Safe Space Outreach Mobile Unit

On a regular basis the volunteers and employees of Safe Space visit the areas of New York City that are most ridden with sexually related crimes. The outreach vehicles are fixtures in many of the City’s neighborhoods, they reach out to teenagers in need.

Christopher Street, West Village, Manhattan

Friday, 10 p.m. A Winnebago, emblazoned with the large graffiti logo of Safe Space is parked by the side walk. The door is open. We watch young people entering the vehicle, receiving free condoms. Most of them are between 12 and 25 years of age. Many are homosexual, transvestites, or on their way to becoming transgendered. They stroll along the sidewalks of the far-West Village, some of them looking for tricks. When a police car appears on the street their clients disappear.

West Side Highway

During the drive up the West Side Highway, to the Bronx, we talk to George, the driver of the Safe Space vehicle. George is 6 foot tall, 43 year-old Latin American.  A former drug addict and gang member, he was incarcerated for many years after being  convicted for several shootings and knife stabbings. Today George is clean. During the day he is a case worker for H.I.V. positive youngsters. On the weekends he drives the Safe Space Outreach mobile unit.

George is a lifelong insider to the the streets of New York. He is familiar with the stories of many of the individuals who approach his vehicle. For him, the work is fun.  He loves the people on the streets and all are beautiful to him. On his nightly runs, George encounters the same fantastically aparelled  characters. While working, he listens to sports on the radio and curses with gusto when the Yankees don’t perform.

His co-pilot, a young articulate man tells us how he ended up with his job at Safe Space. He and his family were threatened by gang members. The police recommended that he disappear for a while so that his family would not be endangered. Safe Space provided shelter and hired him as a case worker. We see him distributing blankets, condoms and small hygenical kits. He is also trained to perform on site H.I.V. tests. Both let us know the hardest part of the job is to tell the kids they have tested positively

From Cherry McCutchen of Safe Space, we learn about youth diagnosed with H.I.V. in New York City and the minimal assistance that they receive from the government, such as   S.R.O.s (Single Room Occupancies) These are mostly dismal single rooms in squalid hotels. During the week, George works in the S.R.O. hotels. He describes for us what life is like in the S.R.O.s; loansharking, drugdealing and crime are rampant.