Straddling those hurdles, she has served for almost 12 years as the first Hispanic outreach coordinator of El Programa de Alcance Hispano, or Hispanic Outreach Program, at AID Atlanta, the Southeast's largest AIDS service provider. Seeing a way to serve Latinos, she took the job right after moving here from the Dominican Republic where she was a secretary for the Agency for International Development. The method works because many don't know English or have the money, transportation or information to access available educational, health and social services. Often over four people live in one apartment and many are transient, single men who move around looking for better work in jobs like construction or restaurants.
Information is tailored for specific groups like gay men, drug addicts, youth and transients.
We have found this is so effective because normally Hispanics will not come to where you are to get information. A goal is voluntary testing for those identifying themselves as at risk. They will do something about it, they will have enough material to process it once we are gone. A member of the Cathedral of Christ the King, Atlanta, Rivas is working to reduce deaths from AIDS, serving over 6,000 yearly. Over 300 Spanish-speakers come for testing yearly, largely poor immigrants.