JERSEY CITY, N.J., --- Hudson Pride Connections (HPC), formerly Jersey City
Connections, and the Hunter College Center for HIV Educational Studies and
Training (CHEST) in New York have joined forces to create a program that
will examine ways to effectively reduce HIV/AIDS rates among transgender
women in Hudson County and the surrounding areas.
Transgender women represent a disproportionately high number of new HIV/AIDS
infections in Hudson County. And the goal of this program is to reduce the
rates of new infections among transgender women by promoting safer-sex
practices, treating substance abuse and emphasizing the benefits of general
health.
³The most telling thing about our existing transgender client base is the
fact that they have no where else to turn,² HPC Director Guido Sanchez said.
³This marginalization makes the risk of HIV a startling reality one that
none of us should accept.²
The program is part of a Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC)
initiative to collaborate with community groups to develop and evaluate
ground-breaking interventions. The program is based on HPC¹s ³Girls Living
in the Trans Zone² (GLITZ) initiative which has been funded by the
Prudential Foundation and through the federal Ryan White CARE Act
distributed through Hudson County.
³This is an exciting opportunity for behavioral scientists and front-line
community prevention workers to collaborate to benefit the lives of
transgender women,² CHEST Director Dr. Jeffrey Parsons said. ³We have the
opportunity to expand on the great work that HPC has done in this area to
develop something really innovating. Ultimately, this could have a
tremendous impact on the health of transgender women.²
***
Hudson Pride Connections (HPC), formerly known as Jersey City Connections and
founded in 1993, serves the unmet needs of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender community, as well as HIV positive people of any orientation
living in Hudson County, through supportive social services, prevention,
outreach, advocacy, and development trainings for other service providers,
to educate and empower all of our communities.
The Center for HIV Educational Studies and Training (CHEST, Dr. Jeffrey
Parsons, Director, is affiliated with Hunter College and the Graduate Center
of the City University of New York and has a collaborative relationship with
researchers at the New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI) at Columbia
University Medical Center (CUMC).
CHEST conducts research on social and psychological factors that contribute
to HIV transmission. Studies at CHEST also seek to identify and promote
strategies that prevent the spread of HIV and that improve the lives of
people living with HIV. In addition to carrying out formative research,
CHEST aggressively disseminates the findings of its studies to organizations
serving persons with HIV and at risk for HIV.
