Suicide of Rutgers Student: Enough is Enough

Posted on September 30, 2010 by elizabethlombino

Post originally published on Change.org

Suicide of Rutgers Student: Enough is Enough

As recently reported on change.org, Rutgers freshman Tyler Clementi committed suicide on September 22 by jumping off the George Washington Bridge. His roommate secretly videotaped him engaging in sexual acts with another man. Dharun Ravi and his friend Molly Wei, then broadcast the videos on the Internet. Tyler was so distraught that he took his own life.

This is absolutely horrific on so many levels. It is unclear if Tyler was out with his sexual orientation. If he was not and his roommate outed him, this is cruel and inhumane. What makes it even more horrific is how his roommate invaded his privacy and broadcasted his intimate moments for fun. This is a hate crime and it’s cyber bullying.

As a Rutgers employee, my heart goes out to the campus community. The entire campus is distraught and confused by this tragedy. Rutgers President Richard L. McCormick released a statement to express his heartfelt remorse. He wrote: “While there is a lot of information being communicated, we don’t have all the facts in this case.  This young man was reportedly the victim of an incident that took place in one of our residence halls last week.  Two fellow Rutgers students have been arrested and charged with invasion of privacy for their actions in that incident.  If the charges are true, these actions gravely violate the university’s standards of decency and humanity.” On the evening of September 29, about 100 people gathered for a vigil on campus. Laying on the ground, they chanted:  ”We’re here, we’re queer, we’re not going home.”

College is supposed to be a joyful time of self-exploration. Freshman year is supposed to be full of wonder and promise. Young people are at the age of developing their identity and exploring who they are in the world. College provides an amazing environment for this journey. But this nightmare also shows what can happen if there are people within this environment who do not agree with or approve of your own personal journey. If Tyler had a more sensitive and caring roommate, perhaps this would not have happened.

These hate crimes need to stop. Cyber bullying needs to be a federal crime. As a nation, we need to ensure that our school systems are better prepared to assist students who face such torment. We need to set stricter penalties for those who impose their hate onto others. We need more awareness and education into this new world of cyber bullying. The internet provides endless access to so many people and one’s privacy can be taken away in an instant. This is a dangerous and scary situation, and for Tyler, it was all too real.

Sign the petition to tell Congress to enact federal legislation to fight cyber bullying. We must work together to prevent further hate crimes and the devastating consequences that follow. Act now!

To read the post on Change.org, click here.

Filed under: Change.org, Cyber Bullying, LGBTQ, Social Media | Leave a Comment »

New York’s Governor Putting HIV+ Residents At Greater Risk of Becoming Homeless

Posted on September 27, 2010 by elizabethlombino

Post originally published on Change.org

New York’s Governor Putting HIV+ Residents At Greater Risk of Becoming Homeless

In an unthinkable and utterly insensitive move, New York State Governor David A. Paterson vetoed a bill that would have provided additional rental assistance to residents who are living with HIV/AIDS. The legislation would have put a cap on the percentage of income that HIV+ individuals on public assistance pay for their rent. The bill passed in both the Senate and Assembly by wide margins, simply requiring the governors’ signature as the final act of approval. He claims his reasoning for the veto was purely financial.

“This is my most difficult veto,” Paterson said in a statement. “I recognize, sadly, the history of the inadequacy of services government has brought to bear for those with HIV/AIDS.” But he added, “I have pledged not to impose unfunded mandates on cash-strapped localities, and to prevent the state from taking on additional financial burdens outside the budget process without an identified funding source.” Tell Paterson how wrong he was to deny housing assistance to New York’s most vulnerable residents!

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg voiced his support for the Governor’s decision. “This is not the time for unfunded mandates, no matter how well-intentioned … The State and the City will continue to work together to provide quality services to people with HIV/AIDS, without having to make some of the painful choices that a new mandate would have forced. I commend the Governor for his actions,” Bloomberg said in a statement.

To HIV advocates, this is nothing short of an outrage. Sean Barry, director of NYC AIDS Housing Network, slammed Paterson for opting to “stand with Mayor Bloomberg and his failed policies around HIV/AIDS and homelessness in New York City. This is a missed opportunity to save New York money and, far worse, it means thousands more people living with HIV/AIDS and their families will be in the shelter system,” he said.

New York State Senator Thomas K. Duane, who is the state’s first openly gay and openly HIV+ congressperson, called the veto as “an incredible injustice.” As the sponsor of the bill, he has shown his passion for this issue on the state Senate floor. New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, a Manhattan Democrat and a vocal advocate for people living with HIV, said Paterson has “made a terrible mistake. We are talking about some of New York City’s most vulnerable citizens who for many years now have been forced to live on practically nothing … ” She added: “I understand not having enough resources. But at the end of the day, you get judged by how you take care of those in your city who are the most vulnerable.”

She’s right; this is an outrageous and dangerous move for the state of New York. We have argued on this blog that a person living with HIV needs adequate housing to ensure he can better manage for the disease. This insidious and chronic disease can only be effectively managed if a person has access to consistent health care, takes his countless medications on time every day (sometimes two to three times a day), eats right, gets enough sleep, exercises and minimizes stress. If any of these factors get disrupted, HIV can spiral out of control.

Without rental assistance, many HIV+ individuals in New York will enter the shelter system — a breeding ground for disease. With a compromised immune system, people living with HIV are susceptible to any and every other disease they come in contact with. A person with HIV entering this environment is sure to be exposed to further medical issues. This could lead to a public health nightmare, further straining the state’s finances.

When will the Governor and Mayor open their eyes to the big picture? When will government focus on prevention rather than wait for a huge mess to clean up, one that will cost millions more that they claimed to not have in the first place? New York is setting its citizens up for huge failures on multiple fronts.

In a follow-up piece, we will explore the passionate reaction of HIV advocates to this outrageous news. Among other things, there have been protests outside Governor Paterson’s Manhattan office and public reactions from prominent members of the HIV community. We believe these shock waves can sway government. Stay tuned.

To read the post on Change.org, click here.

Filed under: Change.org, HIV/AIDS, Homelessness | Leave a Comment »

“The Other City”: The Reality of HIV Among Our Most Vulnerable Populations

Posted on September 23, 2010 by elizabethlombino

Post originally published on Change.org

“The Other City”: The Reality of HIV Among Our Most Vulnerable Populations

The Other City, a powerful new documentary, showcases the lives of people living with HIV in the inner-city of Washington, D.C. This important and profound film portrays the reality of the lives of the city’s most vulnerable citizens. Poverty, stigma, homophobia and transphobia, lack of access to services for the poor and HIV criminalization are just some of the major issues examined. Watch the trailer here.

The film also highlights the disparity of the HIV epidemic within certain populations of inner-city communities, including the poor, people of color, substance abusers, women, young men who have sex with men (MSM), and people of trans-experience. The film adequately captures this reality that is often ignored within the mainstream media and traditional health care and prevention strategies. All the while, it’s clear that housing is essential to winning the war with the disease.

The statistics of HIV prevalence in inner-cities across America are shocking and unnecessary. According to the findings of a March 2010 study released in the New England Journal of Medicine, HIV prevalence rates in these impoverished areas surpasses those found in sub-Saharan Africa. In Washington, D.C., HIV rates among adults now top one in 30 —higher than reported rates in Ethiopia, Nigeria or Rwanda. Further, in these same urban areas across the nation, 30 percent of MSM are contracting HIV, compared with the overall population rates of 7.8 percent in Kenya and 16.9 percent in South Africa. As we have argued on this blog, this is utterly unacceptable for a nation as wealthy and progressive as America. The AIDS epidemic is far from over and given these bleak statistics, the epidemic seems to be gaining dangerous momentum.

The film’s tagline is “In every city, there’s another city,” which eloquently captures the heart of the AIDS epidemic. There is the one city with HIV programs and services that provide necessary treatment to those who have access. There is the one city with prevention programs and services which help curb the spread to a select few. Then there is the other city with residents who cannot afford their life-saving medications. The other city with residents who rely on selling their bodies for survival.  The other city that is virtually ignored and tossed in the gutter.

It is when we look at HIV/AIDS from this perspective that it becomes clear that this epidemic is very much a social justice issue. HIV would not spread as rampantly if there were more effective, creative and culturally competent prevention services in place. Those living with HIV would not see their disease progress to AIDS (with some of those progressions resulting in death) in such large numbers if there were consistent and universal access to necessary care and treatment services.

Further, poverty and inadequate housing contribute to the growing number of unmanageable HIV cases. HIV is treatable and can be a chronic and manageable disease, but only if a person has a stable home in which to take her medications on time every day, eat a healthy meal, and get adequate sleep and exercise, among many other things. For those on the verge of homelessness, or experiencing homelessness, HIV becomes a devastating and deadly disease.

Why are these most vulnerable populations essentially being left to die? As the film proclaims, this does not need to occur. With all of the advances in HIV medications and prevention programs, the epidemic should be more under control than it is. Something else is going on. Something scary and invisible. The Other City brings to light these tragic occurrences in our inner-city communities. The film also shows the resilience and hope of these communities. With continued awareness and exposure like with this film, we can regain control.

To read the post on Change.org, click here.

Filed under: HIV/AIDS, Poverty | Leave a Comment »

When Compassion Fatigue Hits Home

Posted on September 23, 2010 by elizabethlombino

Compassion Fatigue is one of the hazards of the profession of social work. Burnout is also something to monitor. Feeling overworked and underpaid, not getting adequate support, lacking clarity on job expectations, questioning job security… these are all signs of burnout and they are not uncommon. How many of us have ever felt as if we work hard doing one thing only to discover our supervisor expected something totally different? And if you are a social worker, you certainly know what it feels like to be overworked and underpaid. It’s the hallmark of our profession.

Yet, Compassion Fatigue is something more. When we start having strong feelings towards the stories we hear from our clients. When we start feeling anxious, irritable, helpless and inadequate. When we may start isolating from our coworkers or feel emotionally withdrawn from the work that we do. This can be a normal reaction to the intense work that we do, but it can also be dangerous if left untreated.

Many of us who have been in the field for quite a while know what Compassion Fatigue looks like. We’ve seen it in our colleagues and we most likely have experienced it ourselves. Many of us have developed the tools and strategies to care for ourselves on a daily basis to prevent Compassion Fatigue from getting out of control. We meditate, we have consultation groups, we have good supervision, we take care of ourselves in ways that ensure we are effective in our work.

Yet, even with these self-care strategies in place, there are those times when something new is needed. Our self-care reaches a plateau and we need to be more creative to deal with a new level of stress and anxiety. This is when the real work begins. It’s one thing to monitor ourselves, it’s another to realize this monitoring isn’t as effective as it once was. To realize there is more going on in our lives than our usual strategies can handle.

This is exactly what happened to me recently. Compassion Fatigue is an area I’m very experienced in. I lead presentations on the topic, conduct supervision groups, researched every aspect of the phenomenon, and write on the topic on almost a daily basis. So I like to think I have a handle on my own personal experiences of Compassion Fatigue. In the past, I’ve become very skilled at recognizing when I feel overloaded and need to take a self-care break. Yet somehow I reached a moment in time where my breaks were not working. A combination of personal issues, over exposure of devastating client stories, intensive therapy with a few clients, and organizational changes provided the perfect atmosphere for Compassion Fatigue to fester. And it did. Eventually I was able to get the support I needed to get through. It became clear that I needed to develop a new level of self-care strategies to help me cope when I am faced with similar circumstances. It became a learning opportunity for me.

A colleague of mine made a statement that has stuck with me. She said “when you reach equilibrium and something changes to off-set that equilibrium, you need to reset everything to get back in balance.” This is so true for the helping professions. With ever changing funding sources, job titles, supervisors, clients and a host of other changes that we face on a daily basis, we are constantly challenged to regain balance. This is when we need to be flexible and open to the process. Develop new tools to effectively cope and continue to do our jobs.

Being a Social Worker is a learning process in self-awareness. There is no beginning and no end to this learning. There is only the journey in which we encounter so many wonderful people and complicated issues. Every moment is a learning opportunity. Even in times of stress we can learn and grow. We can also use our own personal learning as a way to teach our clients to be flexible and open as well. They too may need to tap into new resources for support and develop new coping skills. They are not alone in the process and neither are we.

When we keep our eyes open to the journey in front of us, we can grow and experience the wonder of the world around us. Fortunately I was able to recognize my own sense of Compassion Fatigue and take steps to minimize its effects.  We all experience stress and burnout within our chosen profession. At the same time, we can all adopt effective self-care strategies to get through the stress. No matter where you work, with a little self-care, you can learn to love your job even more.

Filed under: Compassion Fatigue, Hope Notes, Self-Care, Social Work, Stress Reduction | Leave a Comment »

The Other City: The Reality of HIV Among Our Most Vulnerable Populations

Posted on September 22, 2010 by elizabethlombino

Post originally published on Change.org

The Other City: The Reality of HIV Among Our Most Vulnerable Populations

There is a powerful new documentary circulating on the independent film front. The Other City showcases the lives of people living with HIV in the inner-city of Washington, D.C. This important and profound film portrays the reality of the lives of the city’s most vulnerable citizens.

There are many major themes that are examined, including poverty, stigma, homophobia and transphobia, lack of access to services for the poor, and HIV criminalization. The film also highlights the disparity of the HIV epidemic within certain inner-city communities, including the poor, people of color, substance abusers, women, young men who have sex with men (MSM), and people of trans-experience. The film adequately captures this reality that is often ignored within the mainstream media and traditional healthcare and prevention strategies.

The statistics of HIV prevalence in inner-cities across America are shocking and unnecessary. According to the findings of a March 2010 study released in the New England Journal of Medicine, HIV prevalence rates in these impoverished areas surpasses those found in Sub-Saharan Africa. For Washington, D.C., the setting for the film, HIV rates among adults now exceed 1 in 30 — higher than reported rates in Ethiopia, Nigeria or Rwanda. Further, in these same urban areas across the nation, 30 percent of MSM are contracting HIV, compared with the overall population rates of 7.8 percent in Kenya and 16.9 percent in South Africa. This is utterly unacceptable for a nation as wealthy and progressive as America. The AIDS epidemic is far from over and given these bleak statistics, the epidemic seems to be gaining dangerous momentum.

One story highlighted within the film is that of Jose Ramirez, Youth Program Coordinator at La Clínica del Pueblo, a health clinic in D.C. that focuses on reaching Latino populations. Ramirez primarily works withLatino LGBT youth at risk of contracting HIV. For this population, there are many forces working against them including poverty, immigration concerns, substance use, lack of resources and support, and lack of employment. Because of this, many LGBT youth turn to prostitution to get by. As Ramirez points out in thetrailer for the film (along with the passionate and remorseful commentary of legendary HIV activist Larry Kramer),  if a young man is offered $150 more for “bareback” sex with another man (anal sex without a condom), he is most likely going to take the money. To that end, Ramirez has been advocating the use of the female condom for receptive partners as another option for protecting themselves.

The film’s tagline is “In every city, there’s another city,” which eloquently captures the heart of the AIDS epidemic. There is the one city with HIV programs and services that provide necessary treatment to those who have access. There is the one city with prevention programs and services which help curb the spread to a select few. Then there is the other city with residents who cannot afford their life-saving medications. The other city with residents who rely on selling their bodies for survival.  The other city that is virtually ignored and tossed in the gutter.

It is when we look at HIV/AIDS from this perspective that it becomes clear that this epidemic is very much a social justice issue. HIV would not spread as rampantly if there were more effective, creative, and culturally competent prevention services in place. Those living with HIV would not see their disease progress to AIDS (with some of those progressions resulting in death) in such large numbers if there were consistent and universal access to necessary care and treatment services.

Why are these most vulnerable populations essentially being left to die? As the film proclaims, this does not need to occur. With all of the advances in HIV medications and prevention programs, the epidemic should be more under control than it is. Something else is going on. Something scary and invisible. The Other City brings to light these tragic occurrences in our inner-city communities. The film also shows the resilience and hope of these communities. With continued awareness and exposure like with this film, we will soon regain control over the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

To read the post on Change.org, click here.

Filed under: Change.org, HIV/AIDS, Poverty, Social Media | Leave a Comment »

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