Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC)

Grantee: Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC)
Project: Link II
Location: New York, NY
Priority Population: Puerto Rican MSM HIV+ or at high risk for HIV

 

GMHC’s LINK II (Leaders in Networking and Knowledge) project utilizes three strategies that will effectively identify and serve Puerto Rican MSM in New York City. LINK II employs a social networking strategy that will enlist HIV-positive recruiters from the Puerto Rican MSM community to recruit their network associates for HIV tests. To link those who are HIV positive to care, a Linkage Navigation Specialist will provide customized materials and culturally-nuanced counseling, and a personal escort to Mount Sinai Hospital for an initial medical visit. To help those newly-diagnosed remain engaged in medical care, GMHC will collaborate with Mount Sinai Hospital to offer an array of culturally-sensitive supportive services in a location that is widely known as being gay-friendly, sex-positive, and outside of the neighborhood where most clients live, to reduce the impact of perceived stigma on engagement in care.