On March 9th, the Florida AIDS Walk will raise awareness, while also bringing vital funding to support fourteen local non-profits working in HIV and STD services, LGBT rights, and social justice.
Latinos Salud is a returning beneficiary to AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s annual Walk. That means that all funds donated to Latinos Salud’s Florida AIDS Walk team–even after the Walk is completed– through April 30th will be doubled.
OutClique magazine sat down with Latinos Salud’s leaders to ask how these annual fundraising walks help sustain the agency’s investments in expanding services to the community.
“When we first opened in 2009, Latinos Salud only offered safer sex workshops and free condoms. We had to refer out for every other service,” said Dr. Stephen Fallon, Executive Director. “Today, Latinos Salud is a true community clinic: we treat STDs and HIV in each location; we pay the monthly health insurance premiums for our patients in greatest need; and we’re offering 100 free cultural and community events each year.”
As the agency’s reputation has grown, so has the number of community members Latinos Salud serves each year: more than 12,000 with direct services, and tens of thousands more through its community outreach. To keep up, Latinos Salud has invested in enlarging their staff and expanding their locations, all to ensure that community members can get the services they need, when they want them, without long wait times.
Fallon tabulated some of the major investments the agency had made just last year to provide these increased wrap-around services: an increase of $700,000 in payroll; $300,000 in lab screening fees, $400,000 in insurance premiums, and more.
Latinos Salud’s co-founder, Rafaelé Narváez, emphasized how far the community’s support goes to support these efforts: “Whether someone is a major supporter, or just shows their appreciation with a $10 donation on their way out the door, the fact that these gifts are matched increases our ability to plan for more services.”
Narváez added that this year an “angel donor” has stepped up to make this month the best time to donate to Latinos Salud. “Our donor has offered to match up to $50,000 in contributions to our Walk team. That means a $100 donation will become $400. And a $1,000 donation becomes $4,000. Think of how many people you are helping with this leveraged giving.”
Dr. Fallon also noted that last month, Latinos Salud re-opened the application portal for its “Health and Support Service Pride Scholarships,” offering a lifeline to students who are pursuing careers in nursing, psychology, social work or public health. In its first year offering the $2,500 – $5,000 scholarships to South Florida LGBT students, Latinos Salud selected three recipients. “We hope to award twice as many scholarships this year,” Fallon said, noting that many applications they receive are from young people who will be the first in their family to be able to go to college.
Probably the most visible investment the agency has made in recent years is in upgrading and expanding its facilities. Juan Buch coordinates programs in Latinos Salud’s North Miami location, which opened in 2022. “Our North Miami building is in a great location, just steps from downtown and the Museum of Contemporary Art. But it sure needed a facelift! When we went in, it wasn’t nostalgic—it was just musty and dingy. Our leadership said that the community deserves clean and welcoming facilities, and they made the investment to make that a reality.”
Today, the North Miami location is thriving, with satisfied testing and PrEP clients referring their friends. Events such as dance classes and holiday costume parties fill the group room many evenings, and Latinos Salud also opens their space for other nonprofits such as The Our Fund Foundation, Equality Florida, and the OutShine Film Festival to hold meetings there.
Johnathan Medina, the agency’s senior health program manager, has been with Latinos Salud for 13 years, and has seen the agency’s growing impact. He was instrumental in setting up the SW Miami location that originally opened in Kendall in 2016: “We had a little suite up on the second floor at the back of a complex,” Medina said. The community seeking services in Miami’s SW kept growing, now 10 times as many as when Latinos Salud first opened that SW location. “Last month, we moved into an upgraded 7,000 square foot location in Olympia Heights, with plenty of parking,” Medina noted.
Latinos Salud already stays open later than any HIV/STD agency or clinic in the state, to 9 PM nightly. Beginning this month, investing in the community’s wellness, both its North Miami and Miami SW locations are now open Saturday half days, too.
Latinos Salud is investing in the community. Will you invest in their mission? Donate to Latinos Salud’s Florida AIDS Walk team before April 30th, and your gift will be matched twice over.
Content Courtesy of OutClique Staff writer
