LC’s Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration will feature guest speaker Rhonda Fuller Turner ’94, substance abuse outpatient program manager, Horizon Behavioral Health, at 6 p.m. Monday, Jan. 20 in Snidow Chapel.
The “Community Singers,” a musical group put together by Alonzo Walthall ’16, will perform, along with Nigel Word ’14 and Shameka Ferrell ’14, and the LC Step Team, “Steppers in Motion.” The celebration is sponsored by the Black Student Association, the Office of Multicultural Services, and the Spiritual Life Center.
Turner graduated from LC in 1994 with a BS in sociology and earned a master of arts in addiction counseling from Liberty University.
She has spent her professional career working with troubled youth, battered women, at-risk males, individuals with substance use and mental health disorders, and HIV-infected and affected persons.
At Horizon Behavioral Health, she focuses her energies on pregnant and postpartum women who are abusing drugs/alcohol and families impacted by substance abuse. She is also in demand as a consultant to community agencies and the faith-based community on organizing and implementing health education programs.
Among her most significant accomplishments is organizing and co-founding the Coalition for HIV Awareness and Prevention (CHAP) of Central Virginia, Inc. in 2000. She is also the recipient of several awards including: the 2010 Mayor’s Award for Excellence; NAACP Citizen Achievement Award; YWCA Academy of Women Award in the area of health; Delta Sigma Theta International Day of Service Award; and the Emerging Leaders 20 under 40 Award. She is an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and The Links, Incorporated.
On July 13, 2013, the historic Court Street Baptist Church in Lynchburg, under the pastoral leadership of Dr. Rodney Forrest, licensed Turner to preach. She is married to Rev. Michael A. Turner Sr., pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Staunton, Va.
