1. The top left photo is of two hand painted tiles that Maria Reyes, HIV Prevention Educator and Teen Pregnancy Program Coordinator, purchased at a HIV/Aids Fundraising Benefit. 2. Top right photo shows Christina Jasso, Homeless Program Coordinator assisting Raul Ortega, who works across the street from Salud.

Bottom left are three more hand painted tiles that are displayed on Maria Reyes desk. 4. Bottom right photo is of Maria Reyes who explains when and why she uses a basket of condom roses.

Reporter Shontail Lewis takes a look at the many activities at the Salud Center. Slideshow

3/8/06

By Shontail Lewis

Guadalupe Center Incorporated has four centers, three schools and a dance studio, which afford their Hispanic patrons the luxury of having a sense of their Mexican homeland, with guidance into their future in this land of opportunity. The Salud Center, Health and Social Services, is one of the eight GCI centers which help many people in the Hispanic Community get aid in time of crisis.

Coming soon, will be ESL classes provided by the center, utilizing computers now being set up by contractors. The contractors are also remodeling at the Center to accommodate the needs of the Homeless Program. For the staff of the Salud Center the workday most days begin before 9 a.m. and last beyond 5 p.m., but they don’t mind, because like most people involved in community work—they are in it to give back. As Gil Guerrero, Associate Director of the Education, Youth and Cultural Program points out. “We deliver service in the manner we wish we had received,” says Guerrero. “I’m Chicano, and this is the dream we had, to improve the life of the Hispanic Community.” “We’re like a mini FEMA, except we have a better response time,” says Ricky Oliveras, who is visiting the Salud with Guerrero and who is also employed with GCI. Guerrero and Oliveres stopped by Salud to discuss, with the Salud staff, some of the issues within the Hispanic Community, but most important—their day’s main event, the Immigration Rally in KCK. They discussed how they could get volunteers to work in place of the immigrants, to allow them the opportunity to participate in this Historic Event. Unfortunately, the staff was somewhat scarce, working double time to get paper work done or out of the office, handling clients needs. Nonetheless when they arrived they were able to speak with Christina Jasso, Homeless Program Coordinator, who had only arrived about thirty minutes prior. Jasso, rarely sitting, advised Guerrero on where to purchase American Flags for the staff to carry during the rally. Jasso, during their discussion, answered her seemingly energized cell phone that kept ringing at the peek of their conversation. In no way is this rude on Jasso’s part who takes a call from Maria Delores Reyes, HIV Prevention Educator and Teen Pregnancy Program Coordinator, who she’s tag teamed with today to aid a domestic violence victim who had come to them as a last resort. “She had been in several times and she knew what we did, but she didn’t know that we would be able to help her,” says Jasso. “She was beaten pretty bad, she had to walk to work and every where. She has children, so even though it’s not in our budget we had to help her. We’re not able to counsel her for the abuse, but we are able to provide her and her kids shelter, food, clothing, childcare, etc.,” Jasso says they try to help everyone they can, no matter their race or background which follows the Mission Statement of GCI.

“We have a WWII vet that had been living in his car that starting coming to our center for shelter and food,” she said. “We assist African Americans too, we assist anyone because people on the minute need help.” Help is the common song at Salud, Diane Tyler is in charge of the Emergency Assistant Program at Salud and she says that she’s lived in the neighborhood and has been with GCI 32 years working with senior citizens in the beginning. “We need help with rent and food, we get commodity foods through Harvesters,” she says. Jasso also says food donations would help, but she says the items most needed are every day necessities that people don’t think about until they’re in a crisis. She says that monetary donations are always welcomed too, especially when it cost them about $2600 a quarter to assist domestic violence victims, because they have no funding for this area of crisis. They are currently assisting a Hispanic victim—a mother they just rescued from her abusive husband. A women that is new to this country, speaks no English and has no family here. Rushing in with papers is Maria Reyes, who just returned from giving a proposal on behalf of her Director Diana Rojas. She is making a pit stop to inform Jasso of the outcome of her meeting, to get the updates of the day’s event and make herself available to their domestic violence victim—mother in need, for errands. Reyes shares how she came to work at the Salud Center. “I was driving down the street thinking of my friend who had just been diagnosed with HIV and saying to myself ‘God why didn’t I get my degree, if I had gotten it, I could help them.” She says. “At that time I was working at a bank, a bank is more for self and this line of work is for others.” She shares how the following week after her drive she was made aware of the opening at Salud. She didn’t know if she would get the position, but more than that she didn’t know if she would be able to financial survive on the pay, but she knew this was her calling and she said she relied upon God for her directions and the reward is through giving and feels great. Reyes has now been with Salud going on eleven years this May.

She is an HIV Prevention Educator and has been working with the Teen Pregnancy Program since last August. She shares the many ways to educate about HIV and shows off her inventory of HIV Prevention wear, one included a basket of condom roses that she uses at her educational functions. “I really like using it on Valentine’s Day, I like to pass them out.” She goes on to share the importance of HIV prevention education for young adults. “I work with the Alta Vista Seniors, I’m over there for two hours weekly to answer questions or if they just need to talk. I tell them that what they say is confidential. They are given community service hours for testing with me. I give them a series of question and answers that are really personal about their sexual history and about if they inject drugs. They also take the OraSure (Oral Sure) Test which is easy to use, you just swab the inside of the mouth on the cheek and the results are back in two weeks and I tell them this too is confidential, unless they test positive. If they test positive we have to inform their physician and their sex partners and I tell them that if they have unprotected sex, using it as a weapon, it’s a Federal offense.” Reyes also says that Guadalupe or GCI is in need of everyday necessities and need monetary donations, but she and the rest of the staff are in harmony on the need for volunteers, they make it clear that there is no discrimination to non Spanish speakers. Reyes exclaims, “We don’t care what race they are or if they don’t speak Spanish, just give some of your time to help—volunteer!”