African American Safety Counts Group
John Cottrell

Since March 2006, HRP has been holding a Safety Counts Group specifically for African American substance users. What started out as a small group of 3 attendees, has blossomed into an engaging experience for all participants ranging from 9 to 12 participants each week. How did this happen?

Coming on earlier in the year as a health educator to run this group, personally, I was a bit nervous about being able to get people to attend……more specifically BLACK people to attend. I started with asking the people that I knew to make referrals: Sarah McClellan with the Northern Utah Coalition, Ernest Timmons from the Calvary Baptist Church, Janine Hansen from Project Reality, and others. I only hoped that we would have a few people. Outreach workers from HRP passed out flyers at the Weigand Center, Road Home, and Pioneer Park. I only hoped that we were covering our bases.

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. On the first day, we had 6 people attend. All seemed enthusiastic, they participated well in the group as we discussed ways to prevent getting HIV and hepatitis. And I do believe the $10 cash incentive helped, too!! After that initial group, though, the numbers dwindled to 2 or 3 each week. I got worried. So I asked the members if they knew people who might benefit from this type of class specifically for African Americans. Current members were only eager to bring more people. Since then, our numbers have grown.

It’s not so much that our numbers have grown or that each class is dynamic with each participant sharing their personal stories and triumphs. An interesting piece to this entire scenario is WHO the members are. This group was designed for African American drug users. Those that are attending happen to be all men. Interesting. And the average age of the group is 50 years of age. Also interesting. Where did these guys come from? Why do they keep coming? What are they getting from this group (besides some cash and an occasional clothing voucher)? And where are the women? These are the questions I have asked myself. It got me thinking about this particular demographic which is statistically and historically difficult to engage in services sometimes. When we look at HIV prevention in Utah, for example, this group is one that is not directly targeted. Perhaps HRP has fallen on to something here. Maybe we’re getting some of those “hard-to-reach” individuals.

The guys that have been coming, especially the new ones, are all brought by current group members. Some have said that they didn’t know they would get an incentive for attending. Some just heard that “there is a great class you should attend.” As mentioned, the classes are informative and definitely lively. We share knowledge with one another. I provide information about HIV and hepatitis, but we go further than that. We set goals to change their thinking or behavior about their drug use. We seek ways to increase their self esteem. We encourage one another. I think this is what the group does and the reasons why the guys keep coming back. It is an atmosphere where these gentlemen can speak their minds openly and honestly. They are among friends and peers. One of my mottos in the group is “stay aware, be conscious.” This relates to the knowledge they already possess. Be sure to bring that knowledge to the surface and use it.

We’ll see how things continue with this group. Will the same members keep attending? Will there continue to be new members? We’ll see.