ABOUT BROTHERHOOD, INC.

Established in 1995, Brotherhood, Incorporated is a minority non-profit community based organization created to join the fight against the spread of HIV and alleviate the struggles of African Americans living with HIV and AIDS. This agency, govzerned by a board of directors, has a racial/ethnic composition that is reflective of the diverse populations served. The mission of Brotherhood, Incorporated is to develop and implement programs and services that impact the economic, social, and health disparities that exist within underserved and at-risk communities through education, enlightenment, and empowerment.

 

Brotherhood, Incorporated has a long-standing history of providing services in the African American community. Since its inception, we have provided street and venue based outreach to African American men who have sex with men, housing services to persons living with HIV/AIDS, and low income housing to persons in need.

 

Brotherhood, Incorporated provides transitional and permanent housing to low income individuals living with HIV/AIDS in a group home setting called Trinity House. Phase II Housing is an independent housing program for persons living with HIV/AIDS and individuals with an income at or below the median poverty guidelines. Additionally, the agency offers HIV/AIDS educational programs, provides HIV counseling and testing, and has a system of referrals for individuals seeking additional services within the Greater New Orleans area. Brotherhood, incorporated also provides capacity building assistance to other community based organizations across the state of Louisiana.

 

The organization has developed and implemented sound and aggressive HIV prevention and educational programs in the city of New Orleans. Our various prevention initiatives are a reflection of the diverse populations we serve. Brotherhood, Incorporated has three advisory boards that serve as the organization’s liaison to the community. These boards are integral to the development and planning of all of Brotherhood, Incorporated’s projects. Their assistance is also utilized to review our interventions, evaluate our services, and create new and innovative ways to reach the populations we value and provide services. Our advisory boards are NOYMAC, New Orleans Youth Making a Change, S.U.S.T.A., Strong Unified Self-Respecting Transgender Alliance, and MALE CALL.

 

Through various funding initiatives, we have been able to develop culturally and gender specific training curricula for training African American men who have sex with men as peer educators. These specific prevention programs target African American men who have sex with men (MSM), this includes gay and bisexual males, transgender, commercial sex workers, gay/bisexual youth, and those that do not self-identify as gay.

As agents of change, Brotherhood, Incorporated created Making a Difference?Orleans Parish African American HIV Prevention and Education Initiative,” a comprehensive community-level prevention plan capable of responding to the HIV/AIDS epidemic among African Americans in Orleans Parish. This project is aimed at decreasing the spread of HIV/AIDS. Project activities included the development of a culturally sensitive training curriculum for training African American community leaders. This extensive curriculum has provided training to many African American community leaders who are presently in the process of implementing HIV prevention initiatives throughout the city of New Orleans.

 

Hurricane Katrina is acknowledged as one of the worst natural disasters to ever strike the United States. The storm and its aftermath displaced more than 1 million people, mostly African Americans, and unveiled issues of national disaster preparedness, socioeconomic status and race.

 

On that fateful day, August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina changed the direction of the agency thus facilitating the agency’s move to the Baton Rouge area to provide services to the New Orleans population forced to relocate. Brotherhood, Incorporated returned to the devastated area on October 1, 2006 and have been diligently providing services to the African American community.

 

Brotherhood, Incorporated developed an extensive collaboration network of other service providers in the metropolitan New Orleans area and the Baton Rouge metro area. This network was developed in an effort to provide a continuum of care services to clients. Post-Katrina, these collaborations have proven to be vital since city services are still limited and this ensures clients receive all appropriate services through applicable referrals. Brotherhood, Incorporated has expanded our services to include programs to High Risk Heterosexuals and testing and treatment of Sexual Transmitted Infections. The agency will continue to identify and address areas of need in the community and secure funding to meet the need.

 

We are here to make a difference. Join us in the fight against health disparities among minority and underserved populations in Orleans Parish.