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Martin Center celebrates 50 years of service to sickle cell patients

INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that about 100,000 Americans have sickle cell disease. The disease occurs in one out of every 365 Black or African American births, and about 1 in 13 Black or African American babies is born with sickle cell trait, meaning the baby inherited the gene from one parent and likely won’t have any of the symptoms of sickle cell disease.

Published

6 years ago

September 25, 2019

Oakland Post

The Martin Center Sickle Cell Initiative, 3545 N. College Ave., sits in what used to be a duplex. The center, which provides support for people who have sickle cell disease, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. (Photo by: Tyler Fenwick)

By Tyler Fenwick

Julie Daniels lucked out when her mother took her to the pediatrician when she all of the sudden couldn’t bear any weight as a 1-year-old, even after learning how to walk. The pediatrician was a hematologist and recognized the signs he saw. He tested Daniels, and sure enough, she was diagnosed with sickle cell disease.

Daniels has Hemoglobin SB+ (beta) thalassemia, to be exact. It’s one of the four main types of sickle cell disease. The disease affects hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen to different parts of the body. Symptoms can include anemia, repeated infections and chronic pain.

It’s the pain that has affected Daniels’ life the most. She stopped working in 2015 because the pain was so bad. She’s on disability now, but she said the pain seems to come more often. The worst days — when the pain becomes overpowering and she can’t do anything — can happen as often as three times a week.

Couple that with fatigue, and it’s like your body “just shuts down on you,” Daniels said, and a nap isn’t going to make it any better.

Growing up in Fort Wayne, said she felt “very alone.” She had a cousin with the same disease, but he lived in Maryland. Daniels, who went to Purdue University and got her master’s degree in Indianapolis, started going to the Martin Center Sickle Cell Initiative in 2010. She had never heard of what was then a 41-year-old organization. There wasn’t anything like it around the state.

This year, the Martin Center is celebrating its 50th anniversary. That’s 50 years of supporting a community that for so long has been ignored and stigmatized. There will be a celebration with dinner, music and a silent auction at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 20 at the Willows on Westfield. Tickets are $75 at themartincenter.org.

Go back to 1969, when Father Boniface Hardin and Dr. Raymond Pierce founded the center, and it’s clear why this organization was needed.

“You would find that there really wasn’t much information at all and hardly any interest in sickle cell disease,” said Gary Gibson, president and CEO of the Martin Center, “because it was a disease that seems to affect only Black people, and people of color didn’t matter. It didn’t get the attention that it should get.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that about 100,000 Americans have sickle cell disease. The disease occurs in one out of every 365 Black or African American births, and about 1 in 13 Black or African American babies is born with sickle cell trait, meaning the baby inherited the gene from one parent and likely won’t have any of the symptoms of sickle cell disease.

Daniels knew her husband didn’t have the gene, so they could only pass along the trait to their daughter. Daniels said they talk with her about the possibility of having a partner who also has the trait and potentially passing the disease to her child. When both parents have the trait, there’s a 25% chance their child will have the disease, according to the CDC.

This is part of what the Martin Center has been doing: educating people who have the disease and trait. The organization has programs that not only teach patients about the disease, but also provide services and support such as a food pantry, support groups and financial assistance.

Frank Lloyd, a Martin Center board member and retired physician, understands why it’s important for African Americans to have this kind of intimate meeting space to talk about a disease that many others know so little about.

During his time at IU Health Methodist Hospital, Lloyd saw sickle cell patients whose pain was discounted by other physicians. It’s a well-documented phenomenon in medicine, where white doctors have false beliefs about biological differences between their white and Black patients, leading them to think their Black patients don’t feel as much pain.

The Martin Center is a place where patients can drop that guard and be with others who are also dealing with an invisible disease that doesn’t get as much attention — or funding — as other conditions that are less common.

Gibson, whose wife died from complications with sickle cell disease in 1989, said the next step for the Martin Center hopefully involves expanding. He would like to get up to Gary and Fort Wayne, places that need these kinds of services but don’t have them to the same scale.

He saw what sickle cell disease did to his wife and sees what it’s doing to patients now every day.

“It’s not fair,” Gibson said. “Those who have it didn’t ask for it, and they didn’t do anything to cause it. To me, that’s just not fair.”

Contact staff writer Tyler Fenwick at 317-762-7853. Follow him on Twitter @Ty_Fenwick.

This article originally appeared in The Indianapolis Recorder.

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LIVE from the NMA Convention Raheem DeVaughn Says The Time Is Now: Let’s End HIV in Our Communities #2

Set against the backdrop of the NMA conference, Executive Officers from the National Medical Association, Grammy Award Winning Artist and Advocate Raheem DeVaughn, and Gilead Sciences experts, are holding today an important conversation on HIV prevention and health equity. Black women continue to be disproportionately impacted by HIV despite advances in prevention options. Today’s event […]

Published

5 days ago

February 3, 2026

Oakland Post

Black women continue to be disproportionately impacted by HIV despite advances in prevention options. Today’s event is designed to uplift voices, explore barriers to access, and increase awareness and key updates about PrEP, a proven prevention method that remains underutilized among Black women. This timely gathering will feature voices from across health, media, and advocacy as we break stigma and center equity in HIV prevention.

Additional stats and information to know:

● Black women continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV, with Black women representing more than 50% of new HIV diagnoses among women in the U.S. in 2022, despite comprising just 13% of women in the U.S.

● Women made up only 8% of PrEP users despite representing 19% of all new HIV diagnoses in 2022.

● Gilead Sciences is increasing awareness and addressing stigma by encouraging regular HIV testing and having judgment-free conversations with your healthcare provider about prevention options, including oral PrEP and long-acting injectable PrEP options.

● PrEP is an HIV prevention medication that has been available since 2012.

● Only 1 in 3 people in the U.S. who could benefit from PrEP were prescribed a form of PrEP in 2022.

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TRUMP: “Washington, D.C. is Safe”

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — President Trump, who typically travels with a full contingent of high-level protection, insinuated that he finally felt safe enough to go to dinner in the District of Columbia. “My wife and I went out to dinner last night for the first time in four years,” said the nation’s 47th president.

Published

5 days ago

February 3, 2026

Oakland Post

By Apriil Ryan
BlackPressUSA Washington Bureau Chief and White House Correspondent

“Washington, D.C. is safe,” President Trump declared from the Oval Office today. Those words came while Trump was hosting Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. During the question-and-answer session, which primarily focused on a peace deal in the Russian-Ukrainian war, Trump explained, “You did that in four days.” He was speaking of how fast the National Guard quelled the violence in what was once called Chocolate City.

The President deployed the National Guard to D.C. a week ago, to a city with reduced crime rates over the previous year. Violent crime dropped by 26%, marking the lowest level in 30 years. Homicides also fell by 11%.

President Trump, who typically travels with a full contingent of high-level protection, insinuated that he finally felt safe enough to go to dinner in the District of Columbia. “My wife and I went out to dinner last night for the first time in four years,” said the nation’s 47th president.

Trump reinforced his claim about the newly acquired safety in D.C. by relaying that a friend’s son is attending dinner in D.C., something he would not have done last year.

After the president finished his comments, a reporter/commentator in the room with close connections to Marjorie Taylor Greene jumped into the high-level conversation to affirm the president’s comments, saying, “I walked around yesterday with MTG. If you can walk around D.C. with MTG and not be attacked, this city is safe.”

That reporter was the same person who chastised President Zelenskyy months ago during his first Oval Office meeting with Trump for not wearing a business suit. Zelenskyy, a wartime President, has been clad in less formal attire to reflect the country’s current war stance against Russia.

Without any sourcing, President Trump also said, “People that haven’t gone out to dinner in Washington, D.C., in two years are going out to dinner, and the restaurants the last two days have been busier than they’ve been in a long time.”

The increase in policing in Washington, D.C. is because a 19-year-old former Doge employee was carjacked in the early hours of the morning recently.

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Rising Energy Costs Weigh Heaviest on Black Households

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — For many African American families, the cost of keeping the lights on and homes heated or cooled is not just a monthly bill — it’s a crushing financial burden.

Published

5 days ago

February 3, 2026

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown
Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent

For many African American families, the cost of keeping the lights on and homes heated or cooled is not just a monthly bill — it’s a crushing financial burden.

A new national study from Binghamton University and California State University, San Bernardino, finds that Black households spend a far larger share of their income on energy compared to white households, even when income levels are the same. “We often say that African Americans suffer more, but we often blame it just on income. And the reality is, there is something more there,” study author George Homsy, associate professor at Binghamton University, wrote. “It’s not just because they tend to be poor. There is something that’s putting them at a disadvantage. I think what happened is it happens to be where they live.” The study, published in Energy Research & Social Science, analyzed 65,000 census tracts across the United States. It found that while the average American household spends about 3.2% of income on energy bills, households in the majority African American census tracts spend an average of 5.1%.

Homsy and researcher Ki Eun Kang point to the age and condition of housing stock, along with lower homeownership rates, as key drivers. Their research concludes that “energy burden is not simply a matter of income or energy cost but also race, which might be driven by place.” Older, less energy-efficient housing and high rental rates in Black communities mean residents often cannot make upgrades like improved insulation or new appliances, locking families into higher bills.

Tradeoffs and Health Risks

The consequences go beyond money. Families forced to spend 10% or more of their income on energy — what experts classify as “unmanageable” — may cut back on food, medicine, or other essentials. More than 12 million U.S. households report leaving their homes at unsafe temperatures to reduce costs, while millions more fall behind on utility bills. The health effects are severe. High energy burdens increase risks of asthma, depression, poor sleep, pneumonia, and even premature death. The issue is especially acute for African Americans, who are disproportionately exposed to housing and environmental conditions that amplify these risks.

Washington, D.C.: A Case Study

In Washington, D.C., the problem is particularly stark. A recent analysis by the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) shows that SNAP-eligible households spend more than 20% of their income on energy bills. Across the metro area, nearly two-thirds of low-income households devote over 6% of their income to energy, and 40% face what researchers call a “severe financial strain,” paying more than 10%. Pepco, the District’s primary electricity provider, has implemented three consecutive annual rate hikes, pushing the average household bill to $114 per month as of January 2025. Shutoffs have followed — nearly 12,000 customers lost service in 2024, with disconnections doubling after a summer rate hike. Washington Gas has also sought a 12% rate increase and pushed a controversial $215 million pipeline replacement project, rebranded as “District SAFE.” The plan could ultimately cost D.C. households an additional $45,000 each over several decades, or nearly $1,000 annually added to bills.

Historical Roots

Researchers argue that these inequities are not accidental but rooted in history. The ScienceDirect study reveals that African American communities living in formerly redlined neighborhoods continue to face disadvantages today — from poor housing quality to higher climate risks. Homsy says policymakers must make targeted efforts. “It is harder to get to rental units where a lot of poor people live,” he noted. “We need to work harder to get into these communities of color.”