In 2013, the Care and Support Access Study (CASA) was conceived by Dr. Carla Alexander and a community team; a grant was written and funded. The purpose of the grant was to train outpatient HIV staff members caring for persons visiting an urban clinic to use a person-centered approach to connect with young Same-Gender-Loving Men. These young men still have high rates of new HIV infection even though once-daily treatment can control this disease that originally was considered a terminal illness. Baltimore City (click here for an information sheet with statistics on youth and HIV from the Maryland Department of Health Prevention and Health Promotion Administration) is an environment with over-lapping epidemics of poverty, substance abuse and violence – sometimes called a “syndemic.” Young men living with HIV disease are challenged to take medications every day and may end up dropping out of medical care for any number of reasons. When they are not able to regularly take their medications, called “antiretrovirals or ART,” they are at risk for developing infections that do not affect people with a healthy immune system.
Since that time, our Project has expanded to become the Baltimore Projects to Save Lives, Inc. with multiple smaller projects meant to improve outcomes for those at high risk for not living life to the fullest in syndemic environments.
OUR MISSION
PURPOSE: To foster education and opportunities to address health, safety, self-development, and quality of life for persons living and working in a syndemic environment.
MISSION: To strengthen communities by fostering leadership and health equity through projects that promote safety, quality of life and self-development in a syndemic environment.
BP2SL is a 501 (C) (3) organized exclusively for charitable, religious, educational, and scientific purposes.
Project #1
The BAY: Be Authentically You
To develop and sustain access to social justice through Safe Housing and Personal Transformationfor LGBTQ in a syndemic environment.
We create affirming programmatic support for young (13-39 years) gay, trans- and same-gender-loving men in Baltimore as they move from a chaotic syndemic environment to safety and personal growth through sustainable housing and mentoring to improve survival and achieve successful adulthood. The BAY is dedicated to providing safety when losing stable housing, access to life skills and on-going mentoring and job-training in areas that would appeal to young Same-Gender-Loving men who may be without adequate social and emotional support systems to live fully in a syndemic of poverty, violence, and substance abuse that threatens their physical and emotional health.
PROGRAMS: 1) What’s my PURPOSE? Beyond Undetectable
2) Safe and Nurturing Housing
3) Mentoring for Gay, Trans and Same-Gender-Loving Men
Project #2
Courageous Conversations, Why Wait? (CCWW?)
This started as a joint project of the University of Maryland Baltimore – Institute of Human Virology and the Maryland Health Department to talk about the fears of discussing dying, and the need to prepare for the end-of-life. We support individuals and their places of worship and fellowship to talk about what is important to each of us and how we want others to remember us. Being able to share those thoughts with others will help insure that we each receive appropriate and mindful medical and nursing care if and when we are not able to speak for ourselves. This is a way of taking control and leaving a legacy of empowerment for others.
This program introduces the process of Advance Care Planning and the importance of completing Advance Directives using the www.MyDirectives.com website and other on-line services through the State of Maryland. CCWW? is dedicated to making difficult conversations easier and more meaningful to complete.