1. health and fitness
2. disease
3. aids and hiv

The mission of AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts is to stop the epidemic by preventing new HIV infections and optimizing the health of those who are already infected
SPRING 2009 • VOLUME 24, NO. 1
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AAC Board President Mike Wong M.D. with Bette Byrnes,
one of the AIDS Walk’s largest individual supporters.
Join Mike on on Sunday, June 7 for AIDS Walk Boston and the Larry Kessler 5k Run.
Read more about the Walk and the services AAC provides on page 6.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Dr. Michael T. Wong, M.D., President
William Kelly, Vice President
Kevin W. Powers, Treasurer
Andrew M. Fullem, MSPH, Clerk
Cheryl Bartlett, R.N.
Lisa Cruz
Louis K. Eaton
Celia Grant
Shayla Griffin
Jonnie Hamilton-Mason, Ph.D.
JT Jacoby
Wendy E. John
Anne C. Kubik, M.D.
Richard T. Larkin
Kimba Roger McCant
Raul Medina
Bisola Ojikutu, M.D.
Valerie E. Stone, M.D., MPH
Thomas Webber
SENIOR STAFF
Rebecca Haag, President and CEO
Jorge Abellas, Chief Technology Officer
Eric Brus, Director of HIV Health Promotion
Kelly T. Gaule, Director of Development
Sophie Godley, MPH, Deputy Director
of Programs
Susan Kelley, Director of Human Resources
Denise McWilliams, Esq., General Counsel
Drusilla Pratt-Otto, Chief Financial Officer
Susan Tannehill, Director of Client Services
Paul Twitchell, Director of
Marketing and Communications
Monique Tula, Director of Strategic Planning
and Public Policy
Larry Kessler, Founding Director
Editor: Paul Twitchell
Contributors
Larry Day, Deb Fournier, Rebecca Haag,
Keith Orr, Martha Staid, Leela Strong
Hope is on the Horizon
Spring arrived in Washington D.C. in January for those of us who
are working to stop the AIDS epidemic in America, with a renewed
White House commitment to ensuring access to lifesaving care for
those living with HIV throughout the country, and a belief that we
can stop the spread of new infections with prevention strategies
that are scientifically based and culturally competent.
In this new era of transparency and openness, the administration
is willing to listen to community advisors and medical
professionals, and understands that we cannot stop this epidemic without focusing on the social
justice issues that drive it: poverty, racism, homophobia, and sexism.
President Obama has identified 3 key priorities related to HIV/AIDS:
• The development and implementation of a National AIDS Strategy (NAS);
• Inclusion of the needs of those living with HIV in health care reform;
• Increased focus on prevention.
Many of the President’s key advisors have demonstrated an equal commitment to HIV/AIDS.
Melody Barnes, head of the Domestic Policy Council previously worked in Senator Kennedy’s
office and participated in the development of legislation to address the needs of those living with
HIV.
Valerie Jarrett, Special Advisor to the President has experienced personal tragedy; her sisterin-law died of AIDS, leaving behind a five-year-old child and grieving husband. Brian Bond,
Deputy Director for the White House Office of Public Liaison, is an HIV-positive gay man with a
long history of HIV/AIDS advocacy.
In early March, the President appointed Jeff Crowley as the Director of the Office of National
AIDS Planning. Jeff, a well respected expert in health care financing and a long time AIDS policy
guru, will be the point person on NAS and health care reform.
AIDS advocates and policy experts have also gotten unprecedented access to the discussion on
HIV/AIDS issues. I’ve been privileged to attend several meetings at the White House since
January, including the President’s Summit on Health Care Reform in early March along with
Congressional leaders, business executives and health care professionals.
Thanks for sticking with us during the dark days and please keep your spirits high and your
commitment in place. The possibility of ending the epidemic in America is within our reach.
You can help by joining us at the AIDS Walk on June 7th. See you there.
Contributing Editor/Graphic Design
Caryn Hirsch
Photography
Stephen Allen, Marilyn Humphries,
Travis Kelly
Rebecca Haag
President and CEO
OUR MISSION
AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts is
a not-for-profit organization whose mission
is to stop the epidemic by preventing new
HIV infections and optimizing the health
of those who are already infected.
AIDS Action Update is published by:
AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts, Inc.
294 Washington Street, 5th Floor
Boston, MA 02108
aac.org
Telephone: 617-437-6200
TTY: 617-437-1394
Fax: 617-437-6445
HIV Hotline: 800-235-2331
Hepatitis Hotline: 888-443-4372
Hotline TTY: 617-437-1672
© 2009 AIDS Action Committee
2
New Director of Office of National AIDS Policy. Jeffrey S. Crowley, MPH (center) with AIDS Action’s
Rebecca Haag with the board of the AIDS Action Council in Washington D.C.
News in Brief
BCBS of MA Foundation Grants AAC $70,000
for HIV+ Women of Color
Boosted by a new $70,000 grant
from Blue Cross Blue Shield of
Mass Foundation, AIDS Action
Committee will launch the
Health Care Disparities in HIV
Positive Women of Color
program, in collaboration with
Healing our Community Collaborative, a nurse-led, peerdriven program housed at AAC,
and Massachusetts General
Hospital. HIV/AIDS is the second leading cause of death for women of
color in the U.S., and affects them disproportionately. The one-year
program aims to address and reduce racial, ethnic and economic
disparities in healthcare, including determining their complex causes.
Pictured above: Members of HOCC at AIDS Action.
Maria is Talking!
AAC Launches New
Sexual Health Website
AIDS Action is pleased to announce
MariaTalks.com, a new sexual health
resource for young people. Developed in
partnership with the Department of
Public Health and causemedia, Maria
Talks
contains
comprehensive,
medically accurate information and
referrals on “sex, birth control and things
that matter” to teens, including
pregnancy, emergency contraception,
STIs and STDs, sexual violence,
substance use, and GLBTQ information. Teens can interact with Maria
and her friends by visiting them on MySpace or by emailing Maria,
where all emails are answered by trained hotline volunteers.
Additionally, Maria is linked to a multilingual statewide Sexual Health
Helpline run by AIDS Action at 877-MA-SEX-ED.
Strategic Planning Process Begins with Three
Local AIDS Organizations
In February 2009, AIDS Action Committee, JRI Health and Cambridge
Cares about AIDS announced they were undertaking a joint initiative
to look at the possibilities of strategic partnerships between the three
organizations. With the assistance of the Boston Foundation and New
Sector Alliance, a nonprofit consulting firm, the initial phase of the
process will involve interviewing stakeholders including funders,
consumers, staff and others impacted by the three agencies’ work.
In this initial phase of the project, consultants will analyze the
organization’s services, finances and core competencies, to provide
recommendations on the best options for collaborating, including
anticipated benefits and challenges. The ultimate goals of the process
Sign up for a monthly eUpdate at aac.org/signup
are for the development and implementation of a more effective
client-centered service delivery model, and the streamlining of
organizational infrastructure for optimal efficiency.
Double the Boomerangs!
This May, AAC will be
opening a second location of Boomerangs, its
award winning resale
store. Located at 1870
Centre Street in West
Roxbury in the former
Decelles building, the
new store will join the
current location on
Centre Street in Jamaica
Plain in raising funds for AIDS Action’s programs and services.
Boomerangs is one of AIDS Action’s largest and most important
sources of unrestricted funding, and the new location will give
consumers more convenient shopping and donation drop-off
options. The West Roxbury Boomerangs plans to begin accepting
donations in mid-April. For more information about grand
opening events and their free donation pick-up service, visit
shopboomerangs.com.
Mr. Sanchez Goes
to Washington
Diego Sanchez, AAC’s former
director of Public Relation and
External Affairs, left the agency
in January to join Congressman
Barney Frank’s legislative staff in
Washington, DC. As the new
legislative assistant to the West
Newton Congressman, Mr. Sanchez will focus his boundless
energy on serving as Congressman Frank’s point person on LGBT
rights, in addition to advising on issues including healthcare,
veterans, labor and the U.S. Census. Sanchez is the first openly
transgender person to work in a congressional office in
Washington. Pictured above: Sanchez introducing Congressman
Frank at the New England Human Rights Campaign Dinner.
Keeping the Heat On:
Utility Assistance at AIDS Action
Since 2003, AAC’s utility assistance program for low-income
clients living with HIV/AIDS has made payments directly to the
utility companies on behalf of clients who are otherwise unable to
keep up with rising winter heating costs. During the first week of
the program, AAC had 100+ applicants and in total assisted 486
clients throughout eastern Massachusetts this year. This service,
coupled with eviction prevention and legal counseling for AAC
clients facing mortgage foreclosure, has been essential to
stabilizing housing and wellbeing.
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R5
A Day in the Life of AIDS Action
The money raised each year by AIDS Walk Boston supports a
diverse and far-reaching range of programs and services. Here’s a
snapshot of a typical day at AIDS Action Committee, to show the
many ways AAC provides care for over 2,500 clients and reaches
out to thousands of others in the community.
Members of AIDS Action’s team working hard behind the scenes on the
thousands affected by HIV. Back row, L-R: Kate Swope, Manager of
Client Advocacy; Kevin Gavit, MALE Center Outreach, Education and
Volunteer Coordinator; Tony Godek, Hotlines Coordinator. Front row:
Kathy-Ann Hart, Staff Attorney; Tonia Hines, Peer Advocate
9:15 a.m. A client’s neighbors have become violent and
threatening because of his perceived sexual orientation, and
extreme anxiety is affecting his health. His client advocate and
the Rental Start-Up Program Coordinator begin the process of
finding him a new apartment and providing first and last
months’ rental costs, to ensure his safety.
3:40 p.m. A low-income client receives a voucher she can
use for clothing at Boomerangs, AIDS Action’s resale store.
10:00 a.m. Through the Maria Talks website, the Mass-
6:00 p.m. The peer services coordinator welcomes the Whole
Health Support Group and a physician guest speaker for dinner
and a discussion of how HIV affects the brain.
achusetts Sexual Health Helpline team gets an email from
a teen seeking advice on how to deal with peer pressure
about sex.
10:35 a.m. The transportation coordinator arranges a ride to
a doctor’s appointment for a client – one of 30 requests fulfilled
every month.
11:20 a.m. Legal services advises a public safety official with
on-the-job exposure to HIV about privacy and confidentiality
protections, allowing him to receive benefits without
compromising his protected health information. Approximately
15 new clients contact legal services each week, with issues as
wide-ranging as housing law, family law and wills and trusts.
12:15 p.m. The AIDS Action website receives its 20,000th
visitor this month, half of whom use the site to access HIV
health information.
1:00 p.m. The HIV Hotline receives a call from someone
looking for HIV testing locations, one of 250 calls this week with
questions about sexual health.
2:20 p.m. Two HIV-positive PERY (Positive Educators
Reaching Youth) speakers talk to a high school class about the
realities of living with HIV.
5:00 p.m. One of the MALE Center’s HIV testing counselors
administers a free rapid HIV test, one of more than 800 free
rapid HIV tests administered in the last year.
7:25 p.m. A Check-In volunteer makes one of her weekly
calls to an HIV-positive phone buddy, offering a person to talk
to and vital information on health or services.
8:30 p.m. The committee for the Bayard Rustin Community
Breakfast, which recognizes the work of LGBT people of color
in the fight against AIDS, meets to continue planning the 20th
annual event in May.
1:50 a.m. The MALE Center’s USE ME Boys outreach team
heads home after an evening of handing out condoms and
prevention information to patrons at a local gay bar. In the
last year alone, the USE ME boys distributed 130,000
free condoms.
Through legal support, mental health counseling, housing and
rental assistance, education, transportation services, peer
advocacy, prevention and outreach and support groups, the staff
and volunteers at AIDS Action strive to make a difference in as
many ways as possible. Please help us make a difference this
year by supporting the AIDS Walk.
Join us on Sunday, June 7, 2009 for AIDS Walk Boston
and the Larry Kessler 5k Run
DCR Hatch Memorial Shell, Esplanade, Boston
By walking, running or volunteering you’ll be leaving your footprint on our community by helping
to raise money to provide vital services, raise awareness, and to spread a message of prevention
and advocacy. For more information visit aidswalkboston.org or call 617-424-WALK.
6L
New Ways of Giving Online to the AIDS Walk
This year AIDS Walk Boston has launched a sweeping social networking campaign
designed to reach more people and make it easier for walkers to raise funds. In addition
to the Walk blog launched last year (blog.aac.org/aidswalk), AIDS Walk Boston now offers
a Facebook application, a Twitter account and online video content as fundraising tools.
With the AIDS Walk Boston Facebook application, walkers and runners will be able to use
Facebook to recruit donations and team members. A nonprofit 5k run using the same
application saw participants who added the Facebook application raise six times as much
as those who did not.
“This is exciting because Facebook is something so many people are using,” said Martha
Staid, AIDS Action’s Marketing and Online Specialist. “And the application is so easy to
use, walkers can reach out to people they might never have thought of talking to about the
Walk before.”
The growth of social networking has already proven very successful for AIDS Walk Boston.
Hits to the AIDS Walk Boston website from Facebook are up nearly 600% from the same
time last year.
AIDS Walk Boston is also integrating Twitter, the much-hyped microblogging platform, to
let supporters stay connected with short, frequent updates that include news about the
Walk and fundraising ideas. Walkers will even be able to receive Twitter updates through
text messages during the Walk on June 7. And stay tuned throughout the pre-Walk
season for fresh online video content through AIDS Action’s YouTube account and
aidswalkboston.org.
To get the Facebook application: Visit aidswalkboston.org and click the
Fundraise With Facebook button.
To follow AIDS Walk Boston on Twitter: Visit twitter.com/aidswalkboston.
To see AIDS Walk videos: Visit youtube.com/aidsaction or aidswalkboston.org.
To read and comment on the AIDS Walk blog: Visit blog.aac.org/aidswalk.
FROM THE BLOGOSPHERE
Posted by: Larry V. Day • February 6, 2009 • 4:55 p.m.
My Brothers, My Sisters: National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
February 7, 2009 commemorated the ninth annual National
Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. In the year that has passed
since last February 7th, what have we learned? What has
changed? Are we any closer to defeating the so-called Black
Plague of our times?
Well, we have learned that the number of new infections per
year in the U. S. was 40% higher than we previously were told.
We know that nearly half of those new infections are Black
Americans, and more than half of those infections are in gay or
bisexual Black men. What has changed? Well as the national
HIV epidemic has progressively become a disease of color,
young Black gay and bisexual men under the age of 30 are
bearing the brunt of this still-growing menace.
daughters, our husbands and wives, our fathers and mothers,
my sisters and my brothers.
Oh, my brothers, my sisters who are bearing this heavy
burden. Why are we carrying this weight? Why is it that 48%
of teenage Black girls have STDs? Why is it that so many young
Black gay and bisexual men don’t know their HIV status?
Could we use more funding on the federal and state levels? Of
course we could. Is there a need for more effective, targeted
preventions programs? Yes, there is. Should the U. S. finally
create a National AIDS Strategy? I think so.
Black men who have sex with other men between the ages of
13-29 have infection rates roughly three times that of their
white counterparts. In a recent CDC study conducted in five
major urban settings, one in every two Black gay or bisexual
man surveyed was HIV-positive. That is an astounding figure,
but it gets worse:
But I believe it’s going to take more than just more funds
thrown at the problem. The Black community itself has to step
up and take the lead on combating this epidemic within its own
walls. Recently there has been more action and less rhetoric,
but the movement must continue to grow. Until we are able to
talk openly about stigma and homophobia, until we are willing
to put aside our differences and recognize our similarities,
until we can go beyond talking about it and begin being about
it, none of these things will change.
The lifetime risk for Black people getting infected is 1 out of 16
for men and 1 out 30 for women. HIV/AIDS is the leading cause
of death for Black women aged 25-34, and the second leading
cause for men aged 35-44. Cumulatively there have been over
200,000 deaths of Black people in the United States, in the
prime of their lives. Cut down, shut off, in potentially the most
productive times of their lives. These are our sons and
If we continue to wait for responses from on high, and not
advocate for ourselves we will continue to lose generations
more brothers, more sisters. I am a man of faith and I believe
in the power of prayer. But I also believe the words written in
the Epistle of James: Faith without works is dead. This
National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day let us all begin to be
about the work of change in our community.
R7
AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts, Inc.
294 Washington Street, 5th Floor
Boston, MA 02108
Upcoming Events
The 20th Annual Bayard Rustin
Community Breakfast
The Journey Continues…
Saturday, May 2, 2009
10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library
& Museum, Columbia Point, Boston
Keynote Speaker: Nancy Norman, M.D.
Medical Director of the Boston Public
Health Commission
bayardrustin.org
AIDS Walk Boston & The Larry Kessler 5k Run
From All Walks of LifeTM
Sunday, June 7, 2009
DCR Hatch Memorial Shell, Esplanade, Boston
Sign up today and start fundraising now. Then join
us rain or shine for our single largest and most
important fundraising event of the year.
For details go to aidswalkboston.org
or call 617-424-WALK.
Pridelights: A Celebration of Community
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Boston Center for the Arts Plaza
Tremont St, Boston
Join us for the annual tradition marking the
unofficial kick off to Pride Week in Boston!
aac.org/pridelights
Harbor to the Bay: An AIDS Benefit Bike Ride
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Support AIDS Action again this year for a one day 125mile bike ride from Boston to Provincetown. 100% of the
proceeds of this all volunteer ride go directly to the
beneficiary AIDS organizations. Registration for this year’s
ride is now open. Start training and fundraising now!
Go to harbortothebay.org for more details.
Non- Profit
Organization
US Postage
PAID
Boston, MA
Permit No. 50414
AAC Directory
AIDS ACTION COMMITTEE OF MASSACHUSETTS, INC.
aac.org
294 Washington St., 5th Floor, Boston, MA 02108
Main Number: 617-437-6200
TTY: 617-437-1394 • FAX: 617-437-6445 • [email protected]
FACEBOOK: aac.org/facebook • BLOG: blog.aac.org
TWITTER: twitter.com/aidsaction
AIDS ACTION HOTLINES AND WEB RESOURCES
HIV Hotline: aac.org/hotline
800-235-2331 • TTY: 617-437-1672
Translation services available.
Hepatitis Hotline: aac.org/hotline
888-443-4372 • TTY: 617-437-1672
Translation services available.
Maria Talks: mariatalks.com
1-877-MA-SEX-ED
For questions about sex, birth control and issues
about sexual health.
STD411: std411.org
Information about sexually transmitted diseases
and testing resources.
HIV HEALTH RESOURCE LIBRARY
aac.org/health
Those wishing to visit the library are encouraged to call
ahead to ensure that a staff person will be available to
meet with them. Call 617-450-1432 or email
[email protected]
The MALE Center
Men’s Action Life Empowerment Center
malecenter.org
571 Columbus Avenue, Boston, MA 02118
The MALE Center is a community resource and wellness
center for gay and bisexual men in Boston offering
outreach and a wide variety of other activities that
promote health and community. Free, confidential
HIV rapid testing is available Tuesday through Friday
12 - 8 p.m. and one Saturday a month. For questions
about testing or to make an appointment, call
617-450-1987 or email [email protected]
AIDS ACTION’S FUNDRAISING EVENTS
aac.org/events
AIDS Action’s fundraising events provide money to support
our prevention, advocacy and client support programs.
For more info: aac.org/events or call 617-424-9255.
BOOMERANGS RESALE STORE
ONGOING EVENTS:
AIDS Action Support Groups • AAC, 294 Washington Street, Boston
Every month AIDS Action conducts numerous support groups for people living with
and affected by HIV/AIDS. Groups include: Men’s Health, Bereavement, Long Term
Survivors, Positive Providers, Heterosexual Men and Women, and the Healing
our Community Collaborative support groups for women. Monthly community
lunches are also conducted on topics related to living with HIV/AIDS. Go to
aac.org/support or call 617-450-1550 for more details.
shopboomerangs.com
716 Centre Street, Jamaica Plain, MA, 617-524-5120.
1870 Centre Street, West Roxbury, MA (OPENING MAY 2009)
BOOMERANGS DONATION CENTER (OPENING APRIL 2009)
1870 Centre Street, West Roxbury, MA
Drop off at the rear of building off parking lot on Corey St.
For large item pick-ups, call 617-309-7220.