If the face on the recently-installed billboards in Tyler and Longview concerning HIV testing and prevention is familiar, it’s because Kevin Davis is a 2013 graduate of Mineola High School.

But it’s not the first time the 25-year-old has been in the spotlight.

When he was only three, he was thrust unwillingly into the glare of the news when his father murdered his mother and two siblings near Hainesville before taking Kevin to his grandparents’ home in Louisiana and then turning himself in.

Kevin lived for a time with those out-of-state relatives before returning to Mineola when he was 12, where he found more love and support than he had been getting.

In 2015 he held an event at the Mineola Nature Preserve that served to help him in the healing process and get past what he had endured.

In the intervening five-plus years, Kevin has made good on a promise of dedicating his life to helping make the world a better place.

Those billboards represent a part of that effort.

Resources for HIV patients are limited in East Texas, and Kevin wants to help change that.

One way is through better marketing of those services that are available, from billboards to first-person contacts with health care providers.

Davis lives in Dallas and works for ASP Cares, where he specializes as a community liaison, working with clinics and doctors throughout Texas to educate them about the resources available to prevent and treat HIV.

ASP has partnered with Special Health Resources, which has “several grants and campaigns for the area including HIV testing, prevention, treatment, and support,” according to SHR communication and marketing manager Jennifer George in Tyler.

Being from East Texas, Davis was aware of the lack of resources in the area, and he also learned that what is available wasn’t being effectively marketed.

A lot of the focus of Davis’ work is meeting one-on-one with patients, which became more difficult when the pandemic hit.

Another difficulty is the stigma that is attached to HIV, such as letting patients know that it is not a death sentence and convincing them to stay with their care programs.

The pandemic also meant people losing their medical insurance when they lost jobs. 

Davis can connect them with resources to receive their medications at no cost.

Davis has a year and a half to complete his bachelor’s degree in pubic health.

After that he has many goals, including starting a non-profit that will focus on domestic violence within the LGBTQ community – another area where there are few resources.

“I want to bring change to what is happening in the world,” he said. “There is a reason I am still here.

“I want to help people that need it,” he said. “So many need it.”

The two billboards in Tyler include one on Hwy. 69 on the east side at FM 346, and the other is across the street from 310 N Beckham Ave.