| HIV Program |
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HIV Department Programs and Services Sixteenth Street’s HIV program provides a comprehensive approach to this illness, and includes health care and treatment, supportive case management and prevention education for Milwaukee’s Latino population. All members of the HIV staff are bilingual in English and Spanish and fully sensitive to the cultural issues which surround HIV. Nurse case managers oversee day-to-day patient care and work closely with the physicians, specialists and behavioral health providers who treat our HIV positive patients. Additional psycho-social case management includes support for patients’ family members and friends whose lives are touched by this disease.
Outreach efforts include presentations to schools and community groups. Each talk is custom designed to meet the needs, educational level and language of the audience. Individualized counseling is available to prepare individuals for HIV testing, to learn about risk and harm reduction, safe sex and sexually transmitted disease prevention. Sixteenth Street’s HIV Department receives support from the State and Federal Government, including Ryan White Title 2 & 3 funding and grants from the Centers for Disease Control. Private contributions and grants from corporate donors like Miller Brewing provide additional program support. HIV testing and counseling is free, confidential and available Mon-Friday, 8:30-4:30. The HIV Outreach Center is located in the lower level at 1337 S. Cesar E. Chavez Drive. (414) 385-3748.
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Prevention counseling about risk and harm reduction is available for sero-negative individuals who are considered at high-risk for contracting HIV and ‘Prevention for Positives’ sessions are available for patients already receiving treatment. In addition to support groups for HIV positive men and women, a group known as MUJER has been started for at-risk women who are HIV-negative. A recent addition to the prevention program is a support group for Latino transgenders.