New Directions for Hispanics Against AIDS

Michigan HIV News, Fall 2001 Issue

Teresa Cruz has been the anchor of Hispanics Against AIDS (HAA) for the past four years. When HAA received its first funding, she was the staff. Since Monica Delgado left in July ’00, Cruz had been program coordinator and acting as executive director. On July 30th Teresita Jamett-Yount began as the new executive director.

Cruz was trained by Rene Meave and Juan Luis Merced for the American Red Cross Hispanic HIV/AIDS Instructor program. (See the feature story in the Fall ’00 issue.) “Actually Juan Luis was the one who recruited me. I wasn’t interested in HIV at all.” At the time Cruz was a family support worker for an agency that helped prevent child abuse and neglect, and a single mom. At the time there was a cash incentive from Red Cross eager to recruit instructors from the Hispanic community. “So I said ‘Why not?,’” Cruz said, who took the course but afterward she put the instructor books on a shelf until the reality of AIDS hit home.

She did not become involved in prevention work until after her brother died of complications from AIDS. Cruz to faced the barriers at the hospital and witnessed the language barrier for her mother with the caseworker. This woke her up to her community’s need for her training. “On top of my pain, I would have to explain to my entire family,” said Cruz. “After that was over I decided I needed to do something for my community.” Since then, the cause could not ask for more commitment or dedication than it has had from Theresa Cruz.

With the first grant from Michigan AIDS Fund to allow HAA to provide more Red Cross training for the Hispanic community, Cruz working part-time for HAA (while keeping her full-time job) recruited and trained 50 people – who are still very active, she said.

Under her direction, HAA’s programs have been targeting the culturally diverse Hispanic community in greater Grand Rapids with prevention education and advocacy for those infected with HIV. This is a Grand Rapids community that, according the 2000 census, has grown considerably. In the City alone, the population of Hispanics of any race has grown from a reported 9,394 in 1990 to 25,818 in 2000.

“Still I find a lot of barriers to prevention and care, but little-by-little, I think we’ll get there. We just have to develop more cultural sensitive programs. HAA cannot do it alone, but if we collaborate with agencies, we’ll get there,” said Cruz.

HAA has always worked collaboratively with other organizations. With referrals from Clinica Santa Maria and the Hispanic Center, Cruz has provided skills building and empowerment training for high-risk heterosexual women and youth. And HAA provides prevention education for several youth groups including migrant youth.

HAA started out in the American Red Cross building in Grand Rapids with the Kent County Chapter as its fiduciary. For the past two years, Cruz and her staff have been in the Clinica Santa Maria building along with the Hispanic Center. This has made HAA much more accessible to the Latino community. With programs and staff expanding, they are moving a few blocks into the old Hispanic Center building this fall.

Along with a new MSM initiative, HAA has applied for funding to add peer educators for an adherence program; and to the Minority Health Initiative to hire a full-time prevention specialist for counseling and testing. This job is currently done by five trained volunteers.

At the time of the interview, Cruz was looking forward to taking off the exec’s hat and leaving the politics to someone else. Jamett-Yount is new to the community planning process but said she is looking forward to working with everyone and collaborating with other agencies in Region 5. Jamett-Yount also plans to be involved with the Michigan HIV/AIDS Council. Her goal as the new HAA exec is “to move the agency forward; to make sure we are out in the public eye,” she said. “We need to be in the forefront of prevention.

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