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JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – L.I.F.E. Inc. will host the Strutting for Life Fashion Show for Pride Month. The event will happen at Club Metro 2.0 in Jackson at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 10.
The following Saturday (June 12), the organization will present the Having Faith while Having Hope Health Fair and Pop Up Shop at the same location. The event starts at 2:00 p.m.
The Open Arms Healthcare Mobile Clinic will be on-site providing HIV screenings and HIV prevention information including information about PrEP.
The fashion show will feature apparel from critically acclaimed local, regional and national designers. For those who receive an HIV test, there will be no entrance fee. For all others, the fee is $10. Doors will open for Happy Hours from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. with the show beginning at 8:00 p.m.
According to L.I.F.E., Inc, with free barbeque, cool games, live music, and an intense DJ battle, the Having Faith while Having Hope Health Fair and Pop Up Shop is slated to be a Sunday afternoon of entertainment and community vendors and healthcare advocates and providers on-site to provide services and information from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
“We are excited to host these events with coronavirus restrictions lifted a little, said L.I.F.E. CEO and Executive Director Temica Tutt Morton. “The community has been getting vaccinated and we want to celebrate the priority we have been placing on health with the hope that even more people will continue to make their wellness a primary part of their lives.”
In Mississippi, new HIV diagnoses have continued to be high year after year, between 424 and 509 each year from 2014 to 2019. The state has the sixth-highest rate of HIV in the country, and Jackson remains overwhelmed with new cases. Experts point to a barrage of barriers that include a convoluted combination of cultural, logistical and economic factors preventing Mississippians from accessing PrEP and other HIV prevention methods and tools.
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