California HIV/AIDS Hotline in its 25th Year

So began a recent call to the California HIV/AIDS Hotline, the 25-year-old resource for people with an urgent need to understand HIV infection, and an even greater need to be heard. In addition to receiving emotional support, the anonymous caller learned about rapid oral HIV tests—sparing him two anxious weeks awaiting the results of a traditional blood test. For 25 years, people with no one else to ask have received up-to-date information like this through the toll-free hotline.

Started in 1982 with a single volunteer-operated phone in the San Francisco AIDS Foundation's first storefront office, the hotline quickly became a lifeline as the nation struggled to understand the AIDS epidemic with few credible sources of information. Today, with hundreds of HIV/ AIDS-related resources available in schools, community centers and physicians' offices, the California HIV/AIDS Hotline and its 46 volunteers respond in English and Spanish to more than 90,000 calls, emails, and Web contacts per year.

Volunteers like Tatiana Molinar have answered thousands of HIV/AIDS questions since the California AIDS Hotline began in 1982.

In a typical four-hour shift, a volunteer may give referrals to anonymous testing sites, explain how to use a condom, and answer questions about behavioral risks for HIV. But as Keith Hocking, the Foundation's Director of Volunteer-Based Programs, noted, "our volunteers do more than just answer questions about HIV, STD and hepatitis transmission or help people find a place to get tested. Some calls are extremely emotional and the callers are frightened. Our volunteers are trained to listen, to be non-judgmental, and to provide emotional support."

To prepare for this demanding assignment, each volunteer completes 32 hours of classroom instruction, practice calls, and computer training. Periodic workshops and ongoing training help keep hotline workers abreast of developments in testing and treatment for HIV, hepatitis, and other sexually transmitted illnesses. Volunteers are recruited through community events, colleges and universities, web sites, and word of mouth. "The reasons why people volunteer for the hotline vary, but their passion for helping others continues to be at the forefront," said Hocking.

Foundation Board Member Lonnie Payne is a four-year hotline volunteer who logs 120 roundtrip miles twice a week to get to SFAF. "I enjoy the immediacy of talking to a caller about HIV issues, whether it is serving as a conduit for information regarding access to programs and services for those callers living with HIV and AIDS or helping those people who are HIV negative stay negative," said Payne. "I also gain satisfaction from knowing that I am reaching people from all walks of life, and from all parts of California. To be able to provide accurate information to people who are grappling with HIV and AIDS issues is extremely rewarding."

In 1987, this information became available to Spanishspeaking callers as well, when the hotline's Spanish-language services made their debut on Bay Area Spanish-language television channel Univision during a broadcast of "Ojos que no ven" ("Eyes that Do Not See"), the first local Spanish documentary on AIDS.

"As soon as the hotline number appeared on the screen for the first time, the phones started ringing off the hook," recalled Dr. Héctor Carrillo, who helped found the Spanish hotline and now teaches Human Sexuality Studies at San Francisco State University. "We stayed open for a few hours that night, even after the show ended, and we answered approximately 200 calls." Most callers were Spanish speakers learning for the first time about the threat HIV posed to themselves and their loved ones. Twenty years later, the hotline continues to meet the needs of Spanish speakers from all over the state.

Funded through the generosity of SFAF donors and a contract with the California Department of Health Services, the hotline has even gone global. Earlier this year, long-time staff member Pauli Gray was invited to Ethiopia to train counselors for its national HIV/AIDS Helpline. "We've learned a lot in two and a half decades of HIV and AIDS here in San Francisco. Sharing that knowledge, and learning from other countries' experience, can only be a good thing for people dealing with this disease," said Gray. During his two weeks in Addis Ababa, he led trainings in harm reduction theory, risk assessment, and telephone counseling skills.

"I hope that someday your organization will not have to exist," wrote a recent hotline user. "I hope that one day this terrible pandemic has a cure." Until then, information and a friendly ear are just a phone call away.

California HIV/AIDS Hotline (www.aidshotline.org): 1-800- 367-AIDS for English/Spanish or 1-888-225-AIDS for TDD; volunteer counselors available Monday and Wednesday–Friday 9:00–5:00, Tuesday 9:00–9:00.