Relationship Unleashed

Relationship Unleashed was founded in Memphis, TN 2014 by two passionate African American community leaders with the purpose to create social, cultural, and professional equity for members of the Black LGBTQ + community and the community of Shelby County, TN. One area in particular that we found problematic in Memphis was the continuous rise in new HIV diagnosis in Black same gender loving men and Black cis-gendered women. This was alarming because those folxs looked like my son, my brother, my sister and my friends. The city we love so much has been ranked in the top 10 in new HIV diagnosis for years. In order to help reduce the numbers we knew it was going to take the trust of the community to align with an agency committed to this change. In Memphis, TN "People Living Positively" need and deserve an opportunity to thrive and live productively. What started as a grassroot movement in 2014, has grown into a multilevel organization were we have expanded to include "Transcend Memphis" an initiative for the Transgender & GNC community, "SiStars" an educational, peer-to-peer support group for Cis-Black Women living positively with HIV. This work to end the stigma and existence of HIV has become a labor of love, where we regularly use personal (out-of-pocket) funding to ensure the community have the proper services they need. We put a lot of thought and actionable efforts into how we wanted to enter into the nonprofit sector. One pillar of our distinction would be "if we were for the people then they should be out front leading." In order to achieve this we had to be intentional about employing and empowering trans-gendered and same-gender loving folxs, promoting the health and dignity of those impacted by drug use with Harm Reduction practices.