Voices Latinas
Nathaly Rubio-Torio & Rosa Bramble Weed, Co-Founders
Voces Latinas (VL) is a Queens-based organization dedicated to reducing the HIV transmission rate among Latina immigrants. It aims to ensure that service providers and Latina immigrants, documented and undocumented, receive language- and culturally-appropriate education, training, mental health resources, referrals, and advocacy. VL seeks to reach Latinas living with or at-risk for HIV through community outreach, social gatherings, forums, conferences, retreats and trainings with the purpose of educating and connecting Latinas to available legal, mental, health and medical services.
VL is linking Latina immigrants to existing HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment and other social services. It makes referrals to vital mental health screenings for high-risk behavior as well as for other medical, immigration, and housing services. Through women’s conferences, luncheons, community forums and workshops, VL offers Latinas critical health care information and access to resources. VL also conducts workshops for service providers to make them aware and teach them about the impact of HIV/AIDS on the Latino/a community. VL’s goal is to build a core of Latina peer educators who will increase HIV awareness, provide resources and develop support networks throughout Queens. Through direct outreach and informal gatherings in women’s homes, VL provides culturally familiar and safe settings for Latinas to socialize while they learn, provide support to one another and discuss HIV/AIDS related issues.