About Vida/SIDA & The PRCC
Founded in 1972, the Puerto Rican Cultural Center (PRCC) is a non-profit community-based umbrella institution that serves Chicago’s Latino community. The PRCC thrives because it is embedded in, and responsive to, the community. The PRCC first responded to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in 1988 by opening an all-volunteer health clinic. Vida Health Clinic provided free alternative therapies to people diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. In 1992, the PRCC’s Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos Alternative High School developed the first HIV/AIDS prevention initiative that evolved into what is currently: Vida/SIDA Bartolo Hernandez de Jesus HIV/AIDS Initiative Project of the Puerto Rican Cultural Center, or Vida/SIDA. Housed under the PRCC, Vida/SIDA works to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic within the context of community and cultural preservation in the City of Chicago. Through educational seminars, testing, public outreach and prevention interventions Vida/SIDA has provided culturally appropriate services to the Midwest’s largest Latino community for over 21 years. Although the allocation of services is non-specific, Vida/SIDA is primarily invested in GLBTQ issues, HIV prevention, HIV/STD testing and counseling, and outreach services to high-risk individuals.
