Background:
Community members from a predominantly African-American and Hispanic neighborhood in Denver, Colorado, with high rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea in youth aged 15-24 years, were invited to participate in a community meeting to address issues around STDs.

Objective:
To engage community members in defining a shared community vision to reduce the rates of STDs in youth.

Method:
Nearly forty persons, including African-American and Hispanic youth, middle and high school teachers, clinical and public health staff, a promotora, several African-American and Hispanic facilitators and adult community members engaged in a five-hour process to create a visual map of the community vision around STDs. A graphic facilitation team captured the process in colorful images and words on 4x8 ft. panels. The group explored the impact, experiences, and prevention strategies around STDs as part of one-on-one, small group and large group activities. Spanish interpretation was provided for all elements of the meeting process.

Result:
Several 4x8 ft panels were created. The detailed images of where participants see their community today, the shared African-American/Hispanic community vision to reduce high rates of STDs over a three-year period, and specific steps to achieve that vision were drawn and presented to the participants. Community members committed to one or more action steps in 2006.

Conclusion:
The finished panels document this extraordinary process in which various elements of the community defined their shared vision to address a complex medical, social, personal and community issue for which several solutions are possible. Action steps to begin to address STDs were documented, and a sense of urgency around preventing chlamydia and gonorrhea in youth aged 15-24 years created the impetus for ongoing action in 2006.

Implications:
Use of graphic facilitation to create a shared community vision has the potential to allow various groups to come together to create a common denominator which unites members for action.