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A program that provides young LGBTQ people of color with a space for creative expression and sexual health services is graduating to a new phase in its 11th year.
Project Silk, which began out of the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Public Health to provide services to young queer people of color, was acquired by Allies for Health + Wellbeing last month from Community Human Services.
Project Silk began in 2012 in response to a focus group called the Young Adult Roundtables. The Roundtables initiative began in 1995 in partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Health, regional HIV organizations and stakeholders. It was led by the University of Pittsburgh.
The goal was, in part, to address disparities in HIV cases. Young Black men who have sex with men and young Black transgender women are disproportionately impacted by HIV. A 2018 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study found that Black men who have sex with men made up 25% of new HIV infection diagnoses. Another 2018 study found Black transgender women have an HIV prevalence rate of 45%.
Nayck Feliz worked with Pitt as a research associate from 2008 to 2011 and as associate director of Project Silk from 2012 to 2015. He says the Young Adult Roundtables would travel the state to share information.
“They all contributed to including the voice of the youth in the state,” Feliz says.
A 2021 paper explains that the group was composed of Black and Latinx sexual and gender minority youth between the ages of 13 and 24. The group identified barriers to HIV and STI testing, including accessibility hours and location, confidentiality and stigma surrounding sexual and gender orientation in STI and HIV clinics.
When the original National HIV AIDS Strategy was released in 2010, the Roundtables were discontinued, according to Feliz.
The national strategy changed the priorities, he adds. “The Pittsburgh group was mainly a lot of young people of color and transgender women, which was the population we wanted to reach. So we asked their input on what they would like to see in the Pittsburgh area, and that’s how Project Silk got started.”
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There was a particular emphasis on those in Pittsburgh’s Ballroom community. Ballroom exists as a counterculture to drag balls, which, in the 20th century, were often exclusionary of people of color.
Many Young Adult Roundtable participants were involved in the house and ballroom community, which hosted balls and competitions. They suggested a drop-in center that also would allow for activities such as vogue — a style of ballroom dance — to engage youth.
Sean DeYoung, CEO for Allies for Health + Wellbeing, says the goal was to provide a recreation-based community health space that would pair activities with HIV and STI prevention, testing and treatment.
The program provided a safe space for young men and transgender women and connected them with medical care, mental health and substance use counseling, dental care and hormone treatment. It also connected them to housing and shelter, education and job readiness assistance, legal services and leadership training.
From 2013 to 2015, Project Silk reached 30% of the target population per year. It provided 107 tests for sexually transmitted infections and served an average of 102 participants annually with direct social services, housing and mental health services.
“The proudest thing for me was getting it off the ground,” Feliz says. “Getting the information from the youth and seeing it come into shape was very rewarding. I’m hoping that Allies will go back to the beginning to what it was all about: listening to what people need and trying their best to provide what they need for them to stay healthy.”
Project Silk was recognized as a best-practice model for engaging young Black men who have sex with men and young Black transgender women by the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors and the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Project Silk-Lehigh Valley and Project GLO-Harrisburg are modeled off the original implementation.
In 2015, Project Silk was acquired by Community Human Services.
“It has been an honor for our organization to be trusted with such a brilliant and innovative project,” said Alicia Romano, CEO of CHS in a statement. “We believe the time has come for Project Silk to embark on a new chapter of growth and expansion beyond what we can offer.”
“It wasn’t a great mission fit for CHS,” Allies CEO DeYoung says. “They are primarily a homeless services organization. We were happy to take this on.”
East Liberty-based Allies for Health + Wellbeing, formerly the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force, offers inclusive primary care and specializes in HIV, hepatitis C, and STI testing and care, as well as gender-affirming care.
Allies has received a Ryan White Part B grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration to provide funding for HIV health care and support services.
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DeYoung says he has pulled in people who formed Project Silk to get their feedback on how the program will look moving forward.
“We’re going to make sure that we do it right,” DeYoung says. “We’ve been around a long time, and our primary focus has been both intervention and caring for people living with HIV. This is just another opportunity for us to make a bigger impact in the community that we’re trying to serve.”
DeYoung says participation in the program had declined under CHS. Allies plans to partner with TransYOUniting, a North Side-based mutual aid nonprofit, and its community space.
“The space is supposed to be a creative space for them to work on their art or what they’re doing in the community and add in good programming around good sexual health education,” DeYoung says. “They don’t have a lot of resources, so we’re going to be able to provide staff and financial resources for their space.”
DeYoung expects the program to be fully staffed and running in January.
“Kiddos can come and do laundry or take a shower because a lot of them are transient and will have a safe space to come and get clean,” DeYoung says.
“I just want people to know their status. If they do have HIV, they can get the meds they need, get into our case management program. If you don’t have insurance, we can help get insurance.”
Ethan is a freelance journalist interested in telling the stories of people doing great things to build community and sustainability.
