Twenty years ago, the start of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation's Spanish-language hotline was accompanied by an announcement on Univision, the Spanish-language TV station. Peter Taback, the foundation's director of communications and marketing, said the hotline got 200 calls that night.
Now, the hotline attracts about 7,500 calls or e-mails a year from across the state, according to Keith Hocking, director of volunteer-based programs at the foundation.
SFAF is marking the 20th anniversary of its Spanish-language AIDS hotline, and will be holding a phone bank Monday, October 15 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. as part of National Latino AIDS Awareness Day.
According to data from the San Francisco Department of Public Health, Latinos accounted for 20 percent of new HIV diagnoses in San Francisco in 2006. In 2002, they accounted for 16 percent. In 2006, Latinos made up 12 percent of the city's population living with AIDS.
State Department of Finance statistics show that in 2006, about 14 percent of the city's population was Latino.
In 2005, Latinos accounted for 19 percent of the people living with AIDS nationwide, even though they accounted for only about 14 percent of the population.
Jorge Zepeda, the foundation's Latino programs manager, said most of the clients he works with are "non-acculturated, mono-lingual" immigrants who have gotten the message "You're not welcome here."
"They're kind of invisible," he said. "Nobody wants to talk about them."
Zepeda said many of the people who need help are afraid to ask for it for reasons ranging from cost to fears that they'll be reported to authorities because of their immigration status. However, the foundation's services are free, as are many of the services to which they refer people. SFAF also does not report people to immigration authorities.
People who call on October 15 will be able to get information that's typically made available through the hotline: information on HIV testing sites, as well as referrals for services such as housing, immigration, and government assistance.
Hocking said the biggest changes since the hotline started 20 years ago are the increased awareness about HIV and AIDS, as well as the increased number of services available.
One of the biggest changes Zepeda said he's seen in recent years is that younger Latinos are more open about their sexuality. However, he said, he hasn't seen outreach efforts aimed specifically at them.
"I don't see enough programs for youth to ask them to take care of themselves," Zepeda said.
Zepeda helps facilitate El Grupo, a support group for Latinos living with HIV/AIDS and their families. He said the El Grupo, which started in 1989 and is the oldest group of its kind in the country, attracts about 20 people each week. The group draws men who have sex with men, straight men, women, and people over 65. Many who come to El Grupo have had trouble finding agencies that can meet their cultural and linguistic needs, Zepeda said.
He said most clients prefer to learn about services over the phone or in person. He said this is possibly because they don't have Internet access.
Zepeda said some phone bank volunteers will be calling Spanish-speaking radio stations to get the word out about the hotline. He said the agency's also been spreading the message through other Spanish-language media outlets.
Public health workers in San Francisco, Alameda, and Contra Costa counties are also telling people about the service.
The foundation is working on helping Latinos in other ways, too. The Stonewall Project, a harm reduction organization that recently merged with the foundation, is preparing to launch a Spanish-language version of its Web site http://www.tweaker.org on November 16. The site offers information to people who use crystal meth.
Michael Siever, Ph.D., the Stonewall Project's director, said, "We had been hearing more and more that crystal meth was ... becoming a problem among Latino gay men."
The AIDS Hotline can be reached at 800-367-AIDS (2437) or [email protected]. Those who call have the option of talking to someone in English or Spanish. For more information on SFAF, visit www.sfaf.org.