Out In The Mountains : News - New Leader to Head Vermont CARES

by Paul Olsen

     BURLINGTON — Vermont’s largest and oldest AIDS services organization, Vermont CARES, has a new leader. David Hooks recently took over as Executive Director of the agency and his tenure marks the first time an openly HIV positive person has led the 15-year-old organization.
      At a press conference introducing Hooks, Vermont CARES Board Chairman Joseph Boisse said that the nationwide search for a new Executive Director resulted in the hiring of a Vermonter. “Over the past many months we went through an intensive search process, with national advertising, and we ended up finding the diamond in our own backyard,” he said of Hooks, who lives in Pittsfield Vermont.
      Hooks, 46, is an attorney who has previously worked in public relations and the financial services industry and served on the Vermont CARES board of directors for 2 years. He replaces Tim Palmer who served as the Executive Director of Vermont CARES for 5 1/2 years.
      “I look upon my new role at CARES as an evolution of my commitment to the agency and its mission and the struggle against all the lingering myths, misinformation, barriers and stigma that twenty years into this battle still surround individuals living with HIV,” Hooks said at a July 26 press conference marking his formal introduction as Executive Director. “As a past Vermont CARES board member and as a volunteer in the Rutland area, I’ve had the opportunity to be involved in the agency’s work from a range of perspectives. I’m fortunate in that I am able to bring these experiences to my new role from day one.”
      Hooks outlined two key initiatives — oral HIV testing and a return to work program — that he plans to pursue as the leader of Vermont CARES. “Oral HIV testing breaks down many barriers to getting tested,” he said and “as more individuals see improvements in their health and are able to return to work, it is our duty to assist them in getting the skills and confidence necessary to do so.”
      As an HIV positive man, Hooks does not minimize the significance of his HIV status in his new role as Executive Director. In fact, he believes it may help him do a better job. “I hope that this will allow me to bring a new perspective to the work,” he said. “Working with the staff on a daily basis and being HIV positive is totally different in terms of the personal experiences that I bring to the job. During the interview process I met with a group of peers from the agency and they expressed appreciation for the fact that Vermont CARES would give this opportunity to a peer of the agency.”
      Representatives of the Vermont Health Department welcomed Hooks to his new role and expressed enthusiasm about working together in fighting HIV in Vermont. “Vermont CARES is a very important part of our response to the epidemic in Vermont,” said Guy Weston, Vermont’s HIV/AIDS Program Director. “We’re looking forward to a long and collaborative relationship as we continue to formulate strategies to challenge this disease that has challenged us.”
      Established in 1986, the Vermont Committee for AIDS Resources, Education & Services (CARES) provides services to ten Vermont counties through offices in Burlington, Montpelier, Rutland and St. Johnsbury. Last year, CARES served over 150 Vermonters living with HIV/AIDS, provided education and training to over 8,000, and operated an eleven-unit affordable housing project for people living with HIV/AIDS.

Paul Olsen is the Vermont correspondent for in newsweekly.