The main mode of transmission of

The main mode of transmission of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in my community is that many men are having sexual relationships with men; thus, it puts us in a quagmire because one cannot restrict somebody to stop having sex. If the city’s major problem was intravenous drug users then a program could be set to have a needle exchange; thus, there would be less of a risk factor. However, in Santa Ana, the problem is that men are having sex with men. People who are drug users will not be specifically targeted because it is only 11 percent of the mode of transmission. Compared to the 71 percent men having sex with men, this amount of people is miniscule. The other problem in Santa Ana is that people do not have adequate income to afford medical care, which would not enable them to get tested or even get some proper treatment. Moreover, because money is such a major issue in the city of Santa Ana, there is has a higher percentage of people who are homeless than in all of Orange County. Since most of them are surviving with a poor income, most of them do not have the means to get treated for any ailments. I am targeting the testing for the homeless because there is no one solution to relieve people of economic dilemmas. I am proposing a service that specifically helps those who are homeless and those who cannot get tested for whatever reasons.

Nearly 20% (19.846%) of the 337,977 people who reside in Santa Ana live under the poverty line. Furthermore, in all of Orange County, there are about 35,000 people living out in the streets or in shelters (1). In response to this there are many homeless shelters around Orange County (1). Specifically there are eight established homeless shelters and one in the works in Santa Ana, which include Mercy House, Mary’s Shelter, Grace House and many others. Most of these shelters are for both men and women, or they have two different facilities to house the different sexes. They also provide food, water to bathe in, counseling advice and chapel services. Most of these shelters house the homeless for about two weeks or more until they can survive in society on their own. There’s a story about a Vietnamese single mother who had contracted HIV and was living out of her car. She was referred to Emanuel House, which is one of the homeless shelters in Santa Ana, where she was given help to aid her in regaining the strength that she had lost because of HIV (2). It is these types of programs that are necessary throughout California to help people who are infected with HIV; however, many people do not even know that they have contracted the virus. This is why there should be clinics or a service that allows people to get tested quickly (since some of the residents do not stay there too long) in order to tell if they need assistance or not.