Dianne Michelle Trinidad was waiting for me outside the headquarters of Waves Ahead. She is a tall and slender transgender woman who carries herself like a queen, shrouded in serenity, with a skin and a smile that do not betray that she will soon turn 77.
She turned to activism 26 years ago and was the first trans woman in Puerto Rico to announce that she was HIV positive. “If you don’t disclose your diagnosis, you’re part of the problem. You’re not raising awareness,” she explained. “I don’t say I live with HIV. HIV lives with me,” she added to stress that she refuses to let the virus define her life, especially now that she is an older adult.
She prefers to be called Michelle. As a black, senior, HIV-positive transgender woman, she knows very well what it’s like to live in a country that is not ready for the growing population of older adults —many of who are fending for themselves— and is even less prepared to understand the needs of the LGBTQ+ community. This is why two years ago, she became a volunteer for Waves Ahead, an organization that was established in Puerto Rico in 2017 to support LGBTQ+ senior adults and strengthen their community and home environment. “Waves Ahead has provided me with a ‘chosen family’ that supports me and gives me a safe space where I can express myself. I am part of a trans support group where I feel comfortable and socialize with others in my community while I talk about my problems.”
Michelle currently works at the San Juan center, one of the organization’s five locations in Puerto Rico, which also include Isabela, Maunabo, Cabo Rojo, and Loíza.
Last year, thanks to a grant awarded by Fundación Triple-S to address food insecurity and isolation during the pandemic, they prepared food baskets and offered workshops to teach participants how to use their spaces to grow plants, be it in a house or an apartment. “We gave them everything they needed, including the seeds,” said Wilfred Labiosa, who is a psychologist and president of Waves Ahead.
This year, Fundación Triple-S selected the organization’s proposal to address the social isolation and loneliness of this vulnerable population through programs offered at its various centers, including yoga, meditation, dirt therapy, and music therapy.
“There is a great need in the LGBTQ+ elder population and the general community,” Wilfred pointed out. Seil Román, director of Mental Health Services at Waves Ahead, further elaborated on this need. Mental health is one of the greatest needs for the population they serve, especially since the pandemic. He was able to foresee the imminent need when the pandemic was declared in 2020 and managed to convert the services to a virtual platform in a matter of days. He would also “call the participants every week,” to make sure they were okay. They managed to help almost 800 participants through virtual mode (now through hybrid mode).
Waves Ahead is one of the 10 proposals awarded by Fundación Triple-S in 2020 to address social isolation and loneliness in vulnerable populations. Social isolation and loneliness represent the same health risk as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Left unaddressed, this increases the risk of premature death, cardiovascular diseases, and dementia, among other conditions.
