SUPPORTING THE FIRST—Leslie Pandy, Frances Russ, Adena Davis, the first Black Pitt nursing graduate, Byron Davis, Rosa Davis and Jessica Davis. (Photos by Debbie Norrell)
On June 22, at the LeMont Restaurant the Pittsburgh Black Nurses in Action presented their Fifth Annual Evelyn Paige Parker Scholarship Luncheon. The topic of the afternoon “Health Care Reform: What is all the talk about?”
Deidre Walton, JD, MSN, RN/PHN and president of the National Black Nurses Association was the keynote speaker. Walton’s goal was to enlighten the crowd about the Affordable Care Act so often referred to as Obama Care. She said the public needs to be educated about the law and the effects of the law. Members of PBNIA are often asked why there is still a need for a Black nurse’s organization. They say as long as there are health disparities, they will be a voice for the underserved.
The afternoon had so many high points, for the third time Atiya Abdelmalik, RN, the director of Community Programs & Employee Volunteerism at Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, performed Essence 25, a moving tribute to the 25th anniversary of Essence Magazine and to Black women. Scholarships were presented to Quentin R. Smith, Samuel Owusu and Cassandra Tavares. The Center for Inclusion at UPMC provided two $1,000 scholarships and contributors to the Evelyn Paige Parker Scholarship Fund created the third. PBNIA also took time to remember their beloved sister, the late Dr. Luevonne Lincoln who donated her pension to start the Mt. Ararat Nursing Fund.
The Mission of PBNIA is to reduce health disparities among African-Americans and other minorities in the greater Pittsburgh area through education and awareness, and to support the nursing profession through mentorship and interdisciplinary collaboration with other medical and health promotion organization.
EMCEE—Dawndra Jones, MSN, RN, NEA-BC
REPEAT PERFORMANCE—Atiya Abdelmalik, RN
EVENT CHAIR WITH NATIONAL PRESIDENT—Dorretta Lemon-Fallen, RN, the luncheon chair, and Deidre Walton, JD, MSN, RN/PHN, the president of the National Black Nurses Association.
PRESENTING THE SCHOLARSHIP—Dawndra Jones, Claudia Kregg-Byers, Samuel Owusu, Margaret Washington, a UPMC Board Member, and David Bubas, the program manager for the UPMC Center for Inclusion.
PRESENTING THE SCHOLARSHIP—Shirrell Burton, Poise Foundation; Deidre Walton; Quentin R. Smith; Claudia Kregg-Byers, PhDc, MMPHc, RN; and Jacqueline Blake, RN, BSN, MS, the president of PBNIA
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