When I was growing up, the surest sign of Spring’s arrival wasn’t chirping birds or blooming flowers. It was a box of chocolate bars. Unfortunately, I wasn’t supposed to eat them, I was supposed to sell them as a fundraiser for my school. As Sister Margaret handed out the boxes and checked off names on her master list, my heart sank at the prospect of weekends spent pitching “World’s Finest” chocolate (a highly misleading name as far as I was concerned) to unsuspec ng rela ves and neighbors. Despite my best inten ons, the deadline had a way of sneaking up on me, and I’d have to purchase any unsold bars with my allowance. I spent the Summer months easing the pain of not having money for movies or arcade games with my giant box of World’s Finest chocolate. Decades later, not much has changed. Part of working for a non-profit organiza on means one hand is always stretched out to friends and family asking for help. Phrases like “donate to our auc on” and “come to our event” have replaced “would you like to buy a chocolate bar?” and “plain or krispy?” but my hand is s ll outstretched. I think that’s why
I love Dining Out for Life so much... for one glorious night each year I get to put my hand away. Dining Out for Life is an interna onal event which raises money to support AIDS service organiza ons. This is our eleventh year par cipa ng, and in those eleven years Dining Out for Life has become one of our largest and most popular annual events. I think this is because it’s just so easy to par cipate. You don’t have to convince your friends and family to collect pledges or buy a cket or part with a big chunk of hard earned cash. All they have to do is go out to eat at a par cipa ng restaurant on April 9th, and a minimum of 25% of their food bill will be donated to Evergreen Health Services. That’s it! How can you help? Grab dinner with a group of friends and family. It can be pizza or an elegant gourmet meal. With close to 100 restaurants (see DiningOutForLife.com for the complete list) there are op ons for nearly any loca on, taste or budget. Or you can sign up to be an ambassador, a fun and easy way to help make DOFL 2013 our biggest success yet. Contact Kathy Oczek for more informa on. - John Carocci
Dine Out and Fight AIDS on April 9, 2013
HELPING PEOPLE FIND THEIR WAY TO BET TER HEALTHCARE
CHANGE
has been one of the few constants in the world of HIV and AIDS since the very first days of the pandemic, and just when you have your bearings, here comes change with a whole new set of rules and challenges. But change also brings new opportunities, and fresh ways of thinking about old problems, both of which are essential parts of not just surviving, but thriving and adapting to meet the needs of the communities we serve. Last year’s name change from AIDS Community Services to Evergreen Health Services was, in part, laying the foundation for an agency structure designed to maximize our ability to weather coming changes in the overall healthcare system. Gone is the agency's Medicaid funded COBRA program, which had been providing case management services to HIV+ individuals and their families for close to thirty years. In COBRA's place is the new Health Home system, designed to increase communication and cooperation among service providers, with the ultimate goal of better care for clients. It's also designed to reduce healthcare costs, as better care for clients will lead to
savings via fewer costly hospitalizations or emergency room visits. Evergreen Health Services’ Case Managers are now Care Coordinators, and while the Health Home system has brought a number of changes to their job description, Care Coordinators are still the glue that holds everything together. "Care Coordination is the key to the whole Health Home system," says Angela Palmer. The Care Coordinator identifies which services a client needs (medical, housing, legal, psychiatric, chemical dependency, etc.). Then, working with the client, the Care Coordinator develops an Individualized Care Plan and helps the client access those needed services. So far, that doesn't sound all that different from COBRA Case Management, but there are some new twists. First off, Care Coordinators are no longer working with an exclusively HIV+ client base. Our Health Home serves clients dealing with a variety of chronic illnesses including cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, metabolic diseases (obesity, diabetes), mental illness, substance abuse, and HIV disease. It has been an adjustment, but Angela notes that our staff had already
been dealing with most of these issues on a daily basis. A larger change comes in the ways a Care Coordinator is involved in the client's care. They can now assist in court cases, for example, and are involved from the beginning in discharge planning for clients who are hospitalized. Care Coordinators can also utilize the resources of the entire Health Home to make sure all the client's needs are met. So what exactly is a Health Home? Health Homes are structured groups of service providers working together as a mini-network to meet a client's medical, social and behavioral needs. Our Health Home is called Health Home Partners of Western New York, LLC, and is comprised of Evergreen Health Services, Catholic Health, and Spectrum Human Services. Once a client enters the Health Home system, we are often able to "fast track" them into services offered by one of our Health Home partners. We are also able to share information, including the client's Individualized Care Plan, with other providers in the Health Home electronically (with the client's consent, of course), making it easier for everyone to be on the same page and prevent anything from falling through the cracks. If an issue arises, the client's providers will receive alerts through the IT system. In a way, the Health Home is really a larger-scale version of the "one stop shopping" model we've used here at the Evergreen Center for years; a model that has emphasized communication and collaboration to meet the client's needs. Of course, no matter how carefully we plan, such a largescale change is going to lead to growing pains and a bit of chaos. The change from COBRA Case Management to Health Home Care Coordination is no exception, and our fourth floor staff is working very hard to adjust to new parameters and an increased workload, much of which is due to a dramatically expanded client base. Medicaid and local managed care organizations provide our Health Home with a list of potential eligible clients on a quarterly basis. It is our responsibility to contact people on the list and "pitch" the Health Home concept, which is likely a change from what they’ve become used to. That’s in addition to creating Individualized Care Plans for new clients, learning to work closely with the other Partners in our Health Home, and continuing to care for our existing clients. Changes galore! But one thing has not changed and never will: our agency’s commitment to providing the finest care available to people who need it. Connections salutes the fourth floor staff who are continuing this 30 year tradition of excellence! – John Carocci
Seven Evergreen Associa on sta members were honored for reaching length of service milestones at a recent sta lunch. Congratula ons, and thank you for doing a great job every day!
transgen
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very me I meet with other providers, I like to start out the same way. “Let’s go around the circle. Please tell me your name and what you do here. Also, please tell me which pronouns you would like us to use when addressing you. I can go first. My name is Sally, I’m the Outreach Coordinator with the Pride Center’s Transgender Health Ini a ve, and I use female pronouns, like she and her.” With every group I get the same response: No one has ever asked me that before! Which is precisely the reason that ques on is so important. Asking about pronouns models one small way providers can begin to offer trans-affirma ve care to their clients, by avoiding judgments or assump ons about who they are serving and how that person wants to be addressed. Doing this type of ac vity at other agencies is important, but it is only one part of the work of the Transgender Health Ini a ve (THI). We (Benne Evere , Siobhan Fitzgerald-Cushing, Diana Pa on, and myself) offer both individualized and group-level programs which focus on behavior change and risk reduc on. These programs address issues like safer sex, using clean syringes, substance use treatment programs, regular HIV/STI screening, treatment adherence, and more. O en mes, people come to us wan ng help finding a doctor or counselor who knows how to treat them respec ully, or they’re
nder health initiative interested in hormone replacement therapy, and we are able to point them in the right direc on. Finding ways to foster a sense of community is also really important to us. We run a small discussion group, TransGenera on, twice a month. Beginning in March we will also be hos ng a monthly “Vogue 4 Your Life” event as a way to create spaces that are fun, safe, and help build community. Peer Educators, Community Advisory Board, focus groups, and surveys are also integral parts of the THI. It is so important that the trans* community feels a sense of ownership and pride about the Ini a ve. We really value the input and crea vity of our community members. Without their support, we would not be able to provide such successful events and programs. In November of 2012 we organized the first annual Trans* Wellness Fair – the first in Western New York in over ten years! The conference was a ended by more than 75 members of the community and featured workshops geared towards both trans*iden fied people as well as medical and social service professionals. Loca ng the event in the Buffalo Niagara Conven on Center challenged the invisibility of the trans* community, and shined a spotlight on their needs as well as their strengths. We have received overwhelmingly posi ve feedback and are all very excited about organizing a bigger and be er
Trans* Wellness Conference this fall! We are so proud of THI’s early successes, which have not come without some significant challenges. All of our staff understand that due to widespread transphobia and discrimina on, trans* individuals are o en weary of accessing services. By being familiar faces in the community, having an open-door policy, and being confident in making solid referrals, we regularly go the extra mile to let our clients know that we genuinely care about their well-being. We know that ending an epidemic like HIV will take more than simply suppor ng individuals in engaging in safer behaviors. Without economic self sufficiency, access to services, and legal equality, changes in individual behavior can only take us so far. The Trans Health Ini a ve is an ini al – though valuable – first step. We want members of the trans* community to be more than just safe – we want them to be empowered. Although the Transgender Health Ini a ve is s ll in its early stages, we have already noted an increased awareness of transgender needs. As we spread informa on about our programs to other agencies, our colleagues have begun to iden fy us as a resource both for their trans* clients as well as for providers. It is common for providers to have ques ons such as what pronouns to use, what terms like “transi oning” or “genderqueer” mean, or what services are available
by Sally Heron
to trans* folks. We want everyone to know that we are here to help answer your ques ons! Western New York’s transgender and genderqueer communi es have also responded to the increased visibility the program brings. With the THI, trans* folks are now aware that the Pride Center is responsive to their needs. Our ini al focus is on safer sex and risk reduc on, but we hope that the reach of this program is felt more broadly. We hope that transgender and genderqueer individuals will feel empowered to create change on both an individual level and all across Western New York. The Transgender Health Ini a ve staff includes Sally Heron (Outreach Coordinator), Benne Evere and Siobhan Fitzgerald-Cushing (Outreach Specialists), and Diana Pa on (Administra ve Assistant and Peer Educator). For more informa on about the Transgender Health Ini a ve, e-mail: transhealth@ pridecenterwny.org or call (716) 852-7743 x3412. C Author’s Note: Trans* (with an asterisk) is a term that describes a wide variety of gender identities and expressions. We can work with people who are gender non-conforming, including drag queens/kings and people who cross dress (even if they don’t identify as transgender). Don’t know if your client is appropriate for a referral? That’s okay! We’re happy to answer your questions – big or small. For more information, see the 2011 study “Injustice at Every Turn: A Report of the National Transgender Discrimination Study” at http://transequality.org/PDFs/Executive_Summary.pdf
O 5
April Birthdays
randomfacts ONE IS A LIE! C A N YO U T E L L T H E D I F F E R E N C E?
1
(see back cover for answer)
Orange juice tastes bad a er brushing because toothpaste blocks your sweet taste receptors due to a foaming agent that changes the permeability of your tongue cells.
Dale Kingston - April 7 Laurie Matson - April 7 Pratheep Sakas - April 9 Roy Golia - April 10 Dennis McClain - April 15 Alexis Soto-Colorado - April 16 Maria LoTempio - April 17 Kimberly Harding - April 23 Susan Malyszka - April 28
April Anniversaries Jacquelyn Dixon – 1 year Benne Evere – 1 year Lisa Zuppa – 1 year Tiffany Macauley - 2 years Karen Edmond – 3 years Michael Hamann – 6 years Ma hew Pasquarella – 8 years Kathy Oczek – 13 years
Your Con nued Dedica on and Hard Work Are No ced and Appreciated!
2 There was a World War II ba le where two ships fought while disguised as each other.
3 The first book wri en on a typewriter was Mark Twain’s A Connec cut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.
connections APRIL 2013
4 Mozart wrote a piano piece that required the player PUBLISHER/LAYOUT John Carocci EDITOR Kimberly Harding
to use both hands and their nose.
5 If Manha an had as many people per square mile as Alaska, there would be 14 people in Manha an.
S U B M I T T E D
B Y
B R E N D A N
O R R A N G E
CONTRIBUTORS Seth Girod, Sally Heron, Kimberly Lombard, Sheila Marcheson, Brendan Orrange, Talor Struckmann
Hi, I’m James DeGarmo the Opera ons Assistant here at Evergreen. You might find me wandering around the building stopping by your office, but don’t worry I’m not lost or looking for anyone in par cular. I’m just busy doing my job. A li le knowledge about me? Sure! I was born and raised right here in the heart of buffalo (Elmwood and West Delavan to be exact). I went to school for business, but my real passion is making people feel happy and comfortable when they are around me. I enjoy movies, sports, gaming, and being
out and about. I love volunteering and giving a helping hand so don’t be afraid to ask me for any kind of assistance. If you have any other ques ons about me feel free to stop in on the 5th floor in Suite 516 or call me at extension 3185. I’m Maurice Fears, the new Correc onal Services Specialist. I love sports, especially golf, football and basketball. I like to read, and going to church. I am a family man. I love movies, too! I have worked at Lake Shore Behavioral Health, and I’m very glad to be working here at Evergreen Health Services!
Top: Johanna’s view of the Great Smoky Mountains. Bottom: Maisha’s cross country routes in 1987 (l) and 1993 (r).
I have driven across the country twice, both times were with my parents in a car, trying not to kill one another. In 1987, we started in NYC and drove down, across, and up the entire coastline until we reached Seattle. There were my dad, mom, my sister and myself in a 1987 Plymouth Sundance. In 1993, the day after I graduated, we all piled into a fancy conversion van with shag carpet and a TV and drove to Seattle again! This time it was my dad, my mom, my older brother, my two younger sisters, me, and my baby brother. Halfway there our timing belt gave out, but we got it fixed and kept on trucking! Mercifully, my dad chose the straighter route! Now my husband, two sons, and I drive from Buffalo to Atlanta every summer. - Maisha Drayton My furthest traveled has been to Gatlinburg Tennessee. I went last April with all my kids. I do have to mention that my baby girl was 2 years old then. So it was very interesting.
I have been there twice and plan to go again. There were so many things to do there. We went to different places right in downtown Gatlinburg but we loved the Great Smoky Mountains. - Johanna Aponte Twice I drove over 2,500 miles between Buffalo and Los Angeles. From Buffalo to LA I drove through the Northern portion of the country, and through the mountains of Colorado, which were absolutely beautiful. From LA to Buffalo, I drove across the desert and through the southern portion of the country, coming North through Arkansas, Missouri, Indiana, and Illinois. - Patrick Butler The farthest would have to be to Arkansas, which is about 17 hours or 1054 miles - that is where my grandparents live but unfortunately I do not have a picture to go along with it! - Mindi Mietlicki
why I start
A
In September of 1992, I had just returned from a summer in New Mexico and I was looking for work. I browsed through the phone book, scanning for agencies I felt would be meaningful places to make a living. The lis ng for AIDS Community Services jumped out at me since I had done some sexuality work (take your own meaning), friends and I had volunteered a li le with Act UP, and I had friends dealing with HIV and gay discrimina on. I called and was told they had an opening for a recep onist, but I would have to come in right away. My interviewer the next day was Financial Officer Al Parker. He asked how I would handle sexual educa on items and sexually explicit materials being visible around the office. I made plans to decorate the office vibrators for Christmas, and got hired the next day. I was home. As the Administra ve Assistant to the agency (about 20 people then), I sat behind a glass window, buzzed folks into the building, and answered the phone. I got to hang out with Carocci, wear my cool (or odd, depending on how you look at it) vintage clothes and nobody yelled at me! I had single person health care coverage, but I remember management making sure that the agency offered family health insurance, because we had a single mother working here who could not afford to get health care for her kids. EHS
TheConnectionsEssay
ted working here...
AND WHY I STAYED understood that our values were to care for the clients and the employees. I remember the Community Educators (Robin, David, Leonard, and Neville Francis (yes, the musician)) planning safer sex par es and trying to get condoms out to everyone, everywhere. Just like then, today I see Seth trying to support the guys in Life Changes and make them laugh, the peers at CAS making packets and gree ng everyone who walks in like they are important, Jenn crying over the problems of a consumer, Brendan haikuing his way into the hearts of SEP, Cecil standing up for something unpopular like the breas eeding cover of Time, Andre making sure to smile and upli you when you walk in the door. As the Admin, and then more as a Case Manager, I was blessed to be a witness, and be able to help a ny bit, as some very ill people died. The in mate physical and emo onal details of each person’s illness were unique, some mes gruesome and some mes led to beau ful moments. Paul, Andrew and Michelle had to hand feed the dying like babies and wipe mouths because they were there, even though it wasn’t their job, but it had to be done. All of us were greeted at one me or another at the door for a home visit by a naked client with demen a. Yes, Care Coordinators fill out paperwork for en tlements, but they also, then and now, hold a client’s hand when they are scared,
hug them when no one else will, sit during some pre y graphic medical appointments, and tell lonely people that they care. Evergreen has been humane and understanding of the personal stuff we all go through occasionally. In 1996, a long- me client I had worked with very closely, died. A er three years of planning funerals, I just needed a break. I took an unplanned vaca on with Evergreen’s blessing. What a gi to know that your employer cares as much about you as they do the bo om line. By the way, if anyone knows how Debbie’s son is doing, can you please let me know? Once, the agency was given ckets to see a free screening of the premiere of “Philadelphia” starring Tom Hanks. I sat in the theater with coworkers and clients and volunteers, some who had AIDS, many who had lost someone to AIDS, all with an understanding of HIV and the world we were living in. We sat together, silently, and watched and cried. Many of those people in the audience that night are no longer here, but we all felt a collec ve connectedness that night. We were in this together. I was so fortunate to move to Jamestown and s ll be able to work for the place I loved. As Director of the Southern Tier office, I witnessed people caring for clients, and doing all the everyday stuff. There wasn’t (and isn’t) fundraising, PR, or facility management
staff; all of the Case Managers and Educators helped with that stuff a er doing their own jobs. Staff put on 6 Cause for Celebra ons, 3 AIDS Walks and now 7 Dining Out for Life events raising almost $100,000. Evergreen staff always tries to find a way to get the needs met, whether in the job descrip on or not. Over the years, Evergreen has proven again and again to be the place I was meant to be. Over the years, and today, the employees, the consumers, the volunteers, the place, have had me in awe. •
• •
• •
•
We have a beau ful garden here because Chris Voltz started it, and others have con nued to volunteer their me to make it a masterpiece. Volunteers started this place, and one of the first volunteers was Ron Silverio. Sally Burn’s client writes to her from jail, and I’m sure others do too. Why? Because we are some of the only support they get. When Brian Planty looks at budgets, he asks: “Did we feed people? Did we house them?” Only the bizarre finance staff would welcome Mike Hamann (CFO) back with a giant Britney Spears poster. We know he LOVES her! The admin desk on the 4th floor has had wonderful volunteers to answer the phone in their friendly way. Several of them, including
Angie and Nancy, had sons who died of AIDS. James Hill offers to clean up messes he didn’t make and doesn’t have responsibility to clean up. • Teams of staff worked together without complaining (too much) when we moved our office to South Elmwood, when we purged all our old outdated and deceased files, when we got eMDs and Penelope, and when we switched to unique iden fiers. Big projects and great teamwork! • To solve a problem crea vely, one of Courtney Rhine’s clients gets tutored by another client. • Kim Harding and Lucielle Venezia let me call them 80 mes a day without really complaining too much. But they did put me on a ra on system. • 12 or more clients meet monthly in the Partners Group. They love what we do and want to help. • I have go en my flu shot and my ppd (yes, I know I’m overdue!) from EMG when it is convenient for me, not them. They know I need it and I travel a distance so they go out of their way for me. Every workplace has problems. We wouldn’t be human if we didn’t find things to complain about and Evergreen is far from perfect. We can always do be er at living out our values. My older sister always told me, “It doesn’t ma er what your work is. You can have your dream job, and if you work with jerks, you’ll hate it. You can flip burgers, and if you work with people who care, you will be happy.” I know I only men oned a few people by name, but by working on all of our grants and funding sources now, I get a taste of what each of you do. I may not be next to you while you fulfill those work plan projec ons or enter the data, but I know you are doing it. Every me I fill out another report, I get to see past the numbers. I see that you are caring for the sick, li ing up those who have been made to feel unworthy, ge ng crap done that the person next to you needed by yesterday, and taking pride in even mundane tasks. I have stayed here because I see us together trying to make it be er. This place s ll remains for me what I was looking for twenty years ago, a place to earn a living that I could be proud of, with meaningful work, and with the right people. You are the right people. — Kimberly Lombard •
ON THE ROAD WITH
EVAN GREENE
another Connections Question I would spend the day with my Grammy. I did not appreciate the time I had with her when I was a teenager and I would love to get a day back to show her how much I love and miss her! - Mindi Mietlicki
If I could spend an entire day with one person in the past – it would most definitely have to be my father Jose A. Tapia. He only lived to the age of 43 and I didn’t get to fully find out everything there was about him. I would also love to hear his singing voice, just one more time. - Tayrin Torres
I’d have to pick 2 people who helped shape the world we live in today. My first pick would be George Washington, due to his integral impact on our Revolution and forming of our country, especially in a political time where people today are arguing over the intentions of the framers and how they would view current laws and the state of our Government. Also, largely due to my love of all things Apple and technology, I’d pick Steve Jobs because of his vision and impact on computers and electronics. - Patrick Butler
10 Fun Facts Susan Malyszka 1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
Most people who know me would smirk at the “fun” part of this exercise. It’s not the first word that I’m associated with! Friends and family refer to me as “The Grammar Police.” Once someone swiped my phone and sent weird text messages to a friend as a joke – my friend knew immediately that the messages weren’t from me based solely on the sloppy punctua on. Genealogy research is an obsession of mine. I have over 1,800 people accounted for in my family tree. I am a member of a Facebook group known as “Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness.” A lot of genealogy research requires in-person look-ups at the local library so the group is a kind of ‘pay-it-forward’ way of helping people who are out of state and can’t get to the informa on themselves. Dancing is a favorite hobby. I’ve taken all sorts of classes over the years but ballroom dancing is at the top of the list. I spent the most me working on Argen ne Tango, Foxtrot and Waltz. If I ever win the lo ery, the first call will be to my former teacher to sign up for lessons again. At least half of the clothes in my closet are vintage items. I have everything from everyday items to party dresses. The accessories are star ng to take up a large chunk of space in my house (coats, purses, shoes, umbrellas, suitcases). You’ll probably see a lot more of the clothes when the weather gets warmer (maybe even a hat or two). I love to travel. My last job required me to be in NYC at least once or twice a month and I quickly
became addicted to flying. I’ve been trying to get to Europe for over two decades - something always happens to derail the plans! 7) Gardening is also another favorite hobby. Some people hate weeding; I find it very calming. 8) My love for vintage goes beyond clothes and extends to my house – I have been renova ng/ restoring for what seems like forever (I’m going back to a 1940s design scheme). I’m also trying to get more involved in the local preserva on movement but it can be truly heartbreaking when you lose a good building. 9) I don’t cook too much on a daily basis but in December it’s not uncommon for me to take a vaca on day or two for the sole purpose of cooking pierogi or baking pierniki (Polish Christmas cookies). If you’re trying to lose weight, don’t ask about either of these. However, if you’re trying to win the weigh-in, encourage your compe on to ask for cookies. 10) Flowers are the quickest way to my heart. Pre y much anything can be forgiven with flowers. Seriously.
James Degarmo 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) 10)
I play the bagpipes I can juggle I love movies I enjoy troubleshoo ng computer issues Call of Duty is my favorite game of all me I used to coach tennis Poker is my favorite past me I love volunteering I enjoy playing board games/ card games I can cook
Sleep! Insufficient sleep causes fa gue, drowsiness, moodiness, loss of energy, and lack of concentra on and alertness. Keep these symptoms from interfering with your day with the following ps which will help you establish and maintain a healthy sleep rou ne:
Strive for seven to eight hours of sleep per night. This may involve changing the schedule you’re used to, but it’s vital to make sleep a priority. Keep a regular schedule – try to go to bed and wake up the same me each day, including weekends. Create a good sleep environment, including comfortable room temperature, minimal noise and sufficient darkness. Keep track of habits that help you fall asleep, like relaxing music or reading before bed. Repeat those ac vi es each night.
Developing healthy habits also helps you sleep better and contributes to an overall healthy lifestyle:
Eat nutri ously. Good ea ng habits can help you sleep be er and feel energized all day. Exercise regularly. This also helps your sleep quality and day me energy level. Avoid caffeine and nico ne 3 to 4 hours before going to bed. Avoid meals, vigorous exercise or alcohol close to bed me.
YOUNG.
by Seth Girod
Queer. A Person of Color. Poor. HIV+. These are the people the Life Changes program serves every day. American society doesn’t always look so kindly on persons that fit any or all of these labels. Just look at any popular magazine, television show or movie! The positive images and role models you’ll find that fit these categories are few and far between. The stories you hear and the people you see in media are all similar, and you end up with a sea of white faces and heterosexual lifestyles. If you’re lucky, you find brown people and some queer stories thrown in. Most of the time, however, this demographic is misrepresented and what’s shown is generally a large, sweeping stereotype of an entire community. Media shows what our society thinks is beautiful, acceptable, and worth talking about. When you don’t see images of people like yourself floating around, the underlying message is that you aren’t any of these things. You’re ugly, not good enough, a freak, and never going to amount to anything… Alongside issues in the media, there are similar problems mirrored in the everyday life of someone within these communities. Financially, education- and healthwise, queer people and people of color are generally less affluent and in worse situations initially than their white, straight counterparts. Growing up in this world is difficult, and it’s sometimes hard to gain access to help. What little positivity we do have in the media and our everyday lives is usually created by someone from within our community. That, my friends, is how Life Changes came to be. When Marcus May created this group in 2005, it was because Buffalo didn’t have very many spaces that were friendly toward our community. There were organizations and groups that provided programming and services for gay youth and youth of color, but none that did all of that at the same time. Our greater purpose is twofold. We strive to lower the incidence of new HIV and STI cases within communities of color and men who have sex with men between the ages of 18 and 29, and we also assist them in acquiring whatever social services they may need. We provide HIV and STI testing through Evergreen Health Services, and also help with finding housing, acquiring food stamps, creating resumes, and applying to college. We also provide a safe space where conversation can be had about any number of sexual health topics, relationship issues, and
societal matters concerning our community. Sometimes, it’s just a space where you can come to hang out and chill with your peers. We strive to make our group meetings as inclusive as possible, and open our doors to any and all that are interested in attending meetings. Here’s the basic idea of how the group works: We are in year 2 of our grant from the AIDS Institute, and our group functions as a Diffusion of Evidence Based Intervention (DEBI) called Mpowerment. This means there are five components to Life Changes that all work together to help us reach our goals. We have four different groups that we conduct: a weekly Tuesday group, a bimonthly Core Group, monthly M-group, and periodic VOICES groups throughout the year, in addition to outreach sessions throughout each month. The weekly Tuesday group functions as our staple group meeting that all are welcome to attend. This is where most of our discussion and education sessions happen, as well as where folks can come to hang out and enjoy each other’s company. The core group is our Life Changes version of what you might think of as a Board of Directors. The core group plans all of the events, chooses what we’d like the discussion topics to be within the next few weeks, and decides the direction we would like to see the program take for the coming months in terms of programming. An M-group meeting is a one-time sexual health discussion group whose topics range anywhere from ‘how to meet and talk to guys safely’ to ‘how to have fun and safe sex’. Our VOICES group is an MSM-specific video intervention that is meant to start conversation about condom negotiation. Lastly, our outreach is a key component of Life Changes. We’re continually looking for new ways to meet and interact with people from our community, and for more places that we can reach and better serve our community. Outreach is integral to our success as a program. If we aren’t meeting new people and trying to get them in for services, we aren’t doing our jobs. Following is an interview with Dana McKnight, a person who has an interesting perspective of Life Changes. Dana has been here since the beginning of the group, has seen its progression, worked as a Peer outreach worker doing outreach for the program, and is now working alongside me as a fellow Harm Reduction Counselor. I asked her a few questions about the program and her history with us: (continued on next page)
Watch for the new Life Changes publicity campaign developed by LC staff and the Marke ng Team... it’s coming soon!
Life Changes Seth: Very few people know much about you — either as a peer or Harm Reduction Counselor. Tell us a bit about your background. Dana: I’m a Buffalo native, raised on the east side in a low wealth community. I attended City Honors for middle and high school and spent almost six years abroad, where I majored in Cultural Anthropology (with a specific emphasis on sexual and ethnic minorities in homogenous spaces) through an eclectic Quaker College under the umbrella of Long Island University. It had only 60 students enrolled, but its entire premise was global citizenship and experiential education. I ended up living in places like London, Kyoto and Groningen and doing extensive traveling between those locations. After my school grant ran dry (L.I.U. had closed a campus and laid off a great deal of its faculty), I ended up pseudo-immigrating to the Netherlands where I went to art school for a student visa and studied sculpture and blacksmithing. Uninspired with the art world and academia, I returned stateside and was hired on as Outward Bound staff in Atlanta, where I led group facilitation sessions, led mountain-side expeditions, urban ropes courses and community sustainability projects through several middle and high schools in the Greater Atlanta metropolitan area. After a year, I realized that my skill-sets and life experiences would have a greater impact on the youth from my old neighborhoods in Buffalo. Why Life Changes? When I came back to Buffalo, the job I had moved here for evaporated and I soon found myself homeless. Most people don’t seem to realize that all it takes to be on the streets is a series of unfortunate events and a lack of a safety net. If your immediate family is working poor and barely scraping out a living, who do you have to ask for help? I ended up in a shelter for women and hopping from couch to couch while I worked a series of fast jobs (food service and youth work) to get together security deposits and rent money. A friend introduced me to Marcus May who referred
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me to the Wellness Center. I would come for free lunches to help alleviate some of my expenditures. When I told Marcus about my background, he asked if I could start volunteering at Life Changes. I volunteered for over a year until I was hired part-time as a peer educator. Although I had originally abstained from seeking the position that Marcus had left in his wake, I realized that I loved the group and its constituents, cared about the program’s growth, and wanted to be more involved in the emotional and physical care of Buffalo’s LGBTQ community of color. I applied and was hired as a Harm Reduction Counselor in February of this year. There is no other program like this in Buffalo. None. There is no place that not only attempts to curb the HIV epidemic in Black/Latino men, but also helps with providing resources for personal growth and a safe place to meet on a level indicative of a grass-roots approach but with relatively wide funding. I say this not only as someone who works in the program but as a recipient of its services. What are you looking forward to seeing in the Life Changes program over the next few years? I think with the large amount of new marketing techniques and regimented outreach, Life Changes is entering a new chapter. We’re becoming a lot more visible in areas that were a lot less accessible previously. Also, in rebuilding our reputation, we have some fantastic alliances sprouting up. For one thing, our new joint events with MOCHA will have some really amazing results within the outreach sphere and the community at large. We’re doing really good work, and the best is yet to come! So, as Dana says, we are doing great work. We are important. We are here to help a population that is severely underrepresented and underserved, quite often forgotten, or not even thought of in the first place. We were created to help combat the current socioeconomic plights and health disparities within our community. We give a listening ear, support and encouragement, education, a safe space, and a forum to discuss the issues we face, and ways to help overcome. We are Life Changes. C
Random Facts Answer: Number 3 is False! “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” was the first book wriƩen on a typewriter.