HELP is on the way to provide continued pro bono legal services for the rapidly growing HIV/AIDS infected indigent population in Miami Dade – but not without continued support from both the private and public sector.

The HIV Education and Law Project (HELP) is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1994 by Caryn Vogel, then a law student at the University of Miami. Shortly after graduating in 1996, Vogel received a grant from the Echoing Green Foundation and began dedicating herself full-time to assisting the area’s poor and disenfranchised HIV children and families in matters of discrimination, landlord/tenant disputes, public benefits, and family law.

“I was going to straighten things up a bit, but then I decided to let you see it the way it is,” said Vogel as she opened the door to HELP’s small, busy, understaffed and somewhat cluttered office. “There just isn’t enough room for everything,” she said.

HELP operates out of a legal office Vogel shares with other professionals. Her space is limited and her problem two-fold. HELP needs more room to accommodate more cases, and they have to be out of their 44 West Flagler St. location by summer.

HELP has to come down from the Tower by June. 

“Our lease is up in June. We need to find a new office. That won’t be easy because of limited funding,” said Vogel. “Do you know anybody who wants to donate space?”

“We don’t want just any space either,” she continued. “Our clients deserve a certain amount of dignity and need to feel good about coming in, so we are not looking to work out of a rundown building.”

HELP receives most of its funding from the Ryan White Federal Fund. Ryan White was the 13 year-old pediatric patient from Kokomo, Indiana who was told by his mother Jeanne, on December 26, 1984, that he had contracted AIDS from a tainted blood transfusion used to treat his hemophilia. White, ostracized by classmates, his school’s faculty and administration, won, in a landmark case, the right to attend class despite his illness. A person qualifying for Ryan White dollars must subsist at or below 200% of the poverty level and must be HIV positive.

Although Ryan White dollars pay for the direct services Vogel and HELP render, it does not cover utilities, rent and other physical plant costs, nor does it provide for needed additional payroll dollars, or provide funding for Vogel’s organization to expand and purchase new equipment.

“As you can see, we have no matching furniture. It has all been donated piece by piece, even the computers. Private funds are desperately needed,” Vogel said.

Last year with the support of local organizations and businesses, HELP Inc. raised $12,000 dollars at their sixth annual “Night of Hope,” a fundraiser targeting South Florida’s philanthropically minded professionals and HIV/AIDS advocates. Vogel expects great community support for HELP’s seventh annual “Night of Hope” to be held on March 29 in the Design District, and she looks forward to surpassing last year’s level of generosity.

HELP has assisted over 500 families and individuals since 1994. The caseload is unforgiving, and Vogel sees an increase in children affected by HIV/AIDS.

“We probably have had 300 kids over the years who we have seen through the adoption process because they lost their parents, fought for their Social Security disability or counseled them through a custody or visitation battle,” said Vogel.

“We have a 12 year-old who has been to court five times but has never been to a baseball game,” she added.

Miguel Milanes from the Miami-Dade Department of Children and Family Services agrees that the number of children affected by the AIDS virus is increasing in Miami-Dade.

“Five years ago it didn’t seem we had that big of a problem, but the numbers are growing. No one seems to be a definitive source on these numbers because cases are under-reported,” says Milanes.

Miami-Dade County has the highest infection rate in the country at 70.03 persons per 100,000 and rates third in the nation for total HIV/AIDS cases, according to Alex Marino, HIV/AIDS education specialist for the Miami-Dade public school system.

Marino says that the actual figures are likely much higher because the test results of people who are infected with HIV and wish to remain anonymous are not included in these statistics.

According to a report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the City of Miami rates fourth highest in the country with a reported 1,232 AIDS cases per 100,000 at the end of 2001.

Marino heads up a program called “AIDS Get the Facts.” The program is a collaborative effort with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and qualifies for federal grant money every five years based on the curriculum’s success. The program will be up for evaluation by the Division of Adolescent School Health (DASH) in March.

“As educators who speak on the topic nationally, we are told we operate one of the most thorough programs out there,” says Marino. “‘AIDS Get the Facts’ addresses school children in grades K to12. Most public education programs only address students in grades 6-12.”

Marino describes the abstinence-based three-step program:

“First, we preach abstinence from sex, drugs, and ‘at risk’ behavior. Second, we teach the importance of barrier methods of prevention: condoms, dental dams, etc. Third is communication. We teach kids to be proactive in discussing prevention.”

According to Vogel: “We have a major problem with our teenagers in Miami-Dade county. AIDS is all over our high schools. There are a tremendous number of children in the county affected by the virus.”

Julie Greenwald makes do with what elbow room she has amidst the clutter.

HELP delivers seminars on safe sex, AIDS and condom use to high school students, YMCAs and HIV support groups with the help of Julie Greenwald, a 1999 University of Miami graduate who has worked with Vogel and HELP for over two years.

“Caryn is my biggest inspiration,” says Greenwald. “I get a good feeling, at the end of a tough day. That it was all worth it.”

Vogel, 31, was married in December. Her new husband is Cary (leave the “n” off for not pro bono) Lubetski, 35, a commercial litigator for Holtzman Equels.

“Caryn is a terrific attorney,” says Lubetski. “She handles very difficult cases. She is happiest where she can do the most good. And, for now, that is moving HELP in the right direction.”

“One of the most important things about growing up is to know that you are not alone,” says Vogel. “We would love to bring these kids – the center of our litigation for years – together once a month and have fun. Right now, we don’t have the money.”

Vogel would also like to, eventually, provide social services in addition to the legal services already offered to the children whose lives are turned upside down by the virus. Vogel hopes that this year’s “7^th Annual Night of Hope” will bring HELP a step closer to having the means to provide these services. For information on this year’s event, call 305-374-8919.