ABSTRACT
The success of the W H E E L comes from the wellspring of experience and wisdom inherent in the community. Frontline staff for all these programs have been members of the communities targeted for interventions. Typical staff members included women who were peers, such as former sex workers, former inmates, single mothers, lesbians, social workers, young women, women with HIV, recovering addicts, hair braiders, and a wife of a preacher. Life experience, leading to empathy and sound judgment, proved to be the salient qualification of each of these staff. Most had a desire to share something life sustaining with their community, having had firsthand experience of the ravages of HIV disease. There is the risk of the staff overidentifying with clients, which leads to the blurring of appropriate boundaries. The sensitive nature of the topics discussed (violence and victimization, substance abuse, sexual abuse, corporal punishment) in the interventions may bring up issues for the staff as well as the clients. Also, it is recommended that staff in recovery have at least two years of abstinence from drugs before being hired to this work professionally. Trained as HIV pre-and posttest counselors and phlebotomists, staff receive periodic instruction in professional growth and development. Social workers were used to provide crisis counseling and to assist with group facilitation and conduct needs and HIV/AIDS risk assessments.
