Texas: Program Aims to Educate Hispanic Youth About HIV

Community activist Elias Chino never concerned himself with the barriers he might have faced as he established an HIV prevention and education services nonprofit for Hispanic youth. The Mexican immigrant, who had already lost two friends to AIDS, had vowed to keep it from happening to a younger generation. He's doing that now by helping educate teens in Spring Branch's Long Point area on HIV awareness and prevention through his nonprofit group, the Fundacion Latino Americana Contra El SIDA, or FLAS Inc.

Chino's newest AIDS combative strategy is aimed at changing the results of a study about condom use. Last January, FLAS kicked off a condom program along with the Houston Health Department and businesses in ZIP codes 77055 and 77080, heavily populated with Hispanic neighborhoods. Those two ZIP codes have reported the highest cases of AIDS in recent years. "We are going out to business owners and explaining about the program," he said of the strategy called "Cubrete," or "cover up." Once business owners complete a consent form to enroll in the program, they give out packets, which contain three condoms and HIV information. From nightclubs to grocery stores to beauty salons to health clinics, the program has distributed 60,000 packets via 70 businesses since the first of the year.

For several years, FLAS has run an HIV awareness campaign with Harris County with the assistance of Housing and Urban Development funds received through community development block grants. This year, FLAS was awarded a $100,000 grant, which started in August. The grant specifically targets low- to moderate-income Hispanics ages 13 to 21 through small groups of 20-30 students. Last year, 120 youths graduated from the program, and most received an $80 mall gift certificate. The next class starts in mid-September. For more information about FLAS, telephone 713-772-2366.

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