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Raul Aguilar

1991, A Moment from Raul Aguilar's Story

In 1991, Raul Aguilar first came to San Francisco and began his first, actual job in the City. At the AIDS Legal Referral Panel, he answered phones and listened to each person's story as he tried to assist them legally, or if not legally, then by connecting the caller to community resources in other ways. Raul remembers that is was a sad time, but an exciting one as well. San Francisco had lost an entire generation to AIDS, but there was a growing interest in connecting, sharing, and processing what had happened. Finding little in no-pressure ways for young people to meet and discuss community issues, Raul began to volunteer for LYRIC (Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center), becoming their first bilingual facilitator. He remembers this time as an important beginning. "You don't get up each day and say, 'I am going to save the world.' Really important things happen everyday. You just have to get up and do them."

To read the PDF version of Raul Aguilar's Story, please click here.