Brooklyn Outreach Workers
Sherwood "Woody" Brown, Founder & Executive Director
The Brooklyn Outreach Workers HIV/AIDS Prevention Network, Inc. (BOW) provides information and education about HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care in New York City’s communities of color. BOW has developed a strong connection among Brooklyn-based outreach workers that currently includes 50 member organizations with a concern for delivery of high quality inpatient/outpatient health and social services to HIV/AIDS infected and affected individuals and families. BOW’s premise is that by uniting and training outreach workers and sharing resources, HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment strategies can be significantly expanded.
Concerned by the skyrocketing number of new HIV/AIDS cases as well as other deadly STDs and health issues impacting people of color, BOW was launched in 2000 with the specific goal of partnering outreach ventures, establishing minimum standards for outreach workers and ensuring that communities receive the most up-to-date safe sex and risk reduction information. Organized as teams, BOW outreach members distribute resource information in communities of color to special populations such as men who have sex with men, young people, women, people over 50 and other underserved communities. BOW pays special attention to communities where language may be a barrier by working with existing culturally and linguistically sensitive resources. BOW members receive training to prepare them to deliver an accurate and effective message. Outreach is done monthly at parks, schools, beaches, food chains, subway stations and shopping malls.