Posts Tagged ‘prisons’

Annual AIDS Walk Donations from Otisville’s PACE Group

Monday, June 24th, 2019

On May 18, 2019, members of Prisoners for AIDS Counseling and Education (PACE) at Otisville  Correctional Facility held their annual AIDS Walk. Here’s a look at the results of their fundraising efforts, which take the form of donated foods given to our Newburgh food closet.

Otisville PACE AIDS Walk proceeds 2019

This is a tradition that has been going on for many years and is a highlight of the year for the PACE Program. PACE members advocate for and counsel fellow inmates on HIV/AIDS issues, passing along life-saving educational information.

As inmates, the PACE members do not have access to traditional fundraising tools, so they collect donations of food from fellow inmates, purchased from the Otisville commissary. Inmates do not have the ability to earn or keep much money so these donations are extra-special. (We try to stock healthy, low-sodium items in our food closet, so ramen is usually not on our shopping list. In this case, however, we gladly accepted them, knowing how much work they represented. Plus, our clients who are not on low-sodium diets get to indulge in a treat.)

Special thanks to everyone involved in PACE Otisville, and for our Criminal Justice Initiative program staff for helping to make this donation happen!

HVCS staff put away Otisville PACE AIDS Walk proceeds

Carmen, our Newburgh Program Assistant, and Barbara, CJI Linkage Specialist, pack away proceeds from PACE Otisville’s annual AIDS Walk.

Criminal Justice Initiative Now Offering Hep C Linkage & Support

Wednesday, October 10th, 2018
Our Criminal Justice Initiative, which provides HIV education and linkage to care for those incarcerated in NY state prisons in Sullivan County, recently received an enhancement to include Hepatitis C (HCV) services.
Our new HCV Linkage Specialist will work with known HCV+ individuals within the correctional facilities, including an action plan for their treatment, working with the medical unit in each prison, and making referrals to medical care. Our staff will also provide transitional planning for those being released from prison so that they can remain linked to care, housing and other services. The Linkage Specialist will identify any barriers that HCV+ incarcerated individuals might have to seeking treatment and help them to overcome those obstacles.
 
Medical staff within New York State’s Department of Corrections & Community Supervision report large numbers of incarcerated individuals who are HCV+, so we are grateful to be offering this service.

Funding for HVCS’ Criminal Justice Initiative Renewed

Wednesday, May 24th, 2017

We are thrilled to announce that funding for our Criminal Justice Initiative was renewed by the New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute for another five years! We operate the CJI program in six New York State prisons for men in what is known as the Sullivan hub: Eastern, Otisville, Shawangunk, Sullivan, Wallkill and Woodbourne. Specialists provide HIV testing, create transition plans for HIV+ inmates who have served their time, and work with inmates to organize the Prisoners for AIDS Counseling and Education (PACE) program. CJI plays a critical role in preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS among the incarcerated population.