Manny Rivera

Over the past year our nation has seen many difficulties and changes; however at GMHC we continue to have hope.  We continue to look to the future and work to make it better than what we have seen in the past.    This mentality is one that GMHC has had throughout the last 28 years and one that helped save my life.  Hope is what allowed me to enter GMHC as a man near death and come out healthier, stronger, and profoundly committed to the fight against AIDS.  I consider myself a GMHC success story and am determined to help those in the same position I was in.  To begin repaying GMHC for the care and services I received, I joined GMHC’s Consumer Advisory Board and then was elected its president.  Last month, I became a proud member of GMHC’s Board of Directors.  From the moment I walked through the doors of GMHC I put my faith in what they do — and now I am asking you to do the same by continuing your support for the extraordinary work that GMHC does each and every day.

Ten years ago I was a very successful marketing director for a specialized health care company selling diagnostic equipment to the medical profession.  I was independent and fully in control of my life.  I had a great apartment, a very good income, and all that I ever wanted.  One day while visiting one of my doctors on a sales call, I mentioned that I had been having severe pain in my leg.  He did a stress test, took an MRI, and did some blood work.  A few days later I was in the hospital with a double diagnosis of a fast-growing cancer and HIV.After my initial surgery the hospital social worker strongly recommended that I go to GMHC, saying that they had the expertise to help me deal with the dramatic shifts that had just occurred in my life, literally overnight.  I resisted.  I was already struggling with coming out as a gay man in the African American-Latino community — and now had the stigma of being HIV-positive added to it.  I could barely walk.  My judgment was in a terrible place.  I was in a state of sheer despair.  And GMHC literally saved my life.  Counselors who are here to this day took me in, gave me individualized support, specialized therapeutic counseling, and the legal assistance to weather this huge transition in my life.  

How could I not ask you for your continuing support?  I give back now because I know from first-hand experience that GMHC literally pulls people back from the brink.  This organization provides us with a real sense of community and inclusion, helps us discover a reason to look forward, to find employment, acquire training and education, locate affordable housing, get legal support and medical care, and empower ourselves.  I learned to care because I was cared for, learned to respect others for their gifts because I was given the chance to use mine and encouraged to make a difference.  Every day I work to do just that for all of us living with the virus, for our families and friends who are affected by it, and for the public at large to help them stay healthy.

Please help GMHC continue to bring people back from the brink and provide the services that help us all learn that we can be a source of hope and strength by continuing your support.  From my own experience, I can tell you how important it is.

Thank you,

Manny Rivera
Member, Board of DirectorsPresident,
GMHC Consumer Advisory Board