Bay Area Reporter - July 6, 2001
Katie Szymanski

"He brings a solid and diverse background with various roles in direct services, complimentary therapies, and nonprofit management," said Robert Perez, BAY Positives' board president, of Hudson. "He will be an outstanding advocate for young people in the Bay Area who are living with HIV."

Founded in 1990 as a support group for young people living with HIV/AIDS, BAY Positives grew to become a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in 1993. In 1994, the agency received a large federal grant and opened its doors as the first peer-run agency for young people living with HIV/AIDS in the world.

Hudson joins BAY Positives as the organization's fourth permanent executive director, and while he arrives fresh from a job at Excite@home, his interests and experiences have always been in grassroots leadership and outreach.

"I had wanted to get into engineering, and create a connection where nonprofits could share information with each other," said Hudson of his year-long stint in computer-based communication. "I'm still interested in doing that, but not through the dot-com world."

The more relevant credits on Hudson's résumé make up an extensive history of multicultural advocacy, from assisting refugees of El Salvador to campaigning for environmental causes to coordinating events for Native American rights and the movement to free political prisoner Leonard Peltier to serving as a case manager at the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic and working as a program director at Baker Places. Hudson himself identifies as multicultural, with both Cherokee and European backgrounds. He has a master's degree in clinical psychology and body-oriented therapies from the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco and was once the director of the Carolina School of Massage for three years.

Hudson will begin his full-time duties at BAY Positives on July 9 for an annual salary of about $45,000, according to the group's financial records. In many ways, however, he says he feels like he has already begun to solidify the organization's vision and craft a plan for its future.

"I basically started working there the day I started interviewing, because I knew it was the job for me, and I immediately learned everything I could about it," said Hudson, adding that he has already started working on a contractual basis. His plans for BAY Positives include "moving forward the organization's vision, expanding its diversity, growing the programs that are needed without spending a lot of extra money, growing our volunteer base, and possibly developing an endowment."

"I'm not looking to change too much in terms of the organization's direction," he added, "because my priority is to make sure we're stable."

Located near the lower Haight on Waller Street at Steiner, BAY Positives offers a weekly drop-in support group for young people living with HIV/AIDS that addresses coming to terms with HIV infection, disclosure to loved ones, substance use, HIV treatments, and risk reduction. The organization provides individual counseling and peer case management on issues of housing, transportation, and access to other basic services, and it facilitates workshops and trainings about HIV treatment options and prevention issues that concern HIV-positive young people. Community-based outreach efforts include regular in-service workshops for other agencies, hospitals, and service providers on the programs and services of BAY Positives and the needs of HIV-positive youth. Social and recreational events include quarterly retreats for its members, white water rafting trips, movie nights, and other outings. BAY Positives also has agreements with other agencies to provide HIV testing and counseling, acupuncture, and massage to local youth in need.

In 2000, BAY Positives served 64 HIV-positive young people with direct care services. Twenty-four of those youth were new members, a 41 percent increase over 1999. An additional 3,600 young people were reached with information and education services. All of this happens on a current budget of $400,000 a year.

For Hudson, the challenge will be increasing the budget as well as the services offered, all the while saving money for the organization's future. He is confident he can pull it off.

"This is where I was meant to be," he said of his new position. "It's an honor to be offered this opportunity, and I'm ecstatic to be able to encourage youth to find their power."

For more information on the organization, see www.baypositives.org.
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