Miami Herald (MH) - Thursday, August 15, 1991
Reed Martin; Herald Writer

Bennett, a state-certified AIDS counselor, distributes more than 1,000 free condoms each month to prostitutes, drug dealers and the homeless in South Dade, as part of the Minority AIDS Prevention Initiative, a program sponsored by the state Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services.

"They're never embarrassed to take them -- they beg for them," she said.

Bennett, 33, said she would like to be able to hand out 4,000 a month.

"There's a great need for this service," she said. "A lot of prostitutes don't buy or use condoms -- most of them don't even know what one is."

Three days a week, Bennett leaves her office at Community Health Inc., 10300 SW 216 St., and heads for the streets of Goulds, Naranja, Homestead and Perrine. She dresses casually so she can mingle and gain the trust of the street people she's trying to reach.

She hands out condoms and urges those she meets to get tested for AIDS. Bennett said she must be careful in some areas.

"Sometimes I go with a security guard from the center," she said. "The drug dealers used to think I was an undercover police officer. Now they all know who I am. They know I'm there to help."

Still, few take advantage of her office's free HIV screening service.

"A lot of people don't want to know," said Oscar Loynaz, who coordinates the AIDS program at Community Health. "They think that if they're diagnosed as positive, they will die two minutes later. We try to convince them that that's not true."

The program runs on a budget of $150,000 a year, mostly from federal and state grants.

"We provide AZT to patients who qualify and we also provide counseling to everyone who comes in for an AIDS test," Loynaz said.

The results of the test usually take two weeks.

Loynaz said he plans to recruit a second health educator -- at $21,000 a year -- to distribute condoms in Hispanic areas of South Dade.

"It's too much work for one person," said Bennett, who also gives lectures at schools and provides counseling. "I visit about 200 people a week."

With AIDS on the rise everywhere, Bennett said she believes her crusade is helping.

"If I could reach just one person and convince them to stop engaging in high-risk behaviors, I'd be happy," Bennett said. "It would really make me feel like I've done something because somebody's got to get the word out. Education is the only way we're going to overcome the AIDS virus -- it's here to stay."

CAPTION: PHOTO Evelyn Bennett
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