National Black Church Initiative is a subsidiary of the DC Black Church Initiative

The National Black Church Initiative (NBCI) has one of the most effective health literature distribution networks in the country. We have the capacity to distribute any amount of literature to any major metropolitan or rural area where an African American and Latino population resides. How do we accomplish this?

Key Churches

We divide every metropolitan city and rural area into key churches. These churches cover the entire geographic area. The key churches are located in the south, north, east and west of any given area. The amount of key churches that we designate for any given area depends upon the population of that area. A city like the District of Columbia that has a population under 1 million, has 24 key churches. A city like Chicago or Atlanta has 78 – 100 key churches. Those churches that surround the key churches are called cluster churches and they feed into those key churches for information and programming.

Distribution Network to 34,000 Faith-Based Communities

NBCI has 16,000 member network churches. We also have 18,000 sister churches. Sister churches are not members of NBCI, but they have agreed to work with us to distribute health information to eradicate health disparities in the Black and Latino communities. This gives us an enormous distribution network to 34,000 faith-based communities. Our service-delivery capacity is second to none and can have an enormous impact around the issue of health promotion and behavior change.

Targeted Population

We have the capacity to distribute large volumes of health information to target populations for specific health concerns. We can deliver gender specific health literature to women concerning breast cancer, heart disease and other diseases like osteoporosis. If we are talking about breast cancer, we are one of the few national organizations that have the capacity to distribute a large volume of health information to women who are a part of our congregations. The targeting of those women for this literature is usually done by the Center of Diseases Control (CDC). CDC concludes that a particular age group is vulnerable to this disease state and should be tested. NBCI surveys its congregation and map out a strategy to deliver targeted information to a specific group of women in our congregation. We also have the ability to identify or target health information for men. If the literature is for men who are fifty-five and over concerning a disease like prostate cancer or other male diseases we will provide the same manner of information distribution within our congregations for them. We are able to accomplish this task through the NBCI /DCBCI Health Note.

NBCI Health Note

The National Black Church Initiative or DCBCI Health Note is an innovative two-to eight-page brochure that highlights a particular health topic. It is an attempt to integrate the disciplines of theology and health sciences. The Note demonstrates how faith-based communities can utilize their theology to promote good health practices. It also creates an environment that promotes a healthy working relationship between the patients and the healthcare professionals to achieve a specific health outcome - compliance. The NBCI/DCBCI Health Note was created to deal with complex health issues in a simplified but substantive manner.