Staff Spotlight: David Cruz, Outreach Gateway to Health and Wellness

What’s your title here? 

I’m a Community Health Outreach Worker at BCS’s Outreach Gateway to Health and Wellness.

How did you end up in your current position?

I’ve been in the nonprofit field for about 10 years now. I started out doing an internship with [The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center] in Manhattan. At that point, I was a homeless LGBT youth living in the Ali Forney Center, trying to find my footing. I did the internship, and I loved it. So, after that, I looked for my next nonprofit job, which was on payroll at BOOM!Health, and from there, I’ve just gone from agency to agency. 

Was nonprofit work something you were always drawn to?

It wasn’t until the internship that I realized this was something I was passionate about. Then I was like, “If I can help somebody not be in the spot that I’m in, then that’s great.”

How did you end up at the Ali Forney Center?

My parents didn’t agree with my sexuality at the time. I was 18, and I was there for a year. I was able to find my footing, find people that I still keep in contact with to this day. I was able to basically get my life together.

How long have you been at BCS? 

Three months.

Are you liking it so far?

It’s actually been pretty good. We’re a new team, so we’re basically building the program back up. It’s been refreshing. My last position was as a case manager in the office all day and not doing anything but helping the kids in front of me, so now this is a refreshing start, because we’re out in the streets with residents. It’s not the same place every day. 

Are you usually in the same neighborhoods, or does it vary?

It’s different areas. We do Sunset Park, we do Bed-Stuy, Bushwick, East New York, Crown Heights, Williamsburg. 

What does your outreach look like? 

We’re going to start doing HIV testing. We just finished all the training, and we just got in our new equipment. We’re going to start doing Hep C testing, as well as basically doing linkage and navigation for drugs or on referral programs. We do referrals to shelters and emergency housing. We do referrals to mental health services, but our main thing is that we do reduction and we do syringe exchange. 

Are a lot of these clients younger people? 

It actually varies. In some neighborhoods we get nothing but young people. In some neighborhoods we get nothing but people 40 and over. Sometimes we get people 60 and over, and that’s all we’re getting. It literally depends on the neighborhood

How big is the team that you work with on a day-to-day basis?

It’s three of us plus Suzanne, who is our supervisor.

Are you planning on expanding? 

We’ll have a total of six: three of us that are here, the community health outreach workers, one mobile wellness unit person, our supervisor, and then Suzanne.

Does it ever feel overwhelming at the current size?

It feels perfectly fine. We’re getting in that groove.

What are your favorite aspects of the job so far?

Honestly, just helping, going out, seeing what people need, and hearing stories.

Are people usually pretty open to talking, or are they more reserved? 

Depends on the neighborhood. Sometimes we get someone who is like, “I don’t need anything from you.” But then there are people who are like, “I need everything from you.” 

Have you had any particularly memorable interactions or moments that have stood out to you?

Yeah, we spent the day in the Young Women’s Shelter on Third Avenue. All the young ladies were very receptive to us. They were cool the entire time we were there. They spoke not only about what they need, but they spoke about their life in general, stories about all these kids coming from Texas and Arkansas and all these different places and how they ended up here in New York. It was just a really good energy.

On the flip side–what are the more challenging parts of the job? What have been the major struggles so far?

Getting people to talk, because we do have more of the silent ones but we need to know their life story and what they need and why they need it. 

What kind of work are you guys going to do as you grow and continue rebuilding this program?

We’ll be in the same areas, but more people, especially when it gets warmer. We’ll have the mobile shower unit in the more predominant places that have street homeless people, so we’ll be able to aid them in the system, getting clean, doing laundry. In the cold weather, we bring sweatshirts and sweaters with us.