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Name: Hazel Hoylman
Age: 53
Occupation: Executive director
and founder of nonprofit In the
Image of Christ Inc.
Family: Husband, Keith; sons
Claude, 31, Randolph, 27, and
Zachary, 13; daughters Rosanna,
30, Nicole, 29, Ashley, 27, Dominque,
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26 and Shakera, 18; 12 grandchildren.
What most people don’t know about me: “I am an ex-police
officer from Wildwood, Fla. I was the first black female police
officer in Sumter County.”
Patricea Williams of Fort Pierce provides information to Hazel Hoylman,
executive director of In the Image of Christ Inc. Using the confidential
mobile unit to test people for AIDS/HIV and STDs in Indian River, St. Lucie,
Martin and Okeechobee counties, results are available in 15 minutes.
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GREG GARDNER
who can turn that into education and success. Hazel is fearless.
She sits down with gangs. Few people have the courage
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to talk to them. You don’t get to see the work they (outreach
volunteers) do, but we are lucky to have people like her in
our community.”
Statistics support the success of the mobile unit in making
a difference. St. Lucie County has gone from No. 1 in the state
for infection rates to No. 8, Dzadovsky says.
“Before that (mobile unit) we walked the community,”
Hoylman says. “We used to set up a tent and a grill. I liked
that better, but we can cover much more ground with the
mobile unit. We target everyone who is sexually active. We
are helping people avoid getting sick from a disease which is
100 percent preventable.”
“I believe every single person we educate — whether they
choose to protect themselves or not — they have the knowledge,”
says Hoylman. “It’s a teachable moment. Before I can
judge you I must be willing to teach you. It’s hard to talk to
people when they are hungry, sick or need a place to stay.
They can’t hear you. When you are able to provide for those
needs and educate them and they are able to educate others,
that is a victory.”
The Brothers and Sisters Without Walls program serves and
counsels 600 people per month. The shelves and coolers are
full of meats, bread, cakes, produce and canned food at Jack’s,
named for “my spiritual brother who died of AIDS,” says
Hoylman. Supermarkets are heavy contributors to the efforts
to feed those in need.
For $1 a month, In the Image of Christ leases its facilities
from the Fort Pierce Housing Authority, but recently the
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