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Collective for Community Action

@collectiveforcommunityaction

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A collective of healing-centered scholars, activists, & community members transforming knowledge to action for critical public impact.

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🎬✨ TWO TEXAS CITIES. ONE SATURDAY. ONE INTENTIONAL STORY.

Another amazing weekend for our award-winning short documentary, Southern Son Shine! This Saturday, October 3, the film screens in Houston AND San Antonio!

Southern Son Shine centers Black gay men living and thriving with HIV...amplifying joy, resilience, healing, and the power of telling our own stories.

📍 HOUSTON | 2:45 PM
Black Indie Filmmakers Association Houston Film Festival
Community Collective for Houston
12401 S. Post Oak Rd. | Houston, TX 77045
Secure ticket in bio.

💛 Houston family: Some of our storytellers and members of the film’s creative/directing team will be IN ATTENDANCE! Come experience the film and share space with us.

📍 SAN ANTONIO | 3:00 PM
San Antonio International Black Film Festival
Carver Community Cultural Center
226 N. Hackberry St. | San Antonio, TX 78202
Secure ticket in bio.

San Antonio family, come support us!

Houston ➡️ San Antonio. We’re honored to continue carrying this Southern Son Shine narrative forward. 🎥✨

#SouthernSonShine #BlackQueerStories #HIVStorytelling #TRUTHProjectHTX

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Days 3 & 4 wrapped up an incredible #USCHA2026 experience for COMPASS!❤️✨

From more powerful sessions and conversations to connecting with partners, community leaders, and advocates from across the country, we closed out USCHA reminded of what’s possible when we learn, share, and move together.

We’re leaving inspired, energized, and ready to keep building on the work happening across the South. Until next time, USCHA 🫶🏾🧭

#BeOurCOMPASS #HIV #CollectiveImpact #USCHA2026

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Day 2 of COMPASS at #USCHA2026 ❤️🎬

From meaningful conversations and shared learning to the special screening of Tracing Transformation: A Story of How the COMPASS Initiative Changed the South, Day 2 gave us a chance to reflect on the journey, celebrate our collective impact, and honor the people and partnerships that made it possible.

Community. Connection. Transformation. That’s the power of COMPASS. ✨

#BeOurCOMPASS #CollectiveImpact #endhiv #USCHA2026

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Day 1 of COMPASS at #USCHA2026 ❤️

From sharing insights from our State of the South Tour to exploring the 5 Senses of Advocacy and building the next generation of HIV leaders, Day 1 was all about turning community voices into action.

We connected, learned, shared, and celebrated the power of community-driven leadership across the South🎤✨

And we’re just getting started 👀 check out our schedule for more COMPASS presentations!

#BeOurCOMPASS #HIV #HIVAdvocacy #CommunityPower #USCHA2026

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The South has something to say, and we’re listening❤️

Through the State of the South Tour, communities across the South shared their experiences, priorities, and vision for the future of HIV equity and health justice. From our listening sessions to highlighting the report and webinar at the SHAAD Reception, the conversation continues.

Now, we’re bringing it to USCHA 2026!

📅 September 17 | 8–11 AM
📍 Catalina 2 | Catalina Lower Level

We listened. We learned. We shared. Now, we act.

#USCHA2026 #StateOfTheSouth #BeOurCOMPASS #HIV #HealthEquity #SouthernHIV

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Catch COMPASS at USCHA!📣

We’re bringing the work, knowledge, and voices of the COMPASS Initiative® and our incredible partners to this year’s U.S. Conference on HIV/AIDS!

From political power and community advisory boards to capacity building, advocacy, data, sustainable HIV services, and faith-based approaches, our sessions will showcase the innovative work happening across the South.

Swipe through to find our COMPASS-led sessions and add them to your USCHA schedule. We can’t wait to connect, learn, and share with you in Anaheim!

#USCHA2026 #GileadCOMPASS #HIV #CommunityPower #HIVAdvocacy #BeOurCOMPASS

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✨ September is full of opportunities to breathe, connect, create, and celebrate with The T.R.U.T.H. Project!

Join us throughout the month for:

🌿 September 8 - Sound Bath & Conversation with Shadawn McCants
🎭 September 12 - Manhood & Masks: The Rhythm of Becoming
💻 September 17 - P.L.U.S. United Virtual Support Circle
🎤 September 20 - heART&SOUL Open Mic, Vol. 145
🧘🏾 September 24 - GLOW UP Yoga with Exander
🎬 September 26 - Southern Son Shine at the Morehouse College Human Rights Film Festival in Atlanta, where the film is nominated for Best Documentary Short!
🎥 September 27 - And We Rest on Giants INNERsections Screening and Panel with The Health Museum in recognition of National Gay Men's HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

From intentional wellness and supportive community spaces to unapologetic artistry and powerful filmmaking, there is a place for you in this month’s offerings.

Registration links and additional details can be found in the bio.

#TRUTHProjectHTX #CommunityCare #HealingThroughArt #HoustonEvents #SouthernSonShine

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#ThrowbackThursday

On August 13, 2026, community leaders, advocates, service providers, and partners gathered for the inaugural Houston Think Tank Initiative’s Ecosystem Gathering, a purpose filled day of honest conversation, shared learning, and collective strategy.

Together, we explored funding alignment, identified community priorities, and began creating a collective plan to better serve people living with HIV and those for whom HIV is possible. The gathering strengthened relationships across Houston’s HIV ecosystem and reaffirmed our shared commitment to building a more connected, equitable, and sustainable network of support.

We left the room reminded that meaningful change requires all of us...and that collective care must remain at the center of how we move forward.

Save the Date - November 13th - 2nd Houston Think Tank Initiative’s Ecosystem Gathering - YOUR VOICE IS VALUED!

#HoustonThinkTank #CollectiveCare #HIVAdvocacy #CommunityStrategy #HoustonCommunity

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Today, in recognition of Southern HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, we’re taking the conversation to the streets!

For this special #TBT, we’re looking back at when The T.R.U.T.H. Project’s The Formation Community Advisory Board visited Montrose to hear our community’s perceptions of sexual wellness and awareness of syphilis.

Through honest conversations, T.R.U.T.H. in the Streets created space for folx to speak openly about sexual health, HIV, and syphilis...without shame or judgment.

The Formation is a community led collective strengthening sexual wellness education, expanding syphilis awareness, and ensuring prevention messaging reflects the voices and lived experiences of communities most impacted.

On Southern HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, we reaffirm that ending the HIV epidemic in the South requires listening, educating, challenging stigma, and meeting people where they are.

Check out T.R.U.T.H. in the Streets, because open conversations about sexual wellness are acts of care for ourselves and one another.

#SouthernHIVAIDSAwarenessDay #SHAAD #TRUTHInTheStreets #TheFormation #TRUTHProjectHTX

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This weekend was a beautiful reminder of what happens when we intentionally choose one another. 💙

For the 6th year, The T.R.U.T.H. Project’s P.L.U.S. United gathered men and non-binary folx of color living and thriving with HIV for our annual wellness retreat, reimagined this summer as The Get-A-Way.

In Austin, TX, 15 beautiful lives from Houston, Austin, and Dallas came together to pause, exhale, laugh, and collectively care.

From a pool party and cookout by @ambrosialcateringandevents to Sunday brunch , sunrise yoga, a moonlight Yin Sound Bath w/ @exanderyoga , games with @recesshtx , and Mental wellness support from @equitycounseling , the weekend created space to simply be.

The beauty is watching someone arrive guarded and, hour by hour, begin to exhale, laugh louder, connect deeper, and feel community.

I left dwelling in gratitude for every person who trusted this space.

15 lives positively amplified. 15 reminders that community is care.

Because sometimes…you just need to Get-A-Way. 💙☀️

A special THANK YOU to @kindclinic @texaspridecf & @lululemon for supporting this purposed weekend!

#WellnessRetreat #TheGetAWay #CollectiveCare #HIVWellness #WellnessWednesday

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***Personal Invitation***

HIV does not exist in isolation, and neither should the conversations shaping how our communities are supported.

Whether you work directly in HIV services, lead a grassroots organization, support housing or behavioral health, advocate for your community, or simply care about health, equity, and the wellbeing of Houston, your voice belongs in this conversation.

The Houston Think Tank Initiative’s Ecosystem Gathering is a purpose filled day created to bring community members and those doing the work into the same room. Together, we will listen, learn, identify shared challenges, explore funding and resource alignment, and determine three collective priorities to strengthen Houston’s response to HIV in 2026.

This is an opportunity to bridge communities, expand the conversation, and ensure that the decisions affecting us are shaped by more of us.

For those who have been carrying this work, we need your experience. For those entering the conversation from a different door, we need your perspective. There is room beneath this tent for all of us.

📅 Thursday, August 13, 2026
⏰ 9:00 AM–4:00 PM
☕ Breakfast and networking begin at 8:30 AM, Lunch included
📍 The Montrose Center, 401 Branard, HTX

Convened by The T.R.U.T.H. Project in partnership with AIDS United.

Registration is bio.

Come ready to listen, share, connect, and help us move forward, together.

#HoustonThinkTank #CommunityVoice #CollectiveCare #HIVAwareness #HoustonCommunity

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Day 3 at AIDS 2026 was an exciting opportunity to share research, exchange ideas, and highlight the innovative work happening across the COMPASS Initiative.

Emory COMPASS presented "The Pinocchio Effect: Organizational Transformation as a Strategy for Developing Sustainable HIV Services," exploring how organizational transformation can strengthen long-term, community-centered HIV services.

We also celebrated our University of Houston COMPASS partners as they presented "Grappling with Politics in Equity-Centered Implementation Science" and "More than Walls: The Importance of Trauma-Informed Physical Spaces in HIV Organizations," showcasing innovative approaches to advancing equity, implementation science, and trauma-informed care.

Together, these presentations reflected our shared commitment to building stronger organizations, advancing health equity, and supporting communities most impacted by HIV.

Here's a look back at some of our favorite moments from Day 3.

#AIDS2026 #BeOurCOMPASS #HIV #TraumaInformedCare #CommunityLeadership #EndingTheHIVEpidemic

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