STAP 2019 Annual Report

From the Executive Director These annual report introductions always present me with a challenge. How best to encapsulate the incredible things that have happened over the course of an entire year and with so little space, what to highlight and more importantly, what to leave out. I have always thought of STAP/STCC as a small local organization serving our largely rural eight county area, but likely not garnering much attention outside our particular corner of the world. I could not have been more wrong. It is easy to do innovative work and not even know that it is unique when you are simply following

John Barry, LMSW Executive Director

the recommendations of the people you serve. That is a piece of agency culture that has been with us since our founding in 1984, that was taught to me back in 1991 when I joined the agency and that perseveres to this day. After nearly four decades we remain a group of “Friends Who Care”.

And so we would grind from day to day, focusing on the tasks in front of us. Our program participants would suggest ways to make our programs work better for them. We would incorporate those small changes and say thank you and keep moving. Small changes over time can become substantial. Somewhere along the line, people outside our small world began to notice how we did our work and its positive impact. They noticed that people who were previously seen as “unreachable” or “beyond helping” really weren’t. Suddenly researchers from large urban universities and government agencies asked to conduct their research with us at our offices.

They published papers with the findings that showed our approaches worked to keep people healthy. We were asked to present these findings with them at conferences. Documentary filmmakers wanted to speak with us. Invitations came for me and my staff to serve on boards and to help form new organizations that were trying to change statewide systems of care for the better. Other organizations with similar philosophies reached out to us to mentor them and help them grow and it has been wonderful.

I have stopped thinking of us as a small organization. We may not be large, but we exert an outsize influence in the world. Not because we are brilliant, but because we know that to be successful we need only tap in to the expertise of our clients. We trust the validity of what they tell us about their experience. People are the experts on their own lives, even, or especially when they are struggling. We feel privileged that people allow us into that space and trust us with who they really are at their most vulnerable times.

Another Eventful Year!

STAP’S ROCKSTAR CELEBRITY BARTENDING BASH

$19,800

What a fun year we have had!

Whether you had a drink, walked a dog, played in the mud, rode a bike or enjoyed a show — we thank you! Good times are always had by all. The funds we raise at these events are vital to our mission. These dollars are literally life-saving. In 2019, we saw a 7% increase in public support. A generous total of $457,409 was donated to STAP!

DOGGONE FUN ON THE RUN

$7,250

MUD GAUNTLET

$17,660

A KIND GESTURE CAN REACH A WOUND THAT ONLY COMPASSION CAN HEAL. Steve Maraboli

HAIR WARZ

$30,430

MISS RICHFIELD 1981

$6,000

The total number of humans served by Health Homes in 2019 was 1,058!

Health Homes of Upstate New York

439

United Health Services

289

Bassett

Healthcare Network

330

H E A LT H H O M E S Southern Tier Care Coordination added a new office location in Walton to expand services that we offer in Delaware County. It’s currently staffed by two Care Managers with two additional open positions allowing us to serve our Health Homes clients, as well as expand on our Health Homes Plus service area.

For Tompkins/Chemung/Tioga counties, we added a new position, Gaps in Care Coordinator.

We also added the HARP (Health and Recovery Plan) and HCBS (Home and Community Based Services) Facilitator position.

In Broome County, we embedded two Health Homes staff in to our Johnson City Syringe Exchange Program office.

Our Health Homes Re-Entry program served almost fifty clients in 2019, successfully enrolling them and connecting them to services in our community.

Ryan White Transportation This program assisted and enrolled seventy clients.

Folks living with HIV use this service either because they do not have Medicaid or Medicaid transportation does not cover the trip that is requested. They are able to receive gas cards, cab rides, bus passes, and direct transport. Access to transportation for those in a rural area with chronic disease is vital for good healthcare outcomes.

Ryan White Case Management/ Health Education/Peer Services Thirty-eight clients were assisted with housing, medical providers, medical insurance, proper referrals, service plan needs and providing direct transport to them as necessary. Educational sessions and monthly group classes are held to address different HIV related topics such as health literacy, treatment and viral suppression, medication adherence, understanding lab work, secondary prevention, Men’s and Women’s health concerns, HIV and substance use, PrEP and PEP, nutrition, stress management, HIV and aging, effective communication with health care providers, HIV and Inflammation, and both Hepatitis C and STI transmission and prevention,.

Behavioral Health Education This was the final year of the grant. BHE was able to successfully refer twenty clients to mental health services throughout our entire region. They received a great benefit from this program.

Health Homes Plus is an intensive Health Home Care Management (HHCM) service established for defined populations with Serious Mental Illness (SMI) who are enrolled in a Health Home. This is a new program for our agency since March 2019. Individuals can be in this program for one year. In 2019, we had Health Homes Plus care managers in three counties: Chenango, Delaware, and Otsego. They served 25 Health Homes Plus clients, as well as serving folks who are not Health Homes Plus clients.

HOUSING Housing Care Management recognizes that housing is a vital part in one’s life. Assisting our clients in understanding how to maintain housing stability is extremely crucial for them. Clients are first assessed for any needs or concerns and then we help them identify their goals and help to track their progress.

Health Homes Housing program provides safe and stable housing as the first steps toward improving health and wellness. Typically, we serve low income individuals with severe and persistent chronic illness within our eight-county service. Our clients come into the program homeless.

AIDS Institute Medical Redesign Team Program serves clients who are HIV positive and either homeless, facing eviction, or staying at an unsafe or unwanted location.

Criminal Justice Initiative The Criminal Justice program is funded by the New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute and aims to provide prevention and linkage and navigation services to individuals within the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision System.

The linkage and navigation service is a process to help a person living with HIV and/or Hepatitis C (HCV) obtain timely, essential and appropriate medical, prevention, and support services to optimize their health and prevent HIV and/or HCV transmission and acquisition. STAP staff meet with individuals preparing for release from the correctional facilities to identify barriers and/or unmet needs and develop an action plan to eliminate or reduce these barriers. Staff continues client engagement post release including appointment scheduling, reminders, assistance with health insurance forms, coordinating with the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) staff, care and treatment providers and other community based organizations. STAP staff will continue to coordinate with these individuals until they are engaged in medical care for HIV and/or HCV. As a part of the CJI program, organizations within the community are providing Peer Facilitator training with the goal of educating the correctional facility community on HIV, STDs, and Hepatitis C, in hopes of reducing transmission and stigma. With DOCCS partnership, these organizations are able to train individuals to provide this information within their communities. In the facilities where the peer program has been established, our facilitators have been a vital resource to their peers and to our organization. Peer Education, Training and Support include activities designed to train incarcerated individuals to become HIV/STD and Hepatitis C (HCV) peer educators, who in turn provide general HIV/STD/HCV related information to other incarcerated individuals. Peer training services include the provision of support, supervision and ongoing skills development for trained peer facilitators.

“Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start.”

NIDO QUBEIN

Creating a safe and affirming environment for LGBTQ youth and their allies is what the Identity Youth Center has been doing for 11 years and 2019 was no different. This year, Identity welcomed over 300 different youth to the center where they could have a space to just be themselves in a judgment free zone, make friends, and be connected to resources they might need.

We also offer educational programming like our Life IQ series that includes the following topics: Affirming Sex Ed, Consent, Substance Use, Financial Literacy, and Resume Building. Our semiannual Safer Sextravaganza, where youth learn about safer sex practices and sexual health in a fun and interactive way is one of our most popular events and this year we teamed up with our PrEP Program to do the event as part of PrEP Awareness Week in October. During the summer, youth can come to Identity and get a lunch. In 2019, we distributed 585 lunches as part of the Broome County Summer Lunch Program.

June is Pride month and is always a busy month with activities and events. We opened the center for First Friday and had an art show that showcased some of Identity’s most talented artists. Identity also hosted its annual Youth Drag Show during Binghamton’s Pride Palooza, which featured our talented young performers. We capped off Pride month with our very popular Pride Prom and had over 85 young people dancing and having a good time.

When not in the center, Identity staff is out in the community educating students, educators, and community members in LGBTQ Cultural Competency. In our LGBTQ 101 training, we conducted 21 training sessions reaching 783 people.

Our educating doesn’t stop there and in November Identity produced the play “The Normal Heart,” by Larry Kramer. This was a play about the beginning of the AIDS crisis in NYC beginning in 1981.

FINANCIAL REPORT Grants and Program Service Revenue 2018 NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services

2019 -

Breakdown

106,700

2%

Broome County Mental Health

118,381

111,747

2%

Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene

239,810

123,086

2%

63,512

126,220

2%

Housing Opportunities/People with AIDS

173,377

201,912

3%

NYS Department of Health

351,047

399,270

6%

Ryan White Title II

481,515

506,858

8%

Comprehensive Medicaid Case Management

2,010,859

2,097,976

31%

NYS AIDS Institute

2,467,462

2,403,406

37%

Total Grants

5,905,963

6,077,175

378,481

457,409

6,284,444

6,534,584

Other Grants or Revenue

Public Support Total Support & Revenue

7%

Program and Support Services

2018

2019

Breakdown

Client Services

2,653,646

2,930,514

45%

Education/Prevention Services

1,853,425

1,887,306

29%

79,690

80,544

1%

Direct Financial Assistance to Clients

509,619

552,590

9%

Administration/General Operations

716,654

783,362

12%

Development

225,998

234,796

4%

6,039,032

6,469,112

100%

Volunteers and Other Services

Total Expenses

Our mission is to compassionately and competently meet the evolving needs of our communities by serving people affected by chronic illness and to improve public health through disease prevention, care coordination and advocacy.

STAP Main Office 22 Riverside Drive Binghamton, New York 13905 Hotline: (800)333-0892 Phone: (607)798-1706 Fax: (607)798-1977