jacquel clemons – providing support
photo by steed media service |
Program Director, Project K.I.S.S.
Most can remember the jumble of hormones and emotions called adolescence. Hardly anyone was immune to the awkwardness that accompanied the transition from childhood to adolescence.
Jacquel Clemons can attest to the additional pressures facing HIV-positive youth. “I think they definitely deal with the same stuff that most youth consistently deal with, but then they have the HIV on top of that to complicate issues for them,” she says. “They have to think about the burden of medication and the burden of being safe, [and] of not infecting others.”
Luckily for HIV-positive teens in the New York City area, there’s somewhere to go thanks to New York-Presbyterian’s Family Center. The Center provides care for HIV-infected children from birth through age 24 via an on-site medical care and outreach program, Project K.I.S.S. (Know your status, Inform your partners, Stay Safe). Clemons serves as Project K.I.S.S.’ program director.
In addition to providing health care, the center also allows the participating youth the opportunity to bond with others like them. “A lot of the ones who were infected perinatally basically grew up together in the clinics, so they tend to rely on each other. They can’t talk to the other people in their schools about it because of the stigma attached to it. They form this family dynamic with each other,” Clemons explains.
Despite the difficulties they face, the strength of the HIV-positive youth endures, a quality Clemons admittedly admires. “These kids are survivors. They admire me because they feel like they can relate to me, but I have to remind them [for] how strong they are. They have fought and won,” she says. “They’re the unsung heroes in all of this.” –ivory m. jones
