We are proud to recognize the accomplishments of Jamile Torres and Adrian Centeno, who earned their Peer Worker Certifications from The New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute’s HIV Education and Training Programs, administered by the Center for Public Health Education program at Stony Brook University, School of Health Professions

The AIDS Institute’s Peer Worker Certification Program recognizes the unique role peers play in helping people connect to care and stay engaged in services. By drawing on their lived experience, peers can support others who have shared experiences by employing trust, respect and care.  

Jamile and Adrian are Community Health Advocates at Fortune’s Center for Research, Inquiry, and Social Justice (CRIS-J), contributing to the DEST2nation study, a collaborative research initiative between Fortune and Montefiore/Einstein. Through this partnership, we have collectively co-developed an HIV status-neutral treatment and prevention intervention, providing peer navigation and supportive services to Fortune participants. In their roles as Community Health Advocates, Jamile and Adrian help participants navigate care, connect to resources and feel supported as they move through internal and external health systems. 

Jamile and Adrian’s accomplishments are even more notable considering they are the first two people to receive peer certifications through the inaugural Criminal Justice track. Through this track, peer workers with a history of criminal legal system involvement are prepared to support individuals impacted by incarceration, reentry and the systems they often must navigate when returning to the community. Adrian shared, “I think professionally, it opens up doors of opportunity – organizations and policymakers could really use our insight.” 

Jamile and Adrian completed over 175 hours of training connected to the realities of reentry and community-based care. This included learning more about the role of peer workers in community reentry, continuity of HIV, HCV and PrEP care when people are coming home from correctional settings, sexual health in the context of reentry and the New York State criminal legal system. The track also focuses on how peer workers can support people with needs related to housing, food, employment, transportation, social support, health care, stigma and other barriers that can shape someone’s reentry experience. 

Adrian also completed the HIV track, adding another layer to the knowledge and support he brings to participants and the Fortune community. The HIV track included enhanced training on how to connect participants to HIV prevention, testing, and treatment. This training strengthened his ability to support participants with accurate information, care navigation, and through difficult and/or sensitive conversations. It is important to Adrian to share his experience living with HIV, showing participants that it is possible to live a healthy life without internalizing the stigmas present in society. 

Their work through DEST2Nation is a reminder of the power of peer support, community-based care and investing in staff who are deeply connected to the communities they serve.