Nonprofit Talk: Serving people with HIV during latest public health crisis

Sharen Duke is the executive director and CEO of Alliance for Positive Change. Photo courtesy of Alliance for Positive Change

By Sharen I. Duke, as told to the Eagle

Sharen Duke is the executive director and CEO of Alliance for Positive Change, a citywide nonprofit that transforms the lives of New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS and other chronic illnesses. Alliance helps people access medical care, manage and overcome addiction, escape homelessness, get back to work, and find community. Grounded in a harm reduction philosophy, Alliance’s innovative and tailored programs address the underlying health, economic and social issues that contribute to poor health outcomes by promoting empowerment, stability, and connection to community. 

How has your organization navigated the pandemic? 

Alliance for Positive Change has a 30-year history of working on the frontlines of public health—responding to population health changes in healthcare finance and healthcare delivery.  However, the coronavirus required us to take our high-touch, in-person service approach and pivot to remote service via phone or videoconference with little time for planning.  So we seek to contact all 6,000+ registered clients on a weekly basis, providing support and information about COVID and other health issues, helping people access medical care, fill prescriptions, obtain food vouchers, and offering harm reduction and supportive counseling services via phone, e-mail, FaceTime, Zoom, and other new technological means.

Alliance is a NYS-designated provider of “essential services”, including Safe Syringe Services at Alliance’s Lower East Side Harm Reduction Center, Out-patient Drug Treatment Services at Alliance’s CASA Recovery Center and 24/7 Supportive Housing services at Alliance’s 90-unit Pelham Grand program.  

While we’ve had to significantly adjust our programming to align with New York State health guidelines, Alliance has met the extraordinary challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic by leveraging our service model of fostering deep, supportive connections, staff and peer navigators providing services with kindness, innovation, effort, and teamwork.  

How are you now serving your program participants?

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Alliance has operated essential services at three of our six community centers: Alliance LES Harm Reduction Center (LESHRC) in lower Manhattan, CASA Recovery in Washington Heights and our 90-unit supportive housing program in the Bronx. At Alliance’s LESHRC and, more recently, our CASA Recovery outpatient drug treatment clinic located in Washington Heights, we have continued to provide access to safe syringe exchange to ensure that COVID-19 does not result in a secondary pandemic of new HIV and hepatitis C (HCV) infections. 

We continue to serve clients in Queens and from across the city and have also transformed our vital food and nutrition programs into pre-packaged pantry items and gift cards for grocery purchases; expanded access to harm reduction supplies, masks and gloves for staff and program participants; and adapted to remote outreach to connect with and support our community from afar. 

How are you balancing the needs of your participants with the level of risk to your employees?

The well-being and safety of Alliance peers, staff, and colleagues is a top priority and will always be at the heart of every decision we make. To that end, Alliance has created staff and peer trainings on safety protocols for the reopening of onsite services in August, as well as safety procedures for re-commencing fieldwork.

Among the numerous safety measures that Alliance has implemented to protect our staff, peers and program participants, include COVID-19 screenings, temperature checks, use of personal protective equipment, staggered staff schedules, reconfigured office spaces, separate entrances, distancing markers, and daily office cleanings.

The safety of our staff, Peers and program participants is of utmost importance, and we need to adhere to these measures—screenings, temperature checks, and masks—to ensure that everyone is safe. We’re moving forward safely and strongly! 

What types of support do you most need now?

Due to the pandemic, Alliance is also addressing the issue of food insecurity by providing food pantry packages, and prepaid gift cards redeemable for food—all essential yet un-budgeted services. Furthermore, we are trying to expand access to harm reduction supplies, cleaning supplies and protective equipment, such as masks, face shields and hand sanitizers, both for program participants and the staff and peer navigators who are serving them. To donate to our Coronavirus Support Fund, visit www.alliance.nyc/giving

What programs/services have you had to cut or scale back on? 

Alliance remains committed to supporting New Yorkers with education, peer navigation, HIV/HCV screenings and referrals, basic needs like food and housing, and social, behavioral, and mental health support through our open community centers and remote services. But, we have seen reduced services because we have not been able to reach all our program participants by phone, and we had to discontinue field work, so many of our in-person events and support and education groups had to be suspended.  For some individuals, telephone and video conferencing works, but for others without access to technology, or limited minutes on their phones, access to services is severely limited. 

What do you think the future holds for your sector as a result of the pandemic?

Nonprofit community organizations like Alliance for Positive Change need infrastructure investments to ensure our continued program services and sustainability beyond COVID-19.  Further, Alliance and numerous other AIDS Service Organizations have decades of experience conducting HIV and HCV screening and linkage to medical care for low-income and high risk communities.  

The community-based network and infrastructure that currently exists for HIV and HCV can easily be expanded for COVID-19, both in terms of screening, as well as ensuring access to and providing vaccines, once they are available. We can and should play a key role in conducting COVID-19 prevention education, linkage to medical care, linkage to other social supports, such as food and nutrition services, mental health counseling, housing placement assistance, and COVID-19 testing when the technology becomes available—similarly to how we received waivers from the New York State Health Department to conduct HIV and HCV counseling and testing in community settings.  

Sharen Duke is the executive director and CEO of Alliance for Positive Change. Learn more about Alliance at www.alliance.nyc