Yesenia Aguirre
Health Worker

Yesenia is a Chicana / Mission District native who has been an activist and HIV and STD counselor working with youth, Latina/o, & queer communities for over 13 years.  She began her work as a volunteer at Instituto Familiar de La Raza, RAP, and eventually ended up at the SF Department of Public Health’s Youth Peer Education Program.  From there she went on to work at various other agencies including Health Initiatives for Youth where she coordinated the young women’s health program leading to the creation of Kickin’ Back with the Girls, A Young Woman’s Survival Guide.  She is now working at the Castro-Mission Health Center and Dimensions Clinic as a Community Health Worker. Yesenia is also currently a student at City College and likes to walk her dog Chichi whom she loves very much.

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Ayanna Bennett
Medical Doctor

Ayanna Bennett is a pediatrician, trained at UCSF, Berkeley, and Stanford. She came up from San Diego after high school, fell in love with the fog and crazy people, and gave up on SoCal for good. She works in a few places with different groups. She works mostly with little kids at a private office in Alameda giving shots to babies and cough medicine to little kids with colds. In San Francisco she works just with youth, both at the 3rd Street Youth Center & Clinic in Bayview during the week, and at the Dimensions clinic on some Saturday afternoons. She's a decent poet, a so-so dancer, a determined runner (Marathon #2 coming up!) and she lives for those crazy stories that people tell her in the exam room.

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Debbie Brown
Medical Doctor

Debbie Brown is a family doctor and has been working at the Castro-Mission Health Center for 18 years, with about 9 of those years also being the medical director of Dimensions Clinic. She went to medical school at Emory University in Atlanta, GA, and did her residency at Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY. Dr. Brown's off-hours interests include cycling, reading science fiction, taking her son to visit model railways, and worrying about the Greenland ice sheet.

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Elizabeth Colistra
Therapist

Elizabeth is a therapist intern whose personal and professional interest lies in gender, sexuality, identity formation and authentic expression. She has studied psychology, philosophy, religion and English literature. She has a special interest in Jungian, depth and transpersonal modalities. Elizabeth works with a variety of clients, maintaining a space for them to gain a deeper understanding of Self.

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Vittorio D’Angeli
Dimensions Clinic Collaborative Coordinator

Vitorrio is originally from Italy and has worked in the non-profit Public Health field for nearly 20 years, starting in the mid 1980’s at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center. There he worked with L.A. CARES, one of the first government funded HIV education and risk reduction campaigns targeting gay and bisexual men.  At the Center Vittorio went on to hold positions as Health Educator, STD Counselor, and HIV triage case manager. In 1992 he moved to San Francisco where he began his work with Special Programs for Youth/S.F. Department of Public Health. In 1999 Vittorio began working with Dimensions as a case manager, eventually moving into the position of Dimensions Collaborative Coordinator through Health Initiatives for Youth and under Michael Baxter.  As a person living with AIDS and a long-time activist with such groups as ACT UP L.A. and Queer Nation, he uses both his personal and professional experience as his guides. To contact Vittorio you can email him or stop by during clinic hours. 

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Greg Foley
Nurse Practitioner

Bio coming soon!

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James Guay
Therapist

James has been a Counselor at LYRIC and Dimensions Clinic for the past 6+ years. He loves supporting youth in becoming more fully who they are. He has extensive experience working with LGBTQQ youth and specializes in those dealing with difficulties in relationships, low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, abusive/traumatic experiences, homoprejudice, transphobia, survival sex, coming out issues, identity formation, addictions and religious/queer identity conflict.  He received his Master's Degree in Counseling at SFSU and has since become a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (MFC# 39252).  In addition to his private practice, www.jamestherapy.com , he works part-time at LYRIC/Dimensions Clinic and meets with youth in a local high school. He provides presentations on queer youth, transgender youth, the harmful consequences of the ex-gay movement and other forms of religious homophobia/transphobia. He can also provide referrals to other counselors, clinics and community resources. Feel free to call him at 415.703-6150 ext. 10.

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Marisela Guzman
Eligibility Worker

Marisela "Spider" Guzman- Marisela is an eligibility worker at Dimensions Clinic and Larkin Street Youth Clinic. She is originally El Paso, Texas and has called the bay area her home for 13 years. Since her arrival in the bay area, Marisela has worked as a volunteer interpreter and health educator at San Francisco General Hospital, Planned Parenthood, Cole street Youth Clinic & UCSF. Marisela is loved by many youth all over the city who affectionately refer to her as 'Spider' or 'La Loca Guzman.'

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Harris Kornstein
Webmaster

Harris is glad to have had the opportunity to design this website (especially since he didn't really know what he was doing when he started!). He moved to the Bay Area in Fall 06 after graduating from Swarthmore College. He has worked extensively with queer/ally youth at such venues as Mountain Meadow Summer Camp, Boston GLASS, and the Phoenix Q Arts & Media Project (which he founded). In his spare time, well, Harris does stuff like this (he does have a day job); he also enjoys nerdy things like reading theory but wants to make more art.

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Ruben Martinez
Eligibility Worker

As an Eligibility Worker, Ruben ensures that our Dimensions patients have appropriate medical coverage and assists them in enrolling in the myriad of state and county programs potentially available to cover medical costs. Ruben is originally from Los Angeles. He relocated to northern California in order to attend University of California, Santa Cruz, where he received a bachelor's degree in Literature. When not busy working as a fabulous Eligibility Worker, Ruben enjoys sipping champagne by his fireplace, go-go dancing, long walks on the beach, looking at himself in the mirror and listening to 80's Monster Ballads.

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Desmond Miller
HIV Test Counselor

Desmond has worked for Larkin Street Youth Services for about one year as an HIV tester and counselor. Through Larkin, Desmond does testing at three different locations in the city, Cole Street Youth Clinic, Larkin Street Youth Clinic, and at Dimensions Clinic. In his free time he loves to read and write comics.

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David Olem
Therapist

David Olem has been working as a therapist in the LGBTQ community for almost 10 years. He is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. David currently splits his time between New Leaf Services and UCSF’s Center for AIDS Prevention Studies and has a private practice as well. He specializes in working with issues related to gender, sexuality and life transitions and has specific training around trauma and abuse, HIV, substance use, and stress management. He works with both individuals and couples.

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Sharon Papo
Development Coordinator

Sharon is a Bay Area native. Previously she was the program coordinator of STRANGE, Santa Cruz's fabulous queer youth program, and a counselor through the Santa Cruz Community Counseling Center. Sharon has also spent years working with youth around issues of health, self-esteem and sexuality. Sharon holds a B.A. from UC Santa Cruz in Women's Studies and is currently getting her Masters in Social Welfare (Management and Planning Concentration) from UC Berkeley.

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Yesenia Renterria
Registered Nurse

Yesenia is originally from East Los Angeles. She completed her graduate studies at San Francisco State University with an emphasis in Latina Queer Studies. Currently Yesenia is the
nurse coordinator at Balboa Teen Health Center and a staff nurse in the Trauma ICU at San Francisco General Hospital. When not working at Dimensions Clinic, she hangs with La Loca Guzman roasting nopales.

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Luanna Rodgers
Therapist

Bio coming soon!

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Esteban Rodriguez
Outreach & Health Worker

Esteban is the outreach guy and a health worker at Dimensions. Before coming to Dimensions he worked with homeless residents in the Tenderloin, Latino Immigrants in the Mission, and many people with substance abuse issues both young & old. He is from the south Texas / northern Mexico frontera and has called the bay area home for 4 years. He is invested in promoting empowerment, self-sufficiency, and health & wellness among young queer and transgender people. He spends his free time running (from Jessie) and dreaming about owning a dog named Chichi.

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Clare Senchyna
Nurse Practitioner

Clare has been a nurse practitioner for over 10 years with the San Francisco Department of Public Health. Currently she works at the Castro-Mission Health Center during the Women’s Clinic and every other week at Dimensions. Clare also works at the Tom Waddell Urgent Care Clinic and San Francisco General Hospital urgent care.  Some of her past experiences include NP work in city jails, mental health rehab facilities and the City Clinic (STD/HIV). Clare speaks Spanish & understands Portuguese, and is originally from New York state but calls San Francisco home.

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Heather Weisbrod
Therapist

Heather works as a therapist at Castro Mission Health Center and has been working with queer youth, adults and families for the past 10 years. Prior to coming to Castro Mission
and Dimensions she worked with youth-serving agencies including Larkin Street Youth Services and Huckleberry Youth Programs. Heather's areas of focus include gender and sexuality, HIV and harm reduction.

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Dafna Wu
Registered Nurse

Dafna is a trilingual, Jewish, Chinese, Brazilian, lesbian, mother who knits and surfs but never at the same time. She graduated from the University of California Santa Cruz in English Literature with a minor in Biology and completed her graduate studies in Nursing from San Francisco State University.  Since 1994 she has served as staff nurse at the Castro-Mission Health Center, where she works with a substantial number of queer & transgender youth, and was on the founding team of Dimensions Queer Youth Health Clinic. Her ongoing advocacy work is dedicated to providing a nurturing and safe spaces where LGBTQ youth can seek and receive quality primary care.

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Sherilyn Adams, LCSW
Executive Director, Larkin Street Youth Services

Sherilyn is a licensed social worker with more than fifteen years of experience developing and managing programs addressing substance abuse, mental health, HIV/AIDS, and child abuse and family violence issues. Previously the Division Director for Supportive Housing and Case Management Services at Baker Places, Sherilyn developed and administered six housing and case management programs targeting dually- and triply-diagnosed adults. This included supervision of the agency’s Intake and Placement Team, and clinical oversight for all programs in a variety of housing and treatment settings. She has also managed residential treatment and outpatient drug and alcohol treatment programs.

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Michael Baxter
Primary Care Administrator for Youth Programs,
San Francisco Department of Public Health

Michael Baxter, MSW has worked in the field of adolescent health for the past twenty years. He is currently employed by the San Francisco Department of Public Health as the Primary Care Administrator for Youth Programs and until recently was the Director of Community Health Programs for Youth, a consortium of DPH-funded clinics providing services to youth 12-24 years of age. Michael has implemented health education programs for incarcerated youth, was instrumental in ensuring a continuum of HIV services for young people that continues to date, and has worked to increase school-based health services in San Francisco. He is also a co-founder and current chair of the Collaborative Board for the Dimensions Clinic, a public-private collaboration that offers comprehensive health services specifically for queer youth in San Francisco.

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Toby Eastman, MSW
Director of Clinical and Community Services Larkin Street Youth Services

Toby manages and directs community based housing services, outreach services, as well as providing oversight to mental health and substance abuse services throughout the agency. She has over 15 years experience in social services including program management of mental health and case management programs, supervision of clinicians, case managers, as well as administrative staff, as well as direct service experience as a case manager, counselor, therapist and clinical consultant. The bulk of her experience has focused on child and youth issues, including work with homeless youth, LGBTQ youth and youth in the foster care system. Ms. Eastman holds a Masters Degree in Social Work.

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Esperanza Macias
Executive Director, Health Initiatives for Youth

Esperanza joined HIFY on August 28. She has a long history of working in the Bay Area nonprofit community, including working with the Women's Institute for Leadership Development for Human Rights, Dolores Street Community Services, and Rainbow Adult Community Housing. She also served as executive director for the Women's Building. "One of the great things about being a Latina lesbian in the Bay Area is that there are a great many nonprofits that address the LGBT community, women, communities of color, and various social justice issues that I'm interested in," explained Macias. "I've been very fortunate to work with some of the best organizations in the Bay Area. Hopefully, HIFY will benefit from the lessons I've learned from them," she added. More information about HIFY can be found at www.hify.org.

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Jodi Schwartz
Executive Director, Lavender Youth Recreation & Information Center

Jodi had the honor of becoming LYRIC’s Executive Director on October 1, 2005, bringing over 20 years of experience of nonprofit work and an ardent commitment to social justice. Before joining LYRIC, Jodi was the Managing Director of Resource Development Associates (RDA), and the Executive Director of the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice (CJCJ). Throughout her career, Jodi has worked with youth and their families in their struggle to disengage from the juvenile justice system, has teamed with youth in need of support in and out of school, and has supported youth in serving their peers and the broader community through civic activism and youth philanthropy. Jodi began working for social justice as a teenager, during which time she was fortunate to have mentors of all ages. These relationships solidified her belief that every generation’s contribution to social justice is crucial for its survival. Stemming from her life experience and personal values, Jodi believes that sustained achievement of positive social change must be built as a collective community effort, where everyone shares in leadership and visionary roles and is supported in their fulfillment of those roles. She works to ensure that youth, in particular, are afforded opportunities to give voice to their stories and are supported in their role as community leaders, now and in the future. More information about LYRIC can be found at www.lyric.org.

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Lissette Waterman

Lissette Waterman is from El Salvador and moved to the Bay Area at age 15. She graduated from San Francisco State University Nursing School in 1992 and has been working for the San Francisco Department of Public Health for over fifteen years. Originally Lissette worked as a registered nurse in the Neurosurgery unit at San Francisco General Hospital and then became the Primary Care Coordinator at the Silver Avenue Health Center. She returned to SFGH where she helped develop their Urgent Care Center and worked as a Nurse Manager for seven years. Wanting to return to a clinical setting, Lissette came to the Castro-Mission Health Center where she is looking forward to being part of the team here for many years to come.

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