6 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE SEPTEMBER 3, 1993

AIDS IN A 'SECOND-TIER' CITY

AIDS committee's first steps: Survey needs and resources

Continued from Page 1

planning, education, quality of care, and funding.

Commission findings, while apt and applauded by many, fell short of support and enactment. The bottom line from the Commission stated: "While Greater Cleveland is in dire need of resources for AIDS/HIV education and services, the single greatest need is for the structuring of a powerful leadership group."

But without the attention of the very powers necessary to effect change, the Commission stalled in carrying out its recommendations. Reasons for that failure extend beyond leadership problems and into a familiar realm. Says John Nolan, who served as administrative director of the AIDS Commission, "As long as a coordinating body is

tied to a specific administration, where bureaucracy and egos can play a part, then it's doomed." As administrations change, priorities shift and funding disappears.

However, Commission recommendations did not go unheard. Realizing that government played a less significant role in Cleveland than elsewhere throughout the state, and that private funding and support were crucial, a Citizen's Committee on AIDS/HIV was formed in 1992 by city and county agencies, the United Way, the Cleveland Foundation, and the George Gund Foundation. The Committee has been given 18 months to "develop an action plan which will enhance advocacy, coordination and visibility regarding AIDS/HIV issues in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County."

More rhetoric? Certainly that's a response that Health Issues Taskforce director Joe

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Interrante, as Ryan White Consortium representative to the Committee, is aware of. "No one wants to finish this 18 months of work and find that they put out this nice little book that gets put on someone's shelf," he said.

To establish that vital link among various community leaders, to ensure that support would be forthcoming and to avoid writing the next Great American Novel, committee members were needed who would reflect a variety of interests throughout the community (arts, education and medical institutions, the Urban League, North Coast Harbor Project), while also including members of the HIV community as well.

Ronald Stewart, executive director of the Citizen's Committee is excited about the urgency members have brought to the project. “(In the past) I've always had to take the people appointed to committees and just keep jabbing at them, saying, 'you need to get out there and say this,' or 'you need to do that.' But with this group of individuals I have to hold the reins, they're all so anxious to get things done." What does everyone need?

Stewart's first duty has been to survey Greater Cleveland interests in an effort to gauge perceptions about the most pressing issues so that "we can write recommendations that are reflective of attitudes and trends around the community." He's done this by breaking the area down into 50-odd constituencies-unions, ethnic groups, trade associations, service providers, social groups-and in turn has compiled a list of roughly 1,500 people who are influential leaders in these constituencies. The constituencies are not limited to Cleveland proper, but extend throughout the suburban communities, tough areas to pitch a sale, Stewart notes, when they have yet to feel the impact of AIDS. Having support from county commissioners is seen as a vital link to county-wide involvement.

So far the return rate on surveys is around 21 percent, well above the 13 percent that Stewart's critics predicted. For unresponsive constituencies, follow-up interviews will be necessary, and here the influence of committee members will be a useful tool. Data results are due in late September or early October.

Realizing that a crucial part of the puzzle was not represented by the survey, namely service clients themselves, a second survey has been aimed at them and their needs.

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where Stewart sweats a bit: "I hope to God that when these all return they'll match what everyone else has told us. There will be variances here and there and that's where we'll need to fine-tune to client need. Sure, this is what we as providers think is needed, but the client is saying this is what we prefer. How can we make a match that works?"

So far the client survey return has been good-not great, but not bad. Public forums have been held, and while turnout has been diverse (with women and children espe-

cially visible), the numbers have failed to materialize. Stewart attributes this to fear: straights who fear being identified as gay, gays who still fear being out, and a general. fear of losing the services that are available should they be criticized. Results from the client surveys are due around November.

Both surveys aim at finding "do-able, concrete" solutions, not things beyond the reach of the community, such as changing the national health care system. Stewart is aware that while possible solutions, like needle-exchange programs and condom distribution in schools, may be unappealing to some, they may be necessary measures. "The community is looking for nuts and bolts," he says.

The leadership question

Surveys are one thing, but in a large geographic area with many service providers, (the current northeast Ohio AIDS Services Directory lists over 60 organizations that provide services affecting the widest variety of issues related to HIV), who will lead implementation of committee recommendations? Again, back to the leadership void. Will recommendations be fully backed by the service community? How will things be enforced? Where will funds come from?

Answers to these questions are tough, and no one is willing to second guess, but a few things are evident. Any leadership must exist with some permanence and a large amount of coordination. Nolan suggests that putting the control in the hands of City Council might be a way to provide permanence since council members are frequently lifers. There is agreement that no one person should have that control, that cooperation is imperative. Says Interrante, "It's unlikely to my mind to set up something like a local AIDS czar. You need to develop a process which encourages and facilitates the process of people working together."

Stewart agrees, suggesting that a coalition may provide that kind of cooperation. "We have a lot of great satellites out there doing their own thing. We just need some coordination to it." He also thinks a governing body would be an appropriate arena for airing complaints and grievances, something sorely lacking now. Nolan points out that a coordinating body would be useful in standardizing the many different approaches to any given issue, like the need to keep education materials concrete, direct and culturally specific in language, so "we're all saying the same thing, not sending out conflicting messages."

It would also be possible to disseminate new information about AIDS quickly and accurately. Questions remain about the ability for a single coalition to address both advocacy needs and fund-raising tasks.

The cooperative effort in producing the '93 AIDS Walk has been an important "step in the right direction" of unity. Unity between service organizations would also ensure that government plays its role by encouraging positive responses and discour-

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