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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (July 16, 1999)
news ♦----------------- ♦ T one I t D own Cascode AIDS Project is scaling back the Neighborhood MenTalk program, but there's a movement afoot to shore it up by Inga Sorensen or the past two years, Geoffrey Bate man delved into the world of AIDS in the most constructive way he knew how. F When friends tall? Purveyors of fine Coffee & Tea Donald. Donald Falk, g » A ssociate B roker Office (503) 335-9898 ext 107 falkd@hasson.com & Chocolates for all occasions. Proudly presenting the complete line of Fiesta Ware... in a rainbow of your favorite colors. Plus accessories, gifts & gift baskets made to order. 2130 NE Broadway 281-3882 hl"UI ;i!T w 2173 NE Broadway Portland, Oregon 97232 FABA ♦---------- =----------- ♦ Bateman, who coordinated the program, says that gay and bi men have found the groups to be an alternative to the bar scene—a place where they can get together to talk about issues impor tant to them. Issues like body image, sex, dating and relationships, drug and alcohol use, and bisexuality. On July 8, CAP hosted a community meet ing at 3 Friends Coffeehouse in Southeast Port land for folks interested in discussing the future of Neighborhood MenTalk. “I wanted to help,” he told Just Out a few days before his scheduled July 15 departure from Cascade AIDS Project, a social service agency providing nonmedical HIV- and AIDS- related services to people in Oregon and south west Washington. Bateman is one of several staffers to exit CAP of late during a reor ganization led by Thomas Bruner, the agency’s exec utive director of the past 11 months. The shift has created a slew of job openings at the agency, and led to some significant alterations of I * various programs, most notably CAP’s Speak to Your Brothers prevention program. Just Out’s June 18 issue reported on CAP manage ment’s decision to shutter the agency’s 5-year-old HIV counseling and test ing program by July for financial reasons. The pro gram, fueled by a contin gent of mostly gay and bi male volunteers, offered queer guy’s of all ages a comfortable place to receive HIV counseling and testing. “It’s a new day at CAP,” Bruner said. “The new day is here, and with it comes some new, hard, painful realities.” The counseling and testing program isn’t the only program to feel the Geoffrey Bateman hard at work in his former office pain. The scope of CAP’s CAP's Neighborhood MenTalk program has been sliced big time. The popular program, which had grown to 14 groups, is being scaled back to six groups. MenTalk gives queer guys a place to get together to talk and socialize, with the goal of building a sense of community. Hundreds of men have participated in the groups during the past year. bathhouse HIV intervention program has been reduced (though HIV and STD screening will continue in the bathhouse via the Multnomah County Health Department). Finally, CAP’s Neighborhood MenTalk pro gram has been sliced big time. The popular pro gram, which had grown to 14 groups, is being scaled back to six groups. MenTalk gives queer guys a place to get together throughout the Portland metro area to talk and socialize, with the goal of building a sense of community. Hundreds of men have par ticipated in the groups during the past year. The MenTalk newsletter, which had been sent to 1,400 recipients, will now go to 500 peo ple, and the number of newsletter pages will also be reduced. According to Bateman, an estimated 50 men turned out for the meeting. “What they said was: ‘What can we do to help” ’’ Bateman reports. Be it cutting checks, or volunteering to he p out, or forming an advisory board to influence the program’s direction, the guys wanted to do something. “And that is so heartening to me,” says Bate man, adding, “You always like to thmk peop e will be there during a time of need, so to> see it actually happen makes you feel very good. He adds: “It especially makes me feel better knowing that when I’m gone, there will remain a dedicated group of volunteers who feel strong ly about the program. It’s been an exceptions two years for me.”