Bay Area Reporter - May 1, 2008
Seth Hemmelgarn, s.hemmelgarn@ebar.com

AGUILAS - Asociacion Gay Unida Impactando Latinos/Latinas A Superarse, or Association of United Gays Impacting Latinos/Latinas Toward Self-Empowerment - is waiting to move into a new location, which it's hoping will be ready by June.

The agency, which works with gay and bisexual Latinos on issues ranging from HIV to political asylum, had to leave its last location because the landlord needed the space.

It moved into the center mid-April, and hopes to start sharing space with Project Commotion, which provides movement therapy and other services for children with developmental and emotional challenges, by June.

AGUILAS, which has two and a quarter full-time staff and sees about 300 clients a year - equivalent to about 1,200 visits - has been relying on $243,000 a year it receives from the city's Department of Public Health. Executive Director Eduardo Morales said if the group doesn't get more help, "We're going to have to plan to close."

"There is no additoinal money," Morales said. If they want programs that are effective, which we ve demonstrated they have to fund it.

Morales, who has a doctorate in counseling psychology, said the agency, which started in 1994, plans to survive on an additional $40,000 this year. However, he said it would need $340,000 to stay afloat next fiscal year.

The health department is facing millions of dollars in cuts, but Dr. Grant Colfax, the department's HIV prevention director, recently told the Bay Area Reporter he is committed to helping AGUILAS remain open. Colfax has also commissioned two health plans to look at developing strategies for both the African American and Latino communities. He appointed staffer Oscar Macias to oversee the Latino plan.

Morales said right now staff are squeezed into a "very tight" office at the center, located at 1800 Market Street, and are renting rooms for groups and storing their belongings in a couple of other locations. Altogether, that's costing them about $2,000 a month, which is the same as they'll be paying when they move to the Project Commotion space at 17th and Harrison streets. They were paying about $4,000 a month for their previous location, but they also had more space.

For more information, visit www.sfaguilas.org.

Butt Out moves in

Butt Out, a brand new project that's aimed at getting organizations that represent or work within the LGBT community to sign pledges not to accept sponsorship money from tobacco companies or their affiliates, has also moved into the center.

The effort is a project of Breathe California, which works to reduce the impact of lung disease. Butt Out, which took over an office at the center in March, is aided by a two-year grant that totals about $160,000, according to Karen Licavoli, vice president of programs for Breathe California. The money comes from state tobacco tax money and is dispersed by the health department.

Butt Out is looking for advocates, who could be paid a stipend of up to $1,000 a year, to be part of the project.

For more information, visit www.butt-out.org.

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