Download - Minnesota AIDS Project

ON THE FRONT LINES
ROGER MOORE
A lot has changed in the last ten
years; there has been the boom of
the internet followed by the .com
crash, presidents have changed,
the terror attacks on New York City
changed our world, even the entire
Harry Potter phenomenon came and
went. Thankfully for many people in
Minnesota, one steady influence has
been Roger Moore who has conducted
street based HIV outreach for the past
decade. In his work, Roger reaches
out to many people that much of
society looks past. His contacts
include those who may be homeless,
dealing with addiction, or struggle
within a cycle of poverty that impacts
virtually every aspect of their lives. To
Roger, these people are
like any other. He does
what many talk about
but few actually do—he
treats all people with
respect and looks past
their failures to find hope
and optimism in difficult
circumstances.
healthcare. Especially in the black
community—people aren’t sure what to
believe,” he added.
Over the last decade, Roger has
built a reputation in the community
as someone that can be trusted to
provide help and non-judgmental
guidance. “A lot of people just view
HIV as one other risk that’s part of
their life—work troubles, drug issues,
family problems and if we can help
provide support or solutions we can
reduce their risk. They mean well but
if we weren’t there they’d probably
just go back to more risky behavior,”
said Moore. In addition to being able
to connect personally with a variety of
Over the last decade, Roger
has built a reputation in the
community as someone that can
be trusted to provide help and
non-judgmental guidance.
In the course of his work, Roger has
had some great successes, failures,
and crazy experiences in working
with such a diverse group of people
and situations. When asked why he
does this work and how he knows
he makes a difference Roger smiled,
“when people don’t need my help
anymore. When they come by and say’
I’m doing well’ or ‘I got my kids back’.
Those are the times you know you
make a difference.”
Street outreach is an important part of
the work done by the Minnesota AIDS
Project because many of those served
by outreach are at high-risk for HIV
if not provided with the information
and resources to stay safe. “Right
now, we’re seeing a lot of people that
don’t think HIV can affect them,” says
Moore. “People under 20 think that
they’re unstoppable, they’re Superman.
And, some of our older baby boomer
contacts are also very vulnerable
because they’re suspicious about what
they hear from the government about
people in the street, he works equally
well with local law enforcement who
respect the work he’s done and allow
him the flexibility needed to work with
people who might otherwise not come
forward for fear of persecution.
Despite all the progress made, thanks
to his work, there is more to be done.
Says Moore, “I’d like to get to a time
when everybody gives the same
message about HIV…schools, parents,
churches. If we can come together
and share the right information,
maybe it’ll stick with young people
and they’ll believe it.”
2008 ANNUAL REPORT | 9