Michele Boyer Reflects on Years of Service in Awards Remarks — April 22, 2019
On Thursday, April 18, 2019 Program Director Michele Boyer got on stage at the 2019 Quorum Community Leadership Awards and accepted their award for Lifetime Achievement. Michele has been with Clare Housing for over two decades now, and we can say with confidence that the organization simply would not be the same without her vision, dedication, kindness, and leadership.
We thought this was a great chance to share with our community Michele’s lovely remarks from the night’s event wherein she reflects on her career, and how it has intersected with the LGBTQ community. Last Friday, we learned that Michele is also being recognized at this year’s Twin Cities Business Journal Business of Pride Awards.
Thank you so much to Quorum for acknowledging the many hardworking and transformative leaders who have been honored with this award. I am truly humbled to be among them. I want to thank the very sneaky Chuck Peterson and Chris Briggs and all of my WONDERFUL scheming coworkers for the nomination, it’s really inspiring to work alongside you all on a daily basis. You are all amazing human beings.
In 1992, when I first entered the HIV services world, I was 25 years old. I was a grass-rootsy, social justice kind of kid but wasn’t sure in which arena I would do my work. Fate would have it that a friend told me about a posting in the housing program at the Minnesota AIDS Project, and I realized after one week into the job how incredibly blessed I was to have this opportunity to serve.
Things became really clear for me: My job was going to be to listen and to learn about this incredible community of people affected by HIV. Although my formal position description stated I was to assist people in applying for permanent housing vouchers and apply for public benefits and etc. – my REAL JOB was to listen to the sacred and powerful individual stories that were being shared with me. These were stories of disenfranchisement from family due to homophobia. Stories of deep isolation and fear. Stories of racism. Stories of addiction.
And of course, too, were powerful stories of recovery, of hope and of deep connection weaving throughout. This great tapestry of stories was being shared with me by people who were facing tremendous uncertainties about their health and their lives. Since there were no treatments for HIV, there was great urgency in every step we took together. There was also great bonding between us and among us.
Over the course of time, individual stories reflect a collective truth. Today, 27 years later, I understand that those personal anecdotes that were shared with me were the micro version of large and interconnected societal issues that must be seen on a macro level as well if they are to be fully understood and healed. I understand now that historical and institutional racism, for example, not only affected those African American individuals on my early caseloads but has created long-standing systemic barriers to finding affordable housing for generations of people of color. I see now that substance abuse is not only about an individual’s struggle, but is a common response by those coping with collective, generational trauma from many communities.
For the past 21 years, I have worked at Clare Housing. We have grown from an agency that served 8 persons with HIV when I started, to an agency that today operates 214 housing units and serves over 300 people per year. Through our tremendous growth, I have had the honor of bringing forth my own expertise and knowledge into the agency’s social service culture. We train new staff persons to understand generational poverty, systemic racism, the neurobiology of trauma, harm reduction principles, the connections between mental illness, substance abuse, homelessness, and HIV.
Our growth demands that I continue to listen deeply – to our clients, yes, but also to the ideas, perspectives and wisdom of my staff persons (all of whom are smart, committed and constantly bringing new ideas and approaches to the table). I must also listen to my fellow wise HIV service professionals in the community so that we understand the needs of their clients. Finally, I must tune in to the local and national research on the connections that social determinants play on homelessness, HIV infection rates, and HIV health outcomes.
All of these sources of wisdom inform my work at Clare Housing, as we strive together to continue to create an agency that is evolving deeper and deeper into its mission to create affordable housing opportunities and compassionate services for people with HIV and AIDS. So now, 27 years later, I get to be a 53-year-old grass-rootsy, social justice kind of kid.
And as I turn our attention back to the micro level one more time and think how we assist our residents in “living their best lives”, we honor this amazing tapestry of lives and wisdom from the past and the present to lead the way forward — together.
So thank you very much. And, Onward!
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