The Youth and AIDS Projects—a non-profit organization housed in the University of Minnesota’s Department of Pediatrics—offers HIV testing, HIV/AIDS medical case management, HIV prevention services, and sexual health education programs for young people living in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area.
Val Rubin-Rashaad is YAP’s executive director. She graduated from Concordia University with a B.A. in Political Science, and she began her youth-work career in 1989 with the Inner City Youth League! Val then went on to work at various shelters in the cities, including Salvation Army, Booth Brown, and The Bridge, to name a few. Early in her career she also joined Streetworks as an outreach worker, which lead to collaborations with the Youth and AIDS Projects.
In our conversation Val and Jerome talk through the way that YAP delivers services, the positive impact that those services have had in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area, and the great people that power YAP’s amazing programs!
