Video Interview, Paula Silvestrone, August 2, 2012

  • KEVIN INDOVINO: I am rolling.
  • OK.
  • Tough question.
  • Correct spelling of your first and last name?
  • PAULA SILVESTRONE: P-A-U-L-A S-I-L-V-E-S-T-R-O-N-E.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: And when we title you,
  • do we want to title you Former Executive Director AIDS
  • Rochester?
  • PAULA SILVESTRONE: That's fine, yeah.
  • Or you could even put retired.
  • Either one, doesn't matter.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: So Paula, just to refresh my memory,
  • what year did you become executive director?
  • PAULA SILVESTRONE: I started in 1989.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: If you could, just kind
  • of start out talking to me about how you got
  • involved with AIDS Rochester.
  • And, you know, where were they at as far as an organization
  • at that particular time period?
  • PAULA SILVESTRONE: I had always had a leaning
  • toward edgy causes, if you will.
  • I had a number of gay friends.
  • I had done theater work and had a lot of exposure
  • to others in the gay community.
  • And so when AIDS came on the scene
  • and impacted our gay community so tremendously,
  • I was director of another nonprofit in town.
  • Wasn't thrilled with that relationship.
  • And so I was kind of figuring out what my next step in life
  • would be.
  • And I said to myself, if I could have any job I wanted and--
  • assuming I'm still going to direct a nonprofit agency--
  • there are two agencies in town that I'm interested in.
  • One was Planned Parenthood and one was AIDS Rochester.
  • And Planned Parenthood had just gotten a new executive director
  • and Jackie Nudd was at AIDS Rochester
  • and had been there for years and really was
  • known as AIDS Rochester.
  • So I was assuming she wasn't going anywhere.
  • And then all of a sudden the agency was in an upheaval
  • and Jackie was gone and there was an opening.
  • Well, like many AIDS agencies at that time,
  • they had started out very grassroots
  • and then they grew very, very quickly.
  • The money was coming from New York State and the feds
  • pretty quickly.
  • And they grew into small businesses, at least
  • that's the way they needed to be administered.
  • And it grew beyond the current administration's capacity
  • to run a business.
  • So-- but the people that had started the organizations
  • and had run it in a grassroots manner
  • really had their hearts and souls invested in the agency.
  • So they often didn't go quietly.
  • And AIDS Rochester was one of many agencies
  • that went through a huge upheaval
  • when their founding director needed to go.
  • And so at first I was like, I don't
  • know if I want to touch that with a ten foot pole.
  • I mean, board members were acting inappropriately.
  • Staff were acting inappropriately.
  • Volunteers and clients were really up in an upheaval.
  • There-- they were in a deficit.
  • There were several lawsuits as a result of the transition
  • and I wasn't sure I wanted to jump into their frying pan.
  • But I decided to explore it like, four
  • months after the job was open.
  • And I was interviewed by Hazel Jeffries and Bill Valenti.
  • And it went well and they offered me the position.
  • And I thought long and hard.
  • I knew it was my dream and I went back to them and said,
  • I'll give it a year of my life.
  • My heart and soul, I'll do everything
  • I can to take this organization where it needs to go.
  • If I can't turn it around, that's
  • all I'm committing to at this point.
  • But I need you to back me and embrace the change that's
  • coming and basically stay out of my way if I'm doing good stuff.
  • And they agreed.
  • It appeared that's what they were looking for
  • and that they knew that that's what the agency needed.
  • So I, at that point, had a third of the staff in place.
  • A third had walked out when Jackie was terminated.
  • A third got fired the next day for acting out.
  • It was a mess.
  • So I had many spots to fill and the most important one
  • being my associate director.
  • So-- who, at the time, I think we called that position
  • a program director.
  • We weren't even big enough for me to have an associate.
  • Looked at many people locally and then--
  • almost by fate I would say-- got hooked up
  • with a man who had been on the board of directors
  • at our Binghamton pier agency.
  • He was also a nurse manager of the ICU and CCU
  • unit at Cortland Hospital.
  • So I asked him to come on an interview with me.
  • And it ended up being-- and I think he interviewed me
  • as much as I interviewed him.
  • And it ended up being a perfect marriage for us
  • and Michael Beatty is still with AIDS care today.
  • He was-- we worked alongside each other for twenty years
  • and I don't think either of us could
  • have done it without the other.
  • It was a perfect match.
  • Michael is a gay man and he was very
  • helpful in developing some of our programs
  • that targeted that population specifically.
  • And we just worked really, really hard initially
  • to put policies in place, to get the agency on stable footing,
  • to get some mature professionals on staff,
  • and it just took off from there.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: So I'm going to back up a little bit.
  • I don't want to kind of rush through all of that.
  • You step into the role of executive director.
  • And in your mind, your first initiative
  • to really put a foundation back into this organization
  • was what?
  • And what was your first thought?
  • Share with your thought process of OK,
  • this is what I need to do get this--
  • not only to get the organization back on track,
  • but this is what I need to do to really make a difference.
  • PAULA SILVESTRONE: Well I knew nothing else
  • could happen without funding.
  • If we were going to close our doors,
  • it would all be a moot point.
  • So I knew that stabilizing our funding
  • and balancing our budget was key.
  • I also think it was key to professionalize
  • the whole place, from board members understanding
  • their roles and not overstepping their bounds to clients
  • understanding their roles and not overstepping
  • their bounds to putting policies and procedures in place
  • for staff.
  • That was key because there were a lot of bad habits
  • that had been developed in--
  • when the agency was more grassroots.
  • And it's where a lot of the chaos emerged from.
  • And I thought, we're not going to do any justice
  • to this community and to our clients
  • that we're going to serve until we have our act together.
  • So right around that time or shortly there
  • after that, was it TQM became very popular
  • and people talked about, who is your customer?
  • And for me, I always viewed my staff as my customers.
  • Because if I had competent and professional and caring,
  • compassionate staff, that's what I think
  • was going to have the most impact on the community.
  • And I think it worked out well.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: I'm going to draw you
  • back even a little further because you
  • touched upon something that I don't
  • want to, again, rush over.
  • When you were thinking about what your dream job would be,
  • you chose Planned Parenthood or AIDS Rochester
  • as two of your choices.
  • Even before the Jackie Nudd stuff,
  • was it about AIDS Rochester that spoke to you?
  • That said, that's a place that I think I
  • might want to be involved with?
  • PAULA SILVESTRONE: It was serving
  • a disenfranchised population.
  • A population that our mainstream society had not--
  • and to a great extent, even still does not-- embrace.
  • I mean, we're still having to boycott chicken places
  • for God's sakes, you know?
  • I wanted to work on behalf of people
  • that needed a strong voice and needed strong programs
  • and services.
  • And there was certainly nothing more compelling
  • than trying to save lives of people in their prime.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: In context of this size city
  • that Rochester is, not a big city.
  • What do you think it says about us to have
  • such a powerful advocate--
  • or advocacy organization like AIDS Rochester?
  • PAULA SILVESTRONE: AIDS Rochester
  • was one piece of the puzzle.
  • We also had Community Health Network.
  • We had the Gay Alliance.
  • We had Helping People with AIDS.
  • I mean I--
  • I think initially-- kind of took for granted that--
  • what we had.
  • But when I got to know other AIDS services across the state
  • and even across the nation, I realized how unique we were
  • and how much support we had.
  • We even had support from the United Way.
  • There's nothing more white bread and mainstream than that.
  • So we really do have a very special community here.
  • And you keep hearing that, for a city our size,
  • it's a great place for gay people to live.
  • And that-- that made it much easier to do the work
  • I needed to do.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: You were twenty years, right?
  • At AIDS Rochester?
  • PAULA SILVESTRONE: Yes.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Over that course of time--
  • this is a loaded question--
  • how have you seen our response to AIDS change
  • over those course of years?
  • And how is-- how did AIDS Rochester change along the way?
  • PAULA SILVESTRONE: Well initially, there was a very--
  • very much of an activist mentality.
  • ACT UP was very active.
  • Not as much in our town, but you know, in AIDS work in general.
  • And we had to do some screaming and shouting.
  • I mean, we were living through the Reagan years
  • and this disease was not being adequately addressed.
  • People were dying in droves.
  • It was horrific.
  • It was really a nightmare.
  • And all we could do then, really,
  • was educate people with the little
  • that we knew about the disease and hold people's hands
  • and take care of their pets while they died.
  • Thank goodness that changed pretty quickly.
  • I mean, within six years from the time I started there,
  • the antiretrovirals came on the scene
  • and we literally saw people come back from the brink of death.
  • It was a miracle to behold.
  • So a couple things happened.
  • We had really focused on prevention.
  • Now we needed to shift our focus more
  • to getting treatment and keeping people on treatment.
  • Because, especially in the early days, there wasn't--
  • and it's still not an easy way to live
  • with multiple medications that themselves
  • can make you feel really ill.
  • Having to take them in the middle of the night,
  • keep them in the refrigerator.
  • It was a very complex regimen, but lifesaving.
  • It was also key to keep people on those medications because--
  • and still is-- if they would stop them for a while,
  • the virus could become resistant to those medications.
  • And people can actually pass on resistant strains of the virus.
  • So that became part of our prevention efforts also.
  • And we weren't focused as much on people dying.
  • We were focused on, let's help people plan for the future.
  • It was an amazing and fantastic turnaround.
  • But one of the problems is then, people became lackadaisical
  • about the need to support the agency, the need
  • to keep themselves healthy.
  • You know, Magic Johnson, I champion him
  • for coming out and sharing with the world
  • that, especially a heterosexual man gets this too.
  • But to this day, I hear people say, well, there's a cure.
  • Look at Magic Johnson.
  • He's fine.
  • And you go, oh.
  • You know, one step forward and two steps back.
  • We still-- people are still dying of this disease.
  • It's a horrible disease to live with.
  • They can still spread it.
  • If we're not vigilant, we're going
  • to end up looking like some of those countries in Africa.
  • So we've got to keep up the fight.
  • But it's harder because people don't--
  • you don't walk down the street and go, oh,
  • you can tell he has AIDS.
  • You don't see that anymore.
  • It was very clear then.
  • It was very hard for people that were sick because it was
  • like they had a sign on them.
  • You know, they looked very sick.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: So at your years at the agency,
  • what would you say was maybe the biggest challenge overall?
  • PAULA SILVESTRONE: The politics.
  • Primarily, there became a lot of issues around racial politics.
  • As AIDS started to decimate the minority communities
  • and money was following those communities
  • and money was tightening up at the same time,
  • there became very much a fight over who
  • should get that money, who can serve that population best.
  • So it became very political, the fact that I was white,
  • my administration was primarily non-minority.
  • It was difficult to hang on and to draw new money sometimes
  • during those years because we weren't considered
  • a minority-based agency even though we were
  • serving 600 minorities a year.
  • Far, far, far more than any other agency in town.
  • And well served.
  • Those clients wanted to come to us.
  • They had choices.
  • So-- and the bureaucracy that goes with the funding,
  • with New York state especially, just really
  • kind of wore me down.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: So the flip side of that
  • is, what do you think has been the greatest
  • achievement and the greatest impact that the agency has had?
  • PAULA SILVESTRONE: Boy, there's so many levels.
  • But certainly, having our clients feel
  • cared for, having a place where they
  • would walk in and feel hope and compassion and respect.
  • Often people that hadn't really experienced much
  • of that in their adult lives.
  • On the prevention end, I think that we were cutting edge
  • in terms of being very aggressive
  • with the gay community.
  • One of our challenges was, as money--
  • New York State and other funders shifted
  • money to the minority communities,
  • was hanging on to our programs that
  • reached out to the gay population as a whole.
  • And saying, don't forget.
  • They're still getting it.
  • They're still dying.
  • We need to keep up our vigilance of gay men
  • or we're going to backslide.
  • And indeed, I think that that started happening.
  • So we had to really do a lot of advocacy work on that end
  • and fight for that.
  • I think that our housing program was unique
  • and our syringe exchange program was definitely unique.
  • It took a lot to get that going.
  • The politics around that were unbelievable.
  • But it's probably the thing I'm proudest of because it
  • was the most concrete lifesaving program we had, and have.
  • So I was very proud.
  • And it was a tough battle.
  • It was really tough.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Let's back up, then and pick up on that story.
  • Start from the beginning to the end for me.
  • You know, I remember when we started our syringe exchange
  • program.
  • You know, it start if off that way and just tell me the story.
  • PAULA SILVESTRONE: OK.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: There were a lot of challenges there,
  • but there was also a lot of success there.
  • PAULA SILVESTRONE: Sure.
  • There was a group in town of high level people
  • from all different walks--
  • corporations, politics-- that had been pulled together--
  • I wish I could remember the name of it--
  • has been pulled together to address substance
  • abuse in our community.
  • And some people from that group actually came to us
  • and said, what do you think of getting a syringe exchange
  • program going in Rochester.
  • I think that's another example of how
  • progressive this community can be.
  • To back up for a second, we used to do position statements
  • on issues that were controversial so
  • that we could speak to the public with one voice.
  • And one of them that we had recently done
  • was, where do we stand on syringe exchange.
  • And we were for it.
  • So we were already mentally there.
  • So when these two people came to us,
  • we said, well let's explore this some.
  • We started to talk to some big movers and shakers in town,
  • including, actually, Tom Golisano,
  • who sat on the substance abuse coalition.
  • And after he heard what we had to say about the benefits--
  • and fortunately, in New Haven, Connecticut in conjunction with
  • Yale, they had already had--
  • I think it might have been the first syringe
  • exchange in the country.
  • And had some research data to prove that it was working.
  • So that was so helpful to us to have
  • that data to be able to go to people
  • and say it's been proven.
  • It works.
  • And when we gave the facts, Tom Golisano said, sounds good.
  • I'll support it.
  • So when you have someone with a name like that in our community
  • that comes out for it, it really broke the ice
  • and broke the ground.
  • But it became a very political issue.
  • You know, somewhat very Republican and Democratic
  • and there were some very interesting debates about it.
  • At one point, on the front page--
  • well actually, we weren't ready to announce
  • that we-- we weren't ready yet to say we're going to do this.
  • We were still exploring it.
  • And all of a sudden, the front page
  • has a picture of Howard Relin, who was the current DA in town,
  • and myself.
  • Looked like we were squaring off, saying,
  • AIDS Rochester is going to implement a syringe exchange
  • program in Rochester.
  • And I'm like, whoa, OK.
  • It's time to come out of the closet.
  • It's time to get to work on this.
  • But you had to go through unbelievable machinations
  • to actually make this happen and get approved in New York state
  • because there still was a law in New York state
  • that said possession of a syringe is illegal.
  • So we had to get special approval, which
  • meant full community education and trying
  • to get as many people on board as possible.
  • And it was a very interesting process
  • to see who came out in our favor and who came out against.
  • I have kind of a side story, a personal side story.
  • One of the people that chose to speak out, be--
  • kind of a front person speaking out against syringe exchange
  • was Judge Ken Fisher, I believe was his name.
  • And a number of years after that,
  • I was called for jury duty.
  • And I'm sitting on the panel waiting to be interviewed
  • and it was a substance abuse case or a drug case.
  • And the judge said, is there anybody
  • on the jury that feels like they might not
  • be able to deal with this in an unbiased way?
  • And I raised my hand, being the troublemaker I am.
  • He said, yeah, what's your problem.
  • Well, I have some strong feelings about--
  • that actually, I think drugs should be legalized,
  • which was not a part of my work mantra.
  • That was a separate issue.
  • But it was my personal feeling.
  • And he looked up and I said, and I run a syringe exchange
  • program for AIDS Rochester.
  • And he's like, you could see the light go off.
  • He's like, oh yeah, I remember you.
  • You're excused.
  • But anyway, we fought very, very hard.
  • We went into neighborhoods.
  • We went to churches.
  • We did neighborhood meetings.
  • We went to politicians and huge applications and procedures
  • and so forth that needed to be put in place.
  • And we were the first program outside of New York City
  • to be approved.
  • And it's been amazing.
  • Not easy, it's obviously not an easy population to be served.
  • You know, you've got to be in tough neighborhoods.
  • You put your staff and volunteers at risk.
  • But it's a lifesaver.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Talk to me about--
  • because a lot of what you talk about
  • is community, community, community.
  • One of the successes of AIDS Rochester
  • is that you didn't just sit in an isolated building.
  • You know, administered.
  • PAULA SILVESTRONE: Right.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: You were out there.
  • Talk to me about being out there.
  • What was it like being out there?
  • What was it like reaching the people
  • that you needed to reach?
  • PAULA SILVESTRONE: Well one of the unique things
  • about working in the AIDS field is,
  • it was a very new human service.
  • I mean for years, we've been serving people
  • with heart disease or kidney disease
  • or developmental disabilities.
  • AIDS was brand new.
  • So we had an opportunity to start new and not
  • be kind of held back by all this tradition.
  • It was such a dramatic situation we were in in terms
  • of trying to save young lives.
  • We knew we had to do something different.
  • We knew we had to think outside the box.
  • I do attribute some early people on my staff and volunteers
  • who had an activist mentality.
  • And that's one thing too that was
  • neat about working in the field, is
  • it really did attract people that had strong will
  • to make a difference.
  • Toni Obermeyer was one of the people I remember.
  • She was an outreach worker and she
  • had had a history on the streets herself.
  • And that made us unique too, is that we
  • were looking for people that had been in prison, that
  • had been drug addicts, that had been prostitutes, that
  • knew the people at risk and knew what the behavior was
  • and what we needed to do to change that.
  • So she'd take her group out on the streets with condoms
  • and-- at the time-- bleach kits, which
  • was the way we asked people to keep their syringes clean.
  • And they got known.
  • They got known as people--
  • you know, it's hard initially.
  • They are always afraid that you're cops or something.
  • And you have to develop trust in those neighborhoods.
  • But there is nothing like getting
  • right to the root of what you're trying to do.
  • Whether it's going to truck stops
  • to engage men who are having sex with men,
  • going to parks, obviously bars, places
  • where women are working the streets at night.
  • It was an edgy job.
  • And I'm the type of person that thrived on that.
  • I mean, I wanted to be out there as much as possible.
  • And one of the things that really--
  • I was already sold on syringe exchange,
  • but one of the things that really clinched the deal for me
  • was, before we set up our own program,
  • I went down to the Bronx and I observed their program.
  • And there were all these people lined up
  • waiting to get their syringes.
  • And they were pushing baby carriages
  • and they were every demographic.
  • And I just thought, these are all somebody's mothers,
  • somebody's sons, somebody's aunt, somebody's brother.
  • They're just trying to make it through life themselves
  • and they're doing something that's healthy for them
  • by being here.
  • And I can't imagine anything more
  • valuable than to make that accessible to people
  • that needed it.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: You know what?
  • I want to talk a little bit more about being involved
  • with the community, but not so much outreaching
  • into communities of people who need your service,
  • but I think part of--
  • again, that made AIDS Rochester a success was because you
  • didn't work in a vacuum.
  • That you worked very closely with HPA and CHN an hospitals
  • and whatnot so that we were bringing,
  • really, a very comprehensive approach to AIDS
  • care, AIDS awareness, end of life issues,
  • all of that kind of stuff.
  • I just threw a lot at you, but just
  • kind of putting-- talk to me about the importance of being
  • able to work with all the other community agencies out there
  • and how that really made Rochester really
  • at the forefront of how we dealt with the AIDS crisis.
  • PAULA SILVESTRONE: You know, in terms
  • of the way Rochester works so collaboratively,
  • I'm not sure what came first, the chicken or the egg.
  • Whether it's always kind of been there,
  • because when I came into AIDS work, I almost took it for
  • granted because that's the only thing that makes sense to me.
  • It wasn't like I had to--
  • like I met any resistance with that.
  • I mean, there already was something
  • called the Rochester Area Task Force on AIDS
  • in place, which was very helpful.
  • And again, I was shocked that other communities
  • didn't have that.
  • So again, we were unique.
  • The fact that HPA actually was born around the same time
  • and Community Health Network.
  • The fact that we had a freestanding HIV
  • clinic for a city our size was unheard of.
  • And Dr. Bill Valenti, who was clearly
  • such a wonderful activist and spokesman himself on the issue.
  • We had all of that.
  • We have such rich resources here and we had such good leadership
  • that we had to do was link up and maximize that.
  • Strong gay alliance, and again, to have
  • an organized and supportive gay community is invaluable.
  • I mean, some of the politics of the gay community
  • can be tricky too, to be honest.
  • The gay members of the gay community and those close
  • to them can be hard on each other
  • as I'm sure you well know.
  • And there were challenges there sometimes.
  • But I always kept in the back of my head
  • why I was there and said, do what's right.
  • And my path always became clear.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: I'll just throw some names out at you.
  • People that you either had to work with or associate with.
  • You've mentioned one already, Dr. Bill Valenti.
  • Talk to me about working with him.
  • What kind of guy was he like to work with
  • and what contributions do you--
  • from your point of view-- think that he
  • made for this community?
  • PAULA SILVESTRONE: Well Bill obviously had a passion.
  • Saw-- had a vision and made it happen.
  • That's not an easy thing to do, especially in terms
  • of developing a medical clinic.
  • Bill's a feisty guy, you know.
  • And that's what it took to get the job done.
  • It didn't always make working with him easy and he'd
  • be the first one to say.
  • We didn't always have that hug hug kiss kiss relationship,
  • you know.
  • Because we were always--
  • we both had a goal to work as collaboratively as possible
  • for the benefit of our clients.
  • But sometimes we had different visions
  • about how that would go.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: I want to just follow up
  • a little bit with that.
  • I want to ask you, what was it about Bill--
  • and you touched upon it a little bit
  • here-- but what was it about Bill
  • that you knew that, yeah, that's definitely the right guy
  • to be in that place?
  • PAULA SILVESTRONE: Bill was willing to stick his neck out
  • to bend the rules in order to accomplish what needed
  • to be done to save lives.
  • Most docs won't do that.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Jeff Kost.
  • PAULA SILVESTRONE: Oh, Jeff.
  • Jeffrey had been working--
  • I think in a management type capacity--
  • at his father's store, the Parkleigh, which
  • is famous in this community.
  • Jeff is very involved in the gay community.
  • Didn't really have fundraising experience.
  • Maybe some on a volunteer level would probably
  • start doing some stuff with HPA.
  • But I was looking for a fundraiser.
  • And I interviewed Jeff and it just felt like a perfect match.
  • And it was.
  • I wish I had Jeffrey.
  • I wish we still had Jeffrey.
  • He-- I don't know anybody that didn't love Jeffrey.
  • And yet, he wasn't the kind of person that was really pushy,
  • but he still--
  • I don't think anybody could say no to him.
  • Jeff had the idea to develop and implement the first AIDS
  • walk in this community.
  • And I'm like, all right, OK, whatever Jeff.
  • We'll try it.
  • And the first year, I think we set
  • a goal of bringing in $7,000.
  • And it was closer to seventy.
  • The response was beyond our dreams.
  • And it just grew from there.
  • So Jeffrey showed what he was made off right then and there.
  • And he was a great asset to this community, the gay community,
  • the AIDS community.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Let's talk about that a little bit more,
  • about the first AIDS walk.
  • Talk to me about taking on, which
  • could have been a really overwhelming project,
  • selling it to the community, and then having it really take off.
  • Talk to me about, from what you witnessed, and really, again,
  • what does it say about a community like Rochester?
  • PAULA SILVESTRONE: Well the fact that our first year--
  • the response-- especially from the gay community--
  • was beyond our wildest dreams, just
  • again reinforced to me what a special place we have.
  • I mean, Jeffrey did a fantastic job of organizing and marketing
  • it, but it also said, oh my God, Rochester really
  • wants to rally.
  • They really want to do what they can to support this cause.
  • And again, it was very much--
  • I think-- the gay community coming together.
  • I mean, both the AIDS walk and--
  • I think-- HPA's Dining for Dollars
  • were opportunities for the gay community
  • to come together and have a fantastic social event
  • as well as honor and support their friends and loved ones.
  • And it was so badly needed and they stepped up to the plate.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: So Talk to me about what you personally
  • experienced when you were there for that first day,
  • the first walk.
  • You saw thousands of people.
  • Share with me personally what you were feeling.
  • What were you experiencing on that day?
  • PAULA SILVESTRONE: Well I'm a pretty tough cookie
  • on the outside.
  • But there are those times in my career when I just
  • became overwhelmed and the tears would start coming,
  • both for what we'd lost and for this beautiful thing
  • that was coming together to prevent it from continuing.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: What-- again, from a personal point view--
  • what are you most proud of?
  • When history looks back at you and says,
  • oh yeah, Paula Silvestrone.
  • She did that.
  • PAULA SILVESTRONE: In more general terms,
  • I'm proud that I gave my heart to something so important.
  • That I endured through some tough times.
  • But I think that the two programs I was most proud of
  • were our progressive gay outreach and our syringe
  • exchange programs.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: This is a tough question.
  • But over the course of those years--
  • and particularly where you are now--
  • how did it change you?
  • Did it change you?
  • PAULA SILVESTRONE: I-- every day--
  • am grateful for my health.
  • Even when I have health challenges,
  • it helps me put it in perspective.
  • It did give me a tougher skin.
  • I needed it to develop that to get
  • through twenty years of dealing with New York state, if nothing
  • else, and burying a lot of people
  • that I came to be fond of.
  • I came to understand how something so horrific
  • could also create something so beautiful, which
  • is the unity of a very special group of people composed
  • primarily by the gay community.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: I'm just trying to think of any other people
  • that might be worth mentioning.
  • PAULA SILVESTRONE: Tony.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Yeah, that was the name that came up.
  • I was trying to think, was he still
  • in line for when you took over?
  • I guess he was.
  • PAULA SILVESTRONE: Yeah.
  • Oh, yeah.
  • He's my vice president.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Talk to me about Tony Greene.
  • PAULA SILVESTRONE: Oh, Tony.
  • Talk about a challenge.
  • And I think everybody probably starts out
  • talking about Tony that way, but then you
  • end up just loving him.
  • The first time I met Tony was before I applied for the job.
  • But it was open.
  • And I had gone to a fundraiser for Tim Mains, actually.
  • And Tim introduced me to Tony and said he
  • was on AIDS Rochester's board.
  • And he told Tony that I was thinking
  • of applying for the job.
  • And Tony looked down his nose and said to me, stand in line.
  • I'm like, oh, this is great.
  • Nice to meet you too.
  • And then my very first board meeting, Tony tested me.
  • It was something over to--
  • something having to do with condoms in a particular gay bar
  • or something.
  • And I'm like, I need to get my feet wet
  • and figure out where our priorities need to be.
  • And he just kept pushing it, pushing it, pushing it, pushing
  • it.
  • So I'm like, all right.
  • We're going to have a little bit of this going on, Tony and I.
  • But as we got to know each other--
  • and again, both realized we working toward the same end--
  • and got to respect each other as very
  • strong, intelligent people, we just fell in love, you know.
  • And Tony said if he were a heterosexual man,
  • he'd marry me.
  • That was the best endorsement that I could ever think of.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Did AIDS Rochester ever
  • get into the issue of condoms in schools
  • or was that more of a (unintelligible)?
  • PAULA SILVESTRONE: Some, but it was a tough nut
  • to crack at that point.
  • Yeah, didn't get anywhere with that.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: I don't have anything else.
  • PAULA SILVESTRONE: OK.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: I think that's about it.
  • Thank you.
  • PAULA SILVESTRONE: Thank you.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: All right, well thank you for coming in.
  • (side conversation)
  • PAULA SILVESTRONE: It's like leaving a gas
  • station with the pump still in your car.
  • Thanks.