1. Tell us a little about yourself, who you are, what you do, and what you brought you to Alliance?
My name is Perla Romero and I am a Harm Reduction Manager at Alliance LES Harm Reduction Center. I came to LESHRC as an intern through AHEC (Area Health Education Center), which was a program I was connected to through City College. Once I completed my hours for my internship, I stayed as a volunteer, then eventually became a staff member. When I first interned with LESHRC, I knew that I was coming to a special place. The work we do is truly necessary for and by the community we serve. The impact that LESHRC has had and the place that it holds in the community has been something I wanted to be a part of.
2. Tell me about your program/service and what problem it solves.
My role at Alliance has expanded quite a bit since I began working here. One of the most central components to the work that I do is addressing hepatitis C. Hepatitis C is a viral form of hepatitis that is often overlooked and stigmatized, but can have fatal consequences when undiagnosed and/or untreated. The majority of the new cases being reported in NYC are within the community of people who inject drugs. This means that people who are often not engaged in the healthcare system are also being burdened by a chronic health condition that does not have enough resources or funding. My job is to help bridge the gap between the resources that do exist and our clients. Through our participation in various initiatives, programming, and partnerships, we are able to do outreach to people who are disconnected from healthcare and bring them to places where they are welcome, respected, and safe. Through these healthcare navigation services that can take many forms, we are able to work with our clients so that they can receive medical care again.
3. Tell us about specific people you’ve helped within your program.
One of the people that I worked with had several chronic health conditions when I first met them (like many of our clients do), and had undergone a major surgery at a young age. I think they felt like there were limited options of whom they could work with because they primarily spoke Spanish and had felt dismissed in the past. This person was able to become cured of hepatitis C through the span of our work together. I really enjoyed seeing how they grew to advocate for themselves and knew that they had a say in the care that they chose to engage in or not to engage in. I think that getting through treatment made them feel empowered to look at and work on other areas of their life. The last time that we spoke they shared that they were looking into areas of work that they wanted to move into and that they would be comfortable in; they were prioritizing their well-being!
4. Is there an achievement or contribution to this program you are particularly proud of?
I am extremely proud of the clients that have been cured of hepatitis C through our navigation services. Due to their history of drug use (past or present), many of the clients that I have worked with have been stigmatized by medical providers that they worked with previously. It takes an incredible amount of courage to advocate for your health after facing discrimination and abuse in settings that should have been safe. I am proud of the way that our team works with clients to restore a sense of autonomy when it comes to their health care. Overall, I am proud of our clients.
5. What’s your outlook for the future for this program and beyond?
Hepatitis C treatment has changed so much within the last decade and our programs have been crucial in communicating advancements to the people that benefit most from them. Our programs have also been important to the organization, our clients, and others by raising the issues of hepatitis C awareness, hepatitis C education, and healthcare access. My hope is that the people cured through our programs and positive health outcomes are seen as motivators to invest in the health of people who use drugs, particularly those who are unhoused. Beyond hepatitis C, I hope that the work we do can be a catalyst to move our health system towards a harm reduction framework. It would be great if our work could help move medical providers towards a re-education that includes how to practice from a harm reduction framework. Of course there are already medical providers that practice harm reduction (some that we are fortunate to work with), but we need to make this the rule, not the exception.
6. If you could do anything in addition to what you are doing now, what would it be?
I would like to make different materials that aid in expanding who knows about harm reduction. A lot of us who do harm reduction work are doing this work because either we saw the need for this in our immediate surroundings or we have direct personal experiences. To me, this says a lot about who is doing harm reduction work. It says that we are very invested, but also that we arrived at harm reduction out of necessity. I want harm reduction, for what it really is, to become something that can aid in reshaping the relationships that people develop and have with substances. Particularly, I would like to make harm reduction materials that are intentionally written in Spanish.
7. Is there another question that I have not asked you that I should?
What is Harm Reduction?
I think this is one of my favorite questions because the response you receive tells you a lot about the person responding and what they have been exposed to. Oftentimes, people will respond by saying that harm reduction can be defined as "meeting people where they're at." This is definitely part of it, but within the context of social services/healthcare, it can be providing people with options so that they can decide what is best for them. I think at its best harm reduction is giving people their power back and working with them towards their goals. Harm reduction work should always stem from a place of love for your community and others while respecting their autonomy.