By Eduardo Morales, Ph.D.–
After extensive letter writing campaigns, presentations, and communicating with Mayor Breed and all members of the SF Board of Supervisors, AGUILAS was able to obtain funding at the very last minute, at 1 am Thursday morning, June 29, 2023. At that time, the SF Board of Supervisors approved $200,000 for AGUILAS. We are extremely grateful for the support, which was led by Supervisors Hillary Ronen and Rafael Mandelman.
The funds for AGUILAS are channeled through the SF LGBT Center, which has a contract with the Municipal Office of Housing and Community Development to sustain AGUILAS’ efforts for community service. AGUILAS’ contract with the San Francisco Department of Public Health for HIV/AIDS prevention services ended on June 30, 2023. Unfortunately, AGUILAS did not have another San Francisco County contract, so the SF LGBT Center stepped in at the last minute (since the Center has other San Francisco County contracts) to accept the funds for AGUILAS, which is now a subcontractor. We are extremely grateful to the SF LGBT Center!
With these funds, AGUILAS plans to have four support groups a month: one will be for HIV-positive individuals who speak Spanish, another will be for HIV-positive Portuguese speakers, and the other two will be open to all, with one group gathering held in Spanish and the other in Portuguese, respectively. The limited funding requires us to limit our very popular social events that attracted 80 to 100 participants to only one for this year.
AGUILAS will be doing outreach at various events to keep the community informed and engaged in this nonprofit’s work. AGUILAS will also continue to offer individual counseling sessions to the Latinx LGBTQ+ community in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. Participants seeking political asylum can get information and referrals for their status and obtain support for the traumas they have experienced in their countries. Our history demonstrates that 100% of those seeking political asylum were successful in their quest with the assistance of AGUILAS and their legal representatives.
As was done in prior years, AGUILAS will continue to seek more funding from other sources. For example, in the past three years, we were able to match dollar for dollar the funds that were received from the San Francisco City and County.
Given the 58% reduction of funding from the City and County, many of our employees had to be released from employment on June 30, 2023. The limited funds require AGUILAS to reduce its office hours to four days a week with hours from 1pm to 6 pm and have all part-time workers. They are kind, dedicated, and generous to take up the challenges of this funding reduction, such that they are planning to still be available to continue services for the Latinx LGBTQ+ community in all three languages.
Through funding from the ViiV Foundation, AGUILAS will continue to provide leadership development training in its La Academia program for one more year. This program offers trainings in the areas of Basic Financial Knowledge, Efficient Communication Tools related to how to talk to the media, Legal Rights and Awareness, and Effective Strategies for Advocacy. Upon completing the basic four workshops, participants will be granted a certificate of training given by AGUILAS in collaboration with Alliant International University where I am a Professor Emeritus. An advanced set of similar workshops is offered to further strengthen and build the leadership skills of participants. After completing the four advanced sets of workshops, participants will receive a certificate documenting their advanced training that will be given by AGUILAS in collaboration with Alliant International University.
AGUILAS is the oldest Latinx LGBTQ+ agency in all the Americas: Northern, Central, and South America. In the spring of 2024, AGUILAS will celebrate its 30th Anniversary, marking three decades of providing important services. Founded in 1991 by a grassroots effort, its mission statement reads as follows: “AGUILAS is dedicated to creating a supportive, culturally sensitive environment for gay/bisexual Latinxs. We strive to foster knowledge and pride of the diversity of our language, culture, history, and spirituality. AGUILAS is committed to developing programs that promote health, well-being and community building that foster positive self-identities, healthy relationships, and leadership skills.”
AGUILAS looks forward to serving the community and finding funding sources that can make the entirety of its mission statement a reality. For more information and updates, you can follow AGUILAS and its service offerings at https://www.sfaguilas.org/
Eduardo Morales, Ph.D. is a Professor Emeritus, retired Distinguished Professor, and current adjunct professor at Alliant International University. He is also a licensed psychologist and a founder and current Executive Director of AGUILAS, an award-winning program for Latinx LGBTQ+. Of Puerto Rican decent, he has received numerous distinguished awards and citations, including being named a Fellow of 12 divisions of the American Psychological Association.
Nuestra Voz
Published on July 13, 2023
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