11-29-21: Press Release_ Unidos_World AIDS Day 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 29th, 2021

Contact: 

Danny Deza, Communications Director                      Office:(866) 590-6411 ext. 106

Email: ddeza@bienestar.org                                    Mobile: 714-287-9572           

Bienestar Human Services to commemorate World AIDS Day on the 40th year of the AIDS epidemic

The premier Latinx and LGBTQ + health & wellness organization presents a commemorative event, UNIDOS, to raise awareness and address the stigma of the AIDS epidemic. 

LOS ANGELES (December 1, 2021) Bienestar will host its 28th annual World AIDS Day event UNIDOS Ending the HIV Epidemic: “Equitable Access” on December 1st, 2021 on the 40th year since AIDS was officially reported. This year UNIDOS will be a celebration of life and a remembrance of the friends and family we’ve lost to the AIDS epidemic told through performances and speeches on Latinx and LGBTQ+ vibrancy and culture.

“While there are fewer deaths today, our communities still continue to get infected. The purpose of this event is to promote awareness and to reduce HIV/AIDS stigma,” said Robert Contreras, Bienestar CEO. “We must continue to foster community and promote HIV prevention to combat the disproportionately high rights of new HIV infections among the Latinx and LGBTQ + community.”

According to the 2020 HIV Surveillance Report from the Division of HIV and STD Programs at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, the greatest disparities in awareness of HIV-positive status were among young Latinx people, and transgender women had the highest HIV positivity rate across all populations disproportionately affecting transgender women of color.

UNIDOS is dedicated to raising HIV awareness in the Latinx LGBTQ+ community. This year’s efforts include a photo exhibit on the 40-year history of the HIV epidemic, a memorial tree where guests can write a name of a loved one who has passed, educational performances by staff, and a speech from Bienestar CEO Robert Contreas. 

“It is important we gather safely to remind our community that we are still here for them,” said Contreras. “The statistics have never been in our favor but we continue to persevere and support each other unconditionally – like family.” 

On July 26th, 2021,  Bienestar hosted a Call to Action webinar on LA County’s soaring STD cases in communities of color. This urgent topic is something we hope to continue to spotlight with community leaders and members and raise awareness until health equity is met.

As Bienestar Human Services CEO Robert Contreras stated at our Call to Action:

• Why can’t we imagine and make real the next phase of STD Action where we work with government and science to finally achieve breakthrough STD vaccines, and make them widely available and free of charge to patients, just like COVID vaccines?
• Can we imagine market reforms that make syphilis treatment Bicillin, which was first patented in the 1950s and which requires two to three treatments, available for a few dollars per injection instead of $200 per shot?
• When we imagine overall health for local communities of color, can we imagine a world where STDs are not surrounded by stigma and fear but instead are routinely screened, detected and treated, or even vaccinated into oblivion?

In case you missed it, feel free to watch our webinar below where you can hear our CEO’s speech first hand, alongside an outstanding presentation on recent data by Dr. Sonali Kulkarni, the Medical Director in the Division of HIV and STD Programs (DHSP) at the Los Angeles County (LAC) Department of Public Health. Afterward, Bienestar client Juan Carlos Plasecenia shared his heartfelt testimony on the importance of providing culturally relevant services when working with underserved communities, and how this has personally impacted his life. 

Also, click here to access Dr. Kulkarni’s slides.

In the next few days, we will be launching a social media campaign spotlighting the current state of STD rates in the United States and LA County. Also, in the near future, we will be working with community partners on a Town Hall to further our cause in finding a solution and reverse the effects of the STD epidemic.

Take care and stay safe,

Bienestar Human Services

 

07-23-2021 – Press Release_ Bienestar Human Services to host a Call to Action Forum on Soaring STI Cases in L.A.’s Communities of Color

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 07-23-2021

Contact: 
Danny Deza, Communications Director                      Office:(866) 590-6411 ext. 106
Email: ddeza@bienestar.org                                     Mobile: 714-287-9572            

Bienestar Human Services to host a Call to Action Forum on Soaring STI Cases in L.A.’s Communities of Color 

LOS ANGELES (July 26, 2021) According to a 2019 Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) report published by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the United States has reached a new all-time high in infection rates for the 6th consecutive year; a reality that runs almost parallel in Los Angeles County according to local experts. 

In reaction to the recent STI reports, Bienestar Human Services will host a Call to Action Online Forum for policymakers and community members to spotlight communities of color in Los Angeles County who are disproportionately affected by the STI epidemic. A Call to Action: Soaring STD Cases in L.A.’s Communities of Color will take place on Monday, July 26th at 2pm PDT on Zoom.  

Sonali Kulkarni, Medical Director of the Division of HIV/STD Programs for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, will present an STD snapshot highlighting key findings from STD case surveillance data reported to LA’s Division of HIV and STD Programs through the end of 2019, and how this continued increase in STDs impacts LA’s communities of color. 

“Health disparities within communities of color on a national level and within Los Angeles County are rising at an alarming rate,” says Robert Contreras, CEO of Bienestar Human Services, “We need to have an open dialogue about the barriers to health care that our most at-risk communities face.” 

According to a 2019 Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) report from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, early-stage syphilis rates were the highest among Pacific Islanders and the African Americans; and since 2012 the number of congenital syphilis has increased over 1,300 percent, where Latinx females (57 percent) represent the majority of mothers of infants with the STD.  

At Clinica Bienestar, a Bienestar health clinic specializing in ​​STI testing and treatment, over 87 percent identified as Latinx or Hispanic, 74 percent were uninsured, and 47 percent were Spanish monolingual or Spanish preferred.  

“What we are seeing at Bienestar is a need for culturally relevant health services and peer-to-peer counseling,” says Contreras. “In order for us to reach health equity for all, we must continue to support health services that reach communities of colors in need.  

06/05/2021  – http://bienestar.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Statement_-The-HIV-Epidemic-Turns-40.pdf

Contact:
Danny Deza, Communications Director
Office: (866) 590-6411 ext. 106
Mobile: (714) 287-9572
Email: ddeza@bienestar.org          

Bienestar Human Services welcomes the 40th anniversary of the HIV epidemic with both adoration and devotion to the many friends and loved ones we’ve lost to the virus but also with praise for the copious battles won in the past four decades. 

 Bienestar was founded over 30 years ago as a direct response to the lack of resources available to Latinx and LGBTQ+ people during the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Southern California; a mission that is still relevant today, as our community continues to be disproportionately affected and still in need of health equity and social justice.  

We remain dedicated to removing barriers to care, addressing stigma, discrimination, homo & transphobia, immigration, and isolation that contribute to poor health outcomes. As today marks a day of great sadness, celebration, and importance, it is Bienestar’s hope that the health disparities Latinx and LGBTQ+ people face are addressed and recognized as we search for solutions and ultimately, a cure to HIV. 

04/19/2021 – http://bienestar.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Press-Release_-Bienestar-National-Transgender-HIV-Testing-Day-04_19_21-1.pdf

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April, 19th, 2021

Contact:
Danny Deza, Communications Director
Office: (866) 590-6411 ext. 106
Mobile: (714) 287-9572
Email: ddeza@bienestar.org                                                        

Bienestar Human Services to host a city-wide HIV testing initiative in honor of National Transgender HIV Testing Day

LOS ANGELES (April 19, 2021) In observance of National Transgender HIV Testing Day, Bienestar Human Services, a unique non-profit social service organization dedicated to health, equality and justice for the Latinx, LGBTQ+ and other underserved communities, is hosting a city-wide HIV testing initiative to address the health disparities endured by the transgender community. 

“The rate of HIV infection for transgender women is on the rise and it’s important that we show up, continue to get tested and know our status,” says Brenda Del Rio Gonzalez, Program Manager of Transgéneros Unidas at Bienestar. “When our community knows their status, they can make the right decisions to protect and improve their health.”  

The CDC’s NHBS-Trans report found that 42 percent of transgender women surveyed in seven major US cities have HIV; 62 percent of Black transgender women and 35 percent of Latina transgender women who were surveyed have HIV, compared to 17 percent of White transgender women. 

Transgéneros Unidas, the first Los Angeles-based program to focus on the health disparities of the transgender community, will set up HIV testing sites throughout Los Angeles this Monday, April 19th from 12pm to 4pm. Each location is equipped with culturally specific services provided in both English and Spanish to remove any barriers to needed care, treatment, and psychosocial services. 

“Through Bienestar, Transgéneros Unidas has been serving the Latina transgender community for the past 25 years, making us the first in Los Angeles,” says Robert Contreras, Bienestar President and CEO. “We are proud to provide HIV testing and other health services to our community in safe spaces that remove the stigma and discrimination from our health care system and protect the transgender community who are all too often the recipients of hate violence.” 

[Read more…] about Bienestar Human Services to host a city-wide HIV testing initiative in honor of National Transgender HIV Testing Day

10/22/2018 – BIENESTAR Responds to Federal Government Plan to Narrow Definition of Gender

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 22, 2018

BIENESTAR RESPONDS TO FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PLAN TO NARROW DEFINITION OF GENDER

The premier Latino LGBTQ nonprofit serving the transgender community for over 25 years responds to the federal government’s plan to “erase” recognition of transgender individuals. [Read more…] about Press Releases | Comunicados De Prensa