Dr. Wilbert Jordan, Director, Oasis Clinic
Young Joey could hold his tongue no longer. After his Mom came home from her Wednesday night choir rehearsal, he peeked into her room to ask her if he could talk to her. She smiled, waiting. He wanted to collapse into her arms, but he manned up. Sitting on the foot of her bed, he opened the door to his closet. “Mom, I’m gay.”
The smile faded. Her face contorted into a disdain he rarely saw. And that was the beginning of his relationship with homelessness. After a week of trying to “fix” him because, she said, “God was against this lifestyle,” Joey’s mother ultimately kicked him out into the Los Angeles night. Sure, L.A. may be balmy in the daylight, but in the winter it is cold at night.
What is to become of young boys like Joey? For the past 15 years, Dr. Wilbert Jordan has noticed a trend showing they may wind up with HIV. Jordan, a widely renowned AIDS/HIV expert, has spent the last 37 years of his life at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science (CDU) and the former Martin Luther King Hospital, now the Martin Luther King, Jr. Outpatient Center.
“Teenaged boys who are kicked out of the home are more likely to contract HIV than those whose families support them,” he said. As the founder and director of the Oasis Clinic which has been treating those with HIV and AIDS since 1984, he shared these statistics:
“We have a total of 85 adolescents, under the age of 24. We have 82 males and 3 females, and 48% of the males got infected after they were kicked out of the home. Another big issue we must talk about is molestation. Over half of my patients–64%–have been molested. When it happens to you when you are 12, you are still dealing with it when you are 45,” he continued. Because of this and other social dilemmas, the youth are at the mercy of the cold streets, which force them into relationships with those who may have HIV just to have a warm place to sleep at night.
“Ironically, in this community, a lot of the people who have living resources are positive because we have done a very good job providing resources to the HIV positive person. For that young kid if he is going to end up with someone who is also homosexual, his chances of ending up with someone who is HIV positive is great because those are the ones who have a place to stay since an HIV status gives you priority in getting Section 8 housing,” said Dr. Jordan.
That’s why, for the past 15 years, his clinic has been an Oasis. The acclaimed clinic’s programs provide a full range of services including medical, the all-important cocktails of medicines that keep most with AIDS alive, mental health, and referrals for housing and transportation. But because homeless youth also go hungry, every weekday (except Friday), persons who attend the Oasis Clinic at CDU can have a lunch provided free by Black churches. They include Zion Hill, Second Baptist, Saint Bridgid’s Catholic Church, First AME Church, Bryant Temple A.M.E., West Angeles C.O.G.I.C., and Faithful Central. And the irony–kids kicked out for religious reasons, but being rescued by the very same churches–is not lost on Dr. Jordan: Black churches care about people with HIV and have been showing it.
“It’s a way to let HIV patients know that they care. No grants are given to any of these churches. For 15 years, church folk have bought the food, cooked it, transported it and served it,” said Dr. Jordan, whose clinic is a collaboration between CDU and Los Angeles County’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Outpatient Center OASIS Clinic.
“HIV/AIDS in this homeless population of teenaged boys is a health issue that is 100% preventable. Black people tend to be a generation and a half behind the rest of America in terms of tolerance and how they deal with homosexuality, particularly among men, and that hurts the kids. Most adolescents have no resources–no rich father nor uncle or aunt or anyone to run to, so they are on the street,” he said. That’s why each church adopts a day a month to provide delicious home-cooked meals. On one recent day, Sonia Hooper from Unity Fellowship served a heart-warming bean and sausage soup with hot water corn bread and homemade cookies. For some it is the only meal they get daily.
“Every church I have gone to, I never had anyone say no,” he said. “Our motto is this is the place where first class people are treated first class. We treat our patients just as well as anybody. Our providers are just as knowledgeable as anywhere. We stand head and shoulders with anybody and, yes, we are arrogant about that.”Here are some HIV Prevention tips Dr. Jordan offers parents:
· Parents and children should sit down and talk about sex, STDs, and sexuality, before it becomes an issue. Keep the lines of communication open.
· Get tested, and make sure sexually active teens, especially with partners who have been incarcerated, get tested.
· If your son or daughter shows affection for the same sex, don’t think that the world has come to an end.
· Research places they can go for help, like the Oasis Clinic.
· Seek out support groups, not just for them, but also for you. They can help you understand.
· Talk to others parents who have successfully raised gay teens.
· “You are my child. I love you. I gave birth to you” is what you should say rather than “Get out.”
“One last thing that is very important: No one needs to die of AIDS now,” Dr. Jordan said emphatically. “There are good treatments but the sooner you find out the easier it is to keep you healthy. It is not the death sentence it used to be, but, you’ve got to take your medicines. It is a shame that we still have patients coming in here near death having lost 150 pounds.
“There is no reason for someone to let themselves whither. There are treatments but the patients have to come in, be diagnosed, and take their medicines. And we have a few who go to some of these healers and think they have gotten healed.
“There is nobody healed from AIDS, so please don’t even ask me. No one has been healed. They are simply undetectable. In fact most of the patients here who take their medicines are undetectable. But if they stop taking their medicines, they are going to go downhill. That’s where we are with HIV. That’s nothing unique. We have good medicines now that don’t cause the same side effects that we used to have…Most of our patients take one pill a day or two pills once a day. You can’t beat that. But the persons have to be ready to take their medicines.”
The Oasis Clinic provides lunches Monday through Thursdays most days. Oasis is located at 1807 E 120th Street, LA 90059. One does not need to live in the area to be seen. Call Monday through Friday (424) 338-2929 for an appointment. Walk ins are welcome. Tuesday’s clinic is open until 8 p.m.
For more information visit www.cdrewu.edu.
