The Ministry holds events to raise community awareness, meets with ministers to explore concerns about HIV/AIDS, trains volunteers and peer educators, and finds prayer partners for people living with HIV. WTMM’s annual Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS turns Boston-area black churches into centers for HIV/AIDS education and support for one week each March and is the largest event of its kind in New England.
According to statistics compiled by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, African-Americans account for more than 37 percent of HIV/AIDS cases in Suffolk County, which includes the Boston area. The Department of Public Health also estimates that the risk of HIV infection for communities of color in Massachusetts is four times that of the general population.
WTMM was founded in 1993 by Belynda A.Dunn. Dunn was a well-known AIDS activist who lived with HIV and hepatitis C. Dunn’s battle against her insurer, Neighborhood Health Plan, for coverage of diagnostic tests to determine whether or not she was a good candidate for a liver transplant made national headlines in 2001. With the help of Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and other private donors, Dunn was able to realize her dream and, in March of 2002, underwent a liver transplant in Pittsburgh, PA. Unfortunately, Belynda Dunn died of non-HIV related complications shortly after the surgery.
WTMM is currently overseen by the Faith-Based Initiatives Manager at AIDS Action, Robin Fuller. Fuller first met Belynda Dunn in a 1995 HIV/AIDS workshop at Morning Star Baptist Church in Mattapan. In 2000, Fuller volunteered to be a part of the “Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS” community choir and helped Dunn to promote the Week of Prayer. She attended and completed a Faith in Action training in December of that same year and soon after was hired by AIDS Action to assist Dunn with the WTMM.
