For Minnesotans with HIV, the challenge of getting care and support has become doubly hard amidst the pandemic
JustUs Health navigates COVID-19 to increase equitable health care access and outcomes for thousands each year
Visiting shelters and encampments is vital to make sure clients who are unhoused also receive supplies and access to critical resources.
“Many of the people that JustUs Health serves are at or below federal poverty guidelines, and often have no housing, no income, no insurance benefits, and haven’t been to the doctor or they’ve just moved here from another state and they’re trying to connect to services,” explains Asneth Omare, Director of Client Services. “People are looking for emergency assistance like how to get to the doctor or get rent or utilities paid.”
JustUs Health is the oldest and largest HIV-focused organization in Minnesota. Every year, it serves 2,500 clients out of the 9,000 Minnesotans living with HIV.
The mission of JustUs Health is to work for equitable health care access and outcomes for people who experience injustice at the intersection of health status and identity.
The organization centers individuals and communities living with HIV or facing barriers to equitable health care access and outcomes because of their identity as gender, sexual and/or racial minorities.
It was hard enough reaching this population before the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s even harder now with health and safety restrictions in place due to COVID-19.
“Our work went from face-to-face and being out in the community with clients to all remote,” Omare says.
Now, everything is done over the phone, through video conferencing, by mail and email. That includes counseling services, food assistance, temporary and permanent housing aid, financial assistance, insurance guidance and legal counsel.
“We want to be there in the community as a resource for people,” says Erin Koelsch, Insurance Program Supervisor. “For example, a lot of people don’t necessarily know that they can get help with their insurance and we can help them navigate that very confusing system.”
A program called Positive Link is the support group connecting those living with HIV.
“We do hybrid support groups and educational workshops with topics about how the immune system works or how to keep your immune system healthy and strong,” says Johan Baumeister, Peer Support Coordinator for Positive Link.
Baumeister says they talk about what’s challenging and specific topic like how depression and HIV interact or what it feels like when someone rejects them because of their status. Baumeister understands all too well. He came to JustUs Health as a client.
“The connections that I made helped me to come to terms with my diagnosis,” he says. “And that’s the really rewarding part of the work that I do now. People who are newly diagnosed in the upper Midwest tend to do things on their own. I like to tell people that it’s okay that they don’t have all of the answers and it’s okay to ask for help.”
JustUs Health operates under a risk reduction model, which means it offers things like HIV testing, a syringe exchange program that distributes 250,000 unused syringes annually and safely disposes of even more, Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis or PrEP Navigation, which is a new daily HIV prevention pill, and Shift MN, a team of people focused on the health and wellness of the LGBTQIA+ community in the Twin Cities area.
“We just try to meet people where they are,” says Koelsch.
They’re doing exactly that. Their AIDSLine has approximately 3,500 conversations a year with Minnesotans who have questions about HIV or are looking for support. This year, JustUs Health will provide direct financial assistance to 1,600 HIV-impacted households so they can maintain safe housing, get the food they need and stay healthy during the pandemic.
“The bottom line is that you’re not alone and you don’t have to do this alone,” says Baumeister.
For more information, please visit https://www.justushealth.org/.