Throughout her undergraduate years at Saint Louis University, Sheila Grigsby MSN[R], RN, MPH worked as a community activist with peers around the issues of HIV and STDs.
There were two seemingly unrelated incidents observed that perhaps sealed her commitment to women’s sexual health – one involving a sexual predator, and another involving young girls who too often become sexual prey.
The first incident had the greater St. Louis area in alarm when it was made public that a young man who was HIV-positive intentionally infected around 100 girls and young women with the virus that causes AIDS.
Around that same time, Grigsby started working at the Health Department.
“I was able to work with some of the case-finding – trying to find some of those girls who were actually exposed,” she said. “And many of those young girls were exposed because they were enthralled by a young man who was giving them money and was telling them they were pretty, and he was—lo and behold, infected with HIV and exposing it to young girls.”
Flashiness, combined with sweet words and promises can lift the head of an insecure young woman or girl with feelings of low self-esteem and isolation.
No one knows for sure how many girls were involved. He was killed while in incarceration.
The second instance came about as a result of her leading a pregnancy prevention program at Girls Incorporated after graduating from college.
“It was through that experience that I saw that many young girls were getting involved with sexual activity simply because of low self-esteem and not feeling like they were loved,” Grigsby said. “I was going into public schools, educating young girls about sex and sexuality, but I could only talk to them about abstinence-based programs – and it was too late when I was able to get access to them.”
Grigsby said those incidents led her to be more active in this issue and of being an advocate for training and educating women especially. Her work with the health department led her to the faith community.
“The faith community is the ideal setting to work with women and young kids to educate about this issue – getting them talking about the issue and since the black church is such a place that is highly regarded – respected in the black community,” Grigsby said.
As founder and executive director of Faith Communities United, Grigsby works with churches and congregations in the metropolitan area to foster ongoing education and discussion and response to HIV and AIDS.
“I have 18 churches I’m in covenant with,” Grigsby said. “It’s taken us a long time to get to the point that we are, but now it’s really starting to come full circle, because churches are understanding that they need to say something – that they need to do something.”
Grigsby’s passion for women’s health is also served through her career an assistant professor at the College of Nursing at the University of Missouri St. Louis.
“One of the charges that I have as a community health instructor is to expose my students to other aspects of the field and let them know there are other things they can do with this degree other than just work in a hospital,” she said.
Now that she’s been teaching for several years, she is starting now to see some of her students come back with questions about community nursing and other options in the field of nursing.
“I want to encourage nurses wherever they are to look at other options and to be true to who they are and to find that passion or that social justice issue that really excites them and to go out there and make a difference in the world,” Grigsby said.
Grigsby earned both a bachelor of science and master of science degree in nursing from Saint Louis University. Grigsby received a nursing educator certificate at the University of Missouri Kansas City, where she is currently enrolled in a PhD program and is researching critical conversations between African American mothers and their daughters.
“I am designing a feasibility study for African-American mothers and daughters and their comfort as well as their confidence, in talking about sexual issues,” Grigsby said.
“It’s an intervention I will be designing to help these mothers and daughters to develop the skills to be able to communicate with one another; and simultaneously teaching them about anatomies and physiologies of the body; STDs; dating violence; family values. So, I’ll be working with my churches that I have already united to recruit from, so it will be a faith-based intervention.”
Grigsby has found her passion and is making a difference in her world.
“I just think that we need people, especially African-American women, that look like us talking to us about our health and talking to us about the things that we need to know about,” Grigsby said. “So, I’m really passionate about women knowing about their sexual health; women knowing about how to take care of themselves and to be the best women that they possibly can be.”
She is a Mounds, Illinois native who attends and serves as parish nurse at St. Alphonsus Rock Church in St. Louis.
