To Alfredo Flores Loera, CALOR—Comprensión y Apoyo a Latinos en Oposición at Retrovirus—is more than just an organization. It’s a group that changed his life.
After being involved with CALOR—a Chicago organization providing holistic healthcare coordination to Latinos at risk of or living with HIV/AIDS and/or other disabilities—for almost ten years, Loera was promoted to Associate Director of Operations in Oct. 2025. With nearly a lifetime of HIV advocacy work across Chicagoland behind him, he’s looking forward to continuing to serve the queer Latino community.
Loera’s advocacy work began in his teenage years. He was looking for a place to connect with other like-minded people, especially in the LGBTQ+ community, which led him to Project Vida. He was part of a youth cohort in the organization which allowed him to step up and help create some of the programming. He also helped organize Queer Prom at the National Museum of Mexican Art around the same time.
He was drawn to this type of work due to personal experience—he said he had many friends who tested positive for HIV, many of whom he’d met in youth groups.
“A lot of [friends] confided it in me, and I would help them navigate,” Loera said. “That really was one of the reasons that I loved doing this work.”
His advocacy soared from there, as he started doing group facilitation, then testing, then linkage work and care coordination. Loera said he doesn’t just advocate for HIV care and education because he’s affected by it, but because he wants to use his skills to uplift everyone in his community.
Loera was first introduced to CALOR while working on Queer Prom at NMMA when he was approached about joining their youth group. After being a member for a year or two, he was again approached about applying for a facilitator position. He was just 18.
Around that time, Loera’s family was experiencing challenges and eventually lost their home. On a day where they had court, he got the call from CALOR saying he got the job.
“That call changed my life entirely,” he said. “I don’t think I would be at CALOR or anywhere I’m at without having that call. Being in the predicament that I was in … I’m not too religious, but I think it was heaven-sent.”
From that point on, Loera said, CALOR “poured so much into [him],” sending him to conferences, helping him do work on the national level and more. He’s now been there for about nine years total.
Last year, he was promoted to associate director of operations. In his previous role—program manager of education and prevention services—he was responsible for CALOR’s prevention department. This program included free and confidential HIV testing as well as linkage to services according to an individual’s test results.
Now, he manages all of the contracts for program funding. These include overseeing work relating to the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program as well as departments for case management, housing and prevention.
He appreciates how his new role allows him to work beyond just the prevention department—his most recent project was helping out with food assistance events. He’s also preparing a collaboration with Out of the Closet to host a “closet” filled with gender-affirming clothing options, toiletries and hygiene products.
Outside of CALOR, he also volunteers with a rapid response team on Chicago’s southwest side. He responds not only to ICE presence but also educates businesses on their rights, linking families with legal support, hosting a “grocery store” with hot meals and food products for people and more.
He also currently works with ViiV Healthcare coordinating events between sons and mother figures. Loera has a close relationship with his mother who has empowered him throughout his whole life, and he appreciates the opportunity to foster those bonds and highlight women’s roles in HIV prevention.
One of Loera’s main focuses throughout his activism is making sure there’s culturally competent programs for queer Latinos, especially undocumented immigrants.
“It’s really important that I continue engaging in this work because a lot of these resources, even government-funded projects, don’t target folks who are undocumented,” Loera said.
With his work with HIV care and prevention, Loera looks at all the different aspects which could raise someone’s risk for infection. One of those is housing—looking into what options are available to at-risk communities such as undocumented and trans individuals. He also recently learned CALOR received a housing unit grant where they’re going to be able to house about 140 people living with HIV.
By looking at care through a holistic lens, he hopes he can be part of the goal for zero new HIV transmissions by 2030.
“I think there needs to be specific advocacy that talks about not just being Latine and queer, but queer, Latine and undocumented,” he said. “Those communities are not going to thrive unless we make sure that the basics of life are met, which is healthcare, food, housing and employment.”