Assignment 2 1

Running head: ASSIGNMENT 2

Assignment 2

Earl Driscoll

Bryn Mawr College

Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research

SW 315: Grant Writing for Social Workers

Assignment 2

Culturally competent services are lacking in the Latino HIV/AIDS community in Philadelphia and
culturally competent HIV/AIDS advocacy within the Latino community is not yet mobilized. Last year
translation and interpretation services previously paid for with Ryan White funds were defunded in the
City of Philadelphia. The lack of an advocacy group specific to the Latino community became evident.

According to U. S. Census Bureau (2008) the population of the City of Philadelphia in 2000 was
1,517,550 with a Latino population of 8.5% which indicates that the Latino population of the City of
Philadelphia in 2000 was 128,992. The number of Latino individuals who are HIV positive in the City
of Philadelphia cannot easily be determined.

The Latino community is quite diverse including individuals who were born in the United States. Many
other individuals are from the Caribbean, Central America, and South America. Caribbean Latinos
include individuals from Puerto Rico who are United States citizens and Dominicans who are
immigrants. Central Americans are predominantly Mexicans. South America is comprised of many
nationalities, many of which are represented in the Philadelphia region.

Many individual members of the Latino community in Philadelphia are individuals who have limited
English proficiency. The inability to communicate is an insurmountable barrier to accessing services
and makes advocating for ones needs all but impossible. Limited English proficiency is a major
difficulty of many Latino individuals in the Philadelphia region.

Another major issue affecting many Latino community members in the Philadelphia region is
immigration. While many members of the Latino community are United States citizens and others are
documented immigrants there is a large number of undocumented immigrants who are afraid to seek
services for fear of becoming known to the Department of Homeland Security. This is an untenable
situation. An individual is afraid, and rightly so, of being tested for HIV because that person fears
deportation. Rather than being tested and receiving the necessary care this person continues (assuming
they are positive) to spread HIV and their own physical condition deteriorates. Prevention education,
both primary and secondary, needs to be aggressively provided to the Latino community, particularly to
the undocumented immigrants. The population of Latino individuals in the City of Philadelphia,
especially those with limited English proficiency or those who are undocumented immigrants are
subjected to racial and economic injustice.
Proyecto SOL: SIDA Organacion Latino Lidergazo (AIDS Organization of Latino Leadership) is
proposed as a program to identify, train, and support Latino advocacy leaders in the city of
Philadelphia.

ACT UP is a well established active, vocal, and effective HIV/AIDS advocacy group in Philadelphia.
Proyecto SOL will work in collaboration with ACT UP on general HIV issues. A Latino specific group
needs to address of unmet needs of the Latino community: Limited English proficiency, immigration
issues, cuts in care, defunding of interpretation and translation services, and other significant secondary
issues such as the increased levels of substance use seen in the Latino communities.

References

(U S Census Bureau 200812)U. S. Census Bureau. (2008, January 2). Retrieved February 5,
2008, from U. S. Census Bureau Web Site:
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/42/4260000.html