Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Miami Herald - May 16, 2002
Adriana Cordovi, acordovi@herald.com
He became ill for a while but pulled out of it hoping he would be healthy enough to one day help others who faced the same plight.
On Wednesday, Alarcon was greeting supporters at a reception for Union Positiva, an organization aimed at helping Spanish-speakers treat and prevent HIV, which was celebrating the grand opening of its third-floor offices at 1901 SW First St. in Little Havana.
"After going through it myself, I do not want it to happen to others," Alarcon said.
Since February, he has been handing out condoms at nightclubs with Union Positiva's other volunteers. This year, he was part of a group that handed out more than 50,000 at the annual Calle Ocho festival.
"We are in the community with the cultural sensitivity required," said the organization's executive director, Luis Penelas. "And it's something that's affecting everyone."
In the 12 months ending last June, the Miami area had the nation's highest rate of new AIDS cases -- about 60 per 100,000 people, according to a recent report by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
"We really see the need for providing services to this community," said Miguel Espinal, Union Positiva's director of prevention services.
The program was founded five years ago to send pamphlets and information packets to Latin American countries. Now it offers free anonymous HIV testing and counseling, prevention and treatment education, referrals and outreach programs.
Volunteer Tony Valenzuela, who says Alarcon is like a brother, started working with Union Positiva to better understand Alarcon's experience and to educate people.
Valenzuela, who does not have HIV, says he goes by the saying: "Today for you, tomorrow for me."
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