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October 5, 2010
Barbara Chinn: Making Capital Gains on the Virus
by Cristina Gonzalez
A native Washingtonian, Barbara Chinn has spent her entire life in the nation’s capital experiencing the richness of a diverse city. But she has also witnessed firsthand HIV’s unchecked rampage on the city’s neighborhoods. Chinn has worked to end this epidemic for more than 20 years, first as a housing and services director at the historic Whitman-Walker Clinic and now as a program director for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Blair Underwood Healthcare Center. Chinn talks with us about her earliest experiences with HIV/AIDS, the ignorance she faced, the progress made and the work that is yet to be done.
What was your first experience with HIV/AIDS?
My first encounters with HIV occurred when I saw my friends diagnosed, living with the disease and then eventually succumbing to it. It was horrible watching them go from being bright, vibrant, energetic young men who had such promising futures to victims of a disease that caused them to waste away, endure Kaposi’s sarcoma [a type of cancer associated with AIDS] and pneumocystis pneumonia, experience short term memory loss and suffer a plethora of opportunistic infections. As a result of their illness, many of them lost the emotional support they needed so much from their families.
Is this what led you to start working in the HIV/AIDS community?
After caring for friends with HIV/AIDS and standing by as they died, I wanted to find a way to contribute to the LGBT community and, at the same time, help in the fight to care for those who had lost their support systems because of the fear and ignorance surrounding HIV/AIDS. This motivated me to become involved in the founding of Whitman-Walker Clinic's Max Robinson Center in DC. *
What helped was my property management background. It provided me with the tools needed to help further develop the clinic’s housing program and ensure that the facilities met the needs of the people we served. Quality housing with support systems was the first goal in the early days. Then we realized people were being released from hospital care without the ability to live independently. That prompted us to develop the first licensed community residential facility. We provided 24-hour, live-in assistance to ensure that the client had the proper support and monitoring. During my 20 years with Whitman-Walker Clinic, I served as housing director, deputy executive director and director of prevention, education and support services, and director of the Max Robinson Center.
What challenges did you face?
In the early days, there was ignorance. Although in the mid-’80s, we didn’t know as much about HIV transmission as we do now, we knew the basics. I had very intelligent, well-educated people tell me I was crazy for working with the HIV-infected community. I was asked on more than one occasion, “Aren’t you afraid you will pick up the virus from a doorknob or toilet seat at an AIDS clinic?”
But it was my role as the director of the Max Robinson Center [in 1995] that proved the most challenging. I had to find the facility and develop it in a less than welcoming environment. When I met with advisory neighborhood commissions in the surrounding localities, I was told an AIDS clinic was not wanted. They said they did not want outsiders bringing AIDS to their community. At that point, my job began to include meeting with people and explaining that we weren’t bringing a disease to them. We were bringing service and care for those already in the community who needed to be identified and cared for and educating those who weren’t infected about how to remain uninfected. It was a challenging yet fulfilling time; it was work that needed to be done.
What led you to the Blair Underwood Healthcare Center?
Last summer, I met with the president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Michael Weinstein. I’d heard about his vision about working in the city that ranked No 1. per capita for HIV infection. [The center targets underserved populations in Washington, DC and has a full-service HIV/AIDS treatment clinic as well as an on-site AHF pharmacy.]. He is gun-ho on testing people [so they know] their status. It’s kick-ass, no-nonsense advocacy, care and treatment all the way. There is no place for complacency with him or his team. He and the organization have the fight within them, the fight that was so pronounced in the ’80s and ’90s. I had to join their team. Now, I work with them as a program manager in prevention, testing and community outreach. This includes supervising the center’s mobile HIV testing units and free clinic for men’s and women’s wellness. [The clinic provides STD screening and treatment.] My work also involves working with churches, community organizations and DC government agencies to identify HIV-positive people and quickly get them into care. In addition, my job entails working with various organizations, community groups and leaders to ensure that our services are responsive to the needs of the client.
A city study last year found that 3 percent of DC residents are HIV positive, which is on par with Uganda. As a community leader working in our nation’s capital, what do you think about the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS), which was unveiled this summer?
While the strategy’s three primary goals [reduce the number of new infections, increase access to care with improved health outcomes and reduce HIV-related health disparities], are noble, I say let’s start with making sure everyone who needs access to HIV medications has the ability to obtain them. This cannot be allowed to become a case where the economically advantaged have access to treatment while the economically disadvantaged do not! That’s where we should start.
After watching so many you love struggle to live with HIV and after encountering so many challenges working in the community, where do you find your inspiration?
My inspiration comes from those who have fought the fight and lost, and those who are still fighting the fight. If they can endure, I can help. This virus has taken a toll over the past 30 years that must be stopped. Knowing that no one has to become infected keeps me engaged and focused.
What remains the biggest obstacle to stopping the spread of HIV?
Stigma. The stigma associated with HIV must be eradicated. It is very similar to the stigma associated with cancer years ago. No one wanted anyone to know they were a cancer patient because they feared being shunned. Now, everyone rallies around and greets cancer patients with open arms and hugs and provides any support they can to help.
What are your goals for the future?
For now, my focus is on helping establish the AHF Blair Underwood Healthcare Center as the premier HIV/AIDS health care center in the DC metropolitan area, and doing what I can to help eradicate this virus and its spread through education and prevention. That means everyone needs to know their HIV status and get tested—now!
*This article has been revised to reflect the following correction: Barbara Chinn was involved in the founding of the Max Robinson Center, not the Whitman Walker Clinic.
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Barbara Chinn, Washington, DC, 2010-10-08 15:17:36
One small, but very important comment. I did not found Whitman-Walker Clinic, that was done as an out-growth of a gay mens STD clinic that had started in the basement of a Luthern church in Georgetown. I was involved in the founding of Whitman-Walker Clinic's Max Robinson Center located in Ward 8.
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