CSULB spreads HIV awareness

By Alicia Salazar 

On-Line Forty-Niner

The center conducts social and behavioral research on health and substance-use related issues. Reducing HIV risk is the main focus.

"We are a drop-in center, a facility in downtown Long Beach where many drug users hang out, center director and CSULB psycology professor, Fen Rhodes said. We focus on the street population since they are high risk."

The center offers various programs aimed toward HIV prevention. A Mobile HIV Testing Program called Road Dogs provides testing and counseling to drug users on the streets as well as in treatment of individuals.

A Teen Prevention Program offers published stories of teens who have been in risky situations which helps other teens stay clear of HIV.

"We have a variety of programs that encourage safe drug use and safe sexual contact," Rhodes said. "We do not try to reform! We try to reduce the risk in contacting HIV. We accept people for who they are," he said.

The center also provides a mobile clinic that goes to different areas in Long Beach to provide HIV testing and STD screening, Program Assistant for Ready For Action, Steve Black, said.

Individuals who are at greater HIV risk are crack-cocaine, injection drug users and men who have sex with men, health educator at the center, Bobby DeLuna said. 

"We help them identify what is putting them at risk, let them choose a behavior to modify, help them to select a goal and steps toward that goal," DeLuna said. 

A program aimed specifically for gay men-Ready For Action-consists of outreach workers going out into the street to inform them of HIV risks. Black has worked for this program for two years. He has gone out to do outreach to clubs, bars and cruising sites such as parks and parking lots where gay and bisexual men hang out.

"I talk to them about HIV, their sexual behaviors and pass out condoms to them," Black said. "We give them a small push to change their ways so they do not place themselves at high risk," he said.

The center steers individuals away from HIV by letting them know what risks they are taking in having unprotected sex and sharing needles, Black said. Outreach workers suggest ways to minimize these risks by using condoms and they even provide them with bleach kits and show individuals how to properly clean their needles with bleach and water, he said.