Haitian-American Woman Who Overcame Poverty And Serious Health Problems To Help Those With Hiv/Aids In West Palm Beach Receives $120,000 Health Leadership Award

BOSTON (June 22, 2006) – Yolette Bonnet-Pierre was only 11 years old when she and her family left Haiti to seek a better life in the United States. They moved to New York and lived in poverty with her single mother, who worked as a maid to support the family. Bonnet-Pierre graduated from high school, took some college courses, and had three children. By the age of 31 during her 4th pregnancy, she experienced a devastating injury, and subsequently lost her home.

Despite overwhelming odds, Bonnet-Pierre mustered the strength to work full time while earning a college degree and eventually a Masters. Her personal experiences with injury and poverty shaped her decision to focus on a career in health care. After working for a decade in health-related organizations in New York, she was offered the job of directing an HIV/AIDS program in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Palm Beach County, with its 1.3 million people, has one of the highest HIV/AIDS rates in the nation, according to the federal Center for Disease Control. One out of every 166 persons in the County is living with HIV or AIDS. The county also has one of the highest rates of uninsured residents in the state.

In 2001, when Bonnet-Pierre become the executive director of the Comprehensive AIDS Program of Palm Beach County (CAP), she took on an agency that faced many challenges. For more than 15 years it was a nationally recognized organization in HIV services, until it was hit with funding cuts from local, state, and federal funding sources, and further interruptions in fundraising and donations after the 9/11 attacks.

Bonnet-Pierre quickly took hold, working collaboratively to transform the organization, streamlining its operations and fundraising activities, and broadening the scope of HIV services. Today CAP’s HIV prevention and education services reach all communities of Palm Beach County, and serves nearly 3,000 HIV/AIDS patients annually. Soon construction will begin on a 28,000 square foot community health center that will provide primary medical care, dental, and pharmacy to the entire community, including the uninsured and underinsured—the first non-profit, non-governmental, federally qualified health center in Palm Beach County.

It is for her work with CAP that she is being honored as one of 10 outstanding individuals from across America chosen to receive the 2006 Robert Wood Johnson Community Health Leadership Program award.

“I have been a community activist in Palm Beach County for over 30 years and have only met a few community leaders of the caliber that Miss Bonnet-Pierre exemplifies,” said Elivio Serrano, Executive Vice President of the local United Way. “Her work has undoubtedly saved countless lives among those who are most vulnerable. She is admired and respected by her peers. She is an extraordinary citizen and an unsung hero who serves the rest of us who want to make our community a better place.”

“Last summer’s devastating hurricanes brought into focus for all Americans the gaping holes in this country’s safety net,” said Catherine Dunham, Ed.D., Program Director, Robert Wood Johnson Community Health Leadership Program. “It reinforced what we know to be true; that local leaders taking the initiative are really the first and best responders whether the issue is access to care or youth development in underserved areas.”

The program awards $1.2 million each year to health leaders who have surmounted personal and other obstacles to help Americans gain access to heath care and social services. Bonnet-Pierre and this year’s other winners were honored at a June 21 event at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Princeton, New Jersey. She will receive $105,000 to further the work of her program and a $15,000 personal award.

Bonnet-Pierre was chosen from more than 300 people nominated this year. Since 1992, the program has distributed 140 awards in 47 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico. Those chosen are nominated by civic leaders, health professionals, government representatives and others inspired by their efforts to provide essential health services to their communities. This year’s award winners represent urban and rural areas of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, and the District of Columbia.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country. As the nation’s largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans, the Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, meaningful and timely change. For more than 30 years the Foundation has brought experience, commitment, and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those it serves. When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need, the Foundation expects to make a difference in your lifetime. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org.

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