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Women’s Preventive Health Saves Lives and Families

By Paul Kawata, Executive Director, National Minority AIDS Council

Yesterday, the Senate HELP Committee approved an amendment to its draft health care reform bill that set the stage to ensure that all women have access to quality preventive health care, screening and the essential community providers that continue to be the lifeline for many.

We at the National Minority AIDS Council (NMAC) believe this amendment – offered by Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) – represents a critical step forward in helping millions of women access preventive services, like HIV screenings, to help improve health outcomes and save lives. It also guarantees that all patients (men, women and children) in any health care gateway have access to providers like HIV/AIDS clinics, public hospitals, and women’s health centers.

Preventative care is particularly important for women of color. Often the primary care takers of their families, they tend to put the needs of their family members and children ahead of their own – to the detriment of their health. Since 1992, HIV rates among women of color have risen nearly 10%, with over 80% of all HIV cases among women in this country occurring among Black and Hispanic women.

These rates are symptomatic of the larger socio-economic and health disparities found in communities of color in the U.S., which have been disproportionately impacted by HIV/AIDS since the epidemic began nearly three decades ago. Together, high rates of poverty and homelessness, as well as lack of access to education, full employment and health insurance, have created significant barriers to health care in communities of color. These same trends often are found in rural America as well, where health care entities are severely limited, if available at all. Women in communities of color and rural areas often wait until symptoms of HIV disease or other illness are fully manifested, forcing them to use their local hospital emergency rooms for primary care and severely undermining their health outcomes.

Women’s Health Amendment #201 would cover women of color’s access to services from minority faith- and community-based organizations (MF/CBOs), which provide culturally competent and easily accessible health and HIV/AIDS services in communities of color throughout the country. Over 4,000 strong, MF/CBOs have saved countless lives by providing their clients easily accessible health care services. Supporting their ability to provide a diverse range of services will encourage women to take advantage of preventative services currently not included by the Affordable Health Choices Act: cancer screenings, well-women exams, pre-natal care, pap tests, and other prevention care, while accessing care for their children and other family members.

We are alarmed to learn that some of our representatives oppose health care reform. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R, UT) and the Family Research Council, among others, have falsely attacked this amendment as a mandate for abortion coverage. This amendment covers life-saving preventive care; abortion is not preventive care. To use a political red herring to attack preventive services that are desperately needed in this country – particularly by underserved populations, including the 70 million Americans who lack adequate insurance coverage for the routine health care that others take for granted, is offensive and preposterous.

A wide range of groups support protecting patients’ access to essential community providers, including Families USA, SEIU, Campaign for America’s Future, Health Care for America Now, American Nurses Association, American Academy of Nursing, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, National Association of People with AIDS, National Women’s Law Center, and the National Partnership for Women and Families.

We are calling on all people of conscious to unite around a common purpose: improving access to quality, affordable health care for all Americans, not launching inaccurate attacks that reek of old political debates. Call your member of Congress, write a letter to the editor, blog about this — get the word out that we will not stand for false accusations, as attempts to derail desperately needed health care reform.

Biking Over Golden Gate Bridge

I biked over the Golden Gate Bridge today. It is one of my favorite activities. I am in SF for a board meeting

USCA Scholarship Deadline July 10th

The online scholarship application is not available at this time - please download the 2009 USCA Scholarship Form. Completed forms are to be submitted via postal mail only - faxed or e-mail submission will NOT be accepted.

Please note: Scholarships are distributed based on the need demonstrated in each respondent's application and how he/she will employ his/her experience after the conference. Priority also is given to applicants working for organizations with smaller budgets. In addition, these rules also dictate how scholarships are awarded:

There is a maximum of one scholarship awarded per agency
One scholarship awarded per state.
Two scholarships are set aside for each of the top 20 cities impacted by HIV infection.
Ten scholarships are set aside for a specific target population. In 2009, the target population is the transgender community.
Priority is given to people living with HIV/AIDS.
Financial need also is a factor, along with the skills level of the applicant and the potential of the applicant in using the information he/she obtains at USCA at his/her home agency.

Scholarship applications are reviewed by the applicants’ USCA partner agency. Each partner receives a limited number of scholarships to distribute to their constituency. As a way to ensure that people with HIV/AIDS get scholarships, we have an optional section where you can list your HIV status. Please know this information is optional and your entire application will be shared with USCA partner agencies and their reviewers, including your HIV status.

Scholarship applicants can select from either:

Option A: Registration only, or

Option B: Registration, $100.00 travel subsidy and two nights lodging at an official conference hotel.

Please complete and return scholarship applications on or before July 10, 2009, by 5:00 pm (EST), to the following address:

2009 USCA Scholarship Committee
1931 13th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20009-4432

Applications sent by fax, or received after the deadline, will NOT be considered.

Women Of Color Training

On behalf of the National Minority AIDS Council we would like to invite you to our Women of Color Leadership Institute in Los Angeles, CA. on September 9-11, 2009. The training is 3 full days and limited to 25 women. The training is hosted by the National Minority AIDS Education and Training Center at:

Cobb Student Lounge
(Located in the W. Montague Cobb Medical Education Building)
Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science
1731 E 120th St
Los Angeles, CA 90059-3051

The Women of Color Leadership Institute (WOCLI) Training, designed by the Division of Government Relations and Public Policy (GRPP) at the National Minority AIDS Council (NMAC) in Washington, D.C., is aimed at achieving greater and more meaningful participation of women of color in decision-making at all levels to ensure programs, policies and funding respond to the unique impact of chronic diseases such as HIV/AIDS, Diabetes, Heart Disease, Cancer and others on women.

Training:
The training consists of five modulesl. Training modules will equip and empower a cadre of confident, knowledgeable and skilled women leaders to 1) advocate at all levels for effective women’s health policies and increased funding to address the unique impact of chronic disease such as HIV/AIDS, Diabetes, Heart Disease, Cancer and others on women and girls, and 2) prevent the spread and mitigate the effects of chronic diseases through high quality, gender sensitive, community-based women’s health programs and services. Major activities carried out under each training component include a needs assessment on women’s leadership, management, advocacy and women’s health knowledge and skills.

The WOCLI training is highly participatory, providing a supportive learning environment for exchange of best practices and leadership experiences, depth in government relations, program development and communication, media and collaboration. Participants will develop a greater appreciation for their individual leadership styles and capabilities and enhance their program development, sustainability and advocacy competencies.

Training consists of the following modules:

Introduction on Women’s Health and Health Disparities
Leadership Development
Government Relations and Public Policy
Program Development
Communication and Media
Collaboration

NMAC seeks 25 - 30 women of color for each training. This training is open to local health departments, other public health entities, community- and faith-based organizations as well as local academic institutions. Although criteria are not static, we intend to recruit a group of women of color from various health care and other backgrounds, committed to leadership in women’s health. As such, NMAC screens applicants and selects participants in a way that creates a balance of experience during the training.

Cost:
The training is free of charge, however, NMAC does not provide transportation and lodging to and from the training. During the training provided under NMAC funding, NMAC will provide both breakfast and lunch for the three days of training.

For more information, please contact Ludmilla Wikkeling-Scott . We look forward to hear from you!

Sincerely,

Ludmilla F. Wikkeling-Scott, Policy Associate
Division of Government Relations and Public Policy
National Minority AIDS Council
1931 - 13th Street, 2nd Floor
Washington, DC 20009-4432
202-483-6622 Office, Extension 316
202-483-1127 Fax
http://www.nmac.org

Conference Call On New HIV/AIDS Prevention Campaign

Join Phil Wilson of Black AIDS Institute on July 8, 2009, at 1:00 p.m. (eastern)/10:00 am (pacific), for a special stakeholder call about a new HIV/AIDS campaign We Are Greater Than by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Black AIDS Institute.

To participate, call 1-605-475-6333 and enter access code: 481162.

You can submit your questions in advance to info@nmac.org. The call will be recorded for podcast at a later date.

Nice Email From Ryan White's Mom

 
Thanks to all of you for your kind remarks about Michael Jackson. I for one have seen his love for all people, especially those living with HIV/AIDS. It has been a very hard last few days for my family losing Michael.

We are very thankful for the memories and love he showed Ryan, Andrea and I. Please pray for his family and especially his children. As a mother who lost her son Ryan. I know that pain and loss. Thanks againfor posting positive achievements on Michael.

Love to all of you!

Jeanne White Ginder
(Mother of Ryan White and proud friend of Michael Jackson)

My Picture With The President--Sorta???

I got to attend the White House reception honoring the 40th Anniversary of Stonewall

President Obama on National HIV Testing Day

One in five Americans currently living with HIV doesn't know it. If our President and First Lady can get tested -- you can too.

To find a testing site near you visit http://www.hivtest.org or text KNOWIT to 566948.

Michael Jackson's Tribute To Ryan White

Michael Jackson's tribute to Ryan White, the young man who died of AIDS. It breaks my heart

No More Money For Failed Abstinence Programs

ACTION ALERT

Tell Congress to Follow President Obama’s Lead:
No More Money for Failed Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs;
Invest in Comprehensive Sex Education Instead

We applaud the Obama administration’s leadership and its efforts to end abstinence-only-until marriage programs. He has taken an important first step. Now it’s time for Congress to implement that recommendation.

We need you to contact your Representative and ask them to ensure that No More Money is spent on abstinence-only-until-marriage programs.

The House is in the midst of writing its Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS-Education) spending bills. This is the spending bill that decides funding levels for, among other things, abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. We need your Representatives to weigh in with Appropriations Chairman David Obey to ensure that Congress follows the President’s lead and that No More Money is spent on abstinence-only-until-marriage programs.

Tell Congress to Follow President Obama’s Lead: No More Money for Failed Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs; Invest in Comprehensive Sex Education Instead

TAKE ACTION NOW…Click here to email your Representative.

Nancy Wilson is an NMAC Board Member!!!!

The Times of Harvey Milk

Why we fight.

USCA Update

We hope you will join us in San Francisco for the 2009 United States Conference on AIDS (USCA), set for October 29-31, at the Hilton San Francisco. We know these are difficult times, so we want to share information about how we are making USCA more responsive and why we hope you will attend. This email will cover the following:

Critical Issues
1. 2009 USCA Target Population
2. Greener Initiatives @ USCA
3. How We Are Trying to Reduce Costs and Increase Value
4. How Scholarship Decisions Are Made

Critical HIV/AIDS Issues
We hope you will attend this meeting, we have a new administration, new priorities, and lots of critical issues to discuss. The AIDS community must address Health Care Reform, Ryan White Reauthorization, PrEP, and the National AIDS Strategy. These topics and more will be discussed at USCA, the final agenda will be on the web by the end of July

We will have representatives from the new administration at the meeting who will speak and listen to community. It will be your opportunity to be heard. Make sure your voice gets included in this important dialogue. We will also have lots of learning: workshops, institutes and seminars on How to navigate these difficult financial times, Understanding PrEP, and most of the other topics identified in the needs assessment. Early member registration fees are due July 17th.

2009 USCA Target Population
This year's USCA target population is the Transgender Community. According to the Centers Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the HIV infection rate for specific transgender populations has a low of 19% to a high of 69% in a study of 34 states. The highest rates of HIV infection in the U.S. may be among male-to-female transgender sex workers.

For far too long this community has been forced to stay in the shadows. This year's meeting will have a transgender plenary, transgender institute, and the largest number of transgender workshops in the history of USCA. To all of our constituents who work with this community, we hope you will send staff or clients to participate.

Green Initiatives @ USCA
We are trying to go a little green, first to save the planet and second to save some money. For example, we will not do a second registration brochure; instead, we will print a postcard directing folks to the website

The USCA program book will be abbreviated, most of the information will be on the USCA flash drive. Don’t worry if you like reading things on paper, computers and printers will be placed strategically throughout the meeting to allow you to print specific information. We will also print and post several large versions of the program book as a way to limit downloads.

The conference bag can also serve as a reusable grocery bag. No more plastic or paper, just USCA! We will have limited information in the bag, instead we are asking sponsors and partners to put their materials on the USCA flash drive. We will even have a "virtual" registration bag. This bag will be available online for free after the meeting. It will hold all of the information in PDF versions to download on your computer.

No more bottled water. Unless we get a health alert, tap water will be available throughout the hotel. At the end of the meeting we will collect your nametags to be recycled and used at next year's meeting. Finally, we will support the recycling programs already in place in the city of San Francisco and the Hilton Hotel.

This is our first attempt at a greener meeting. Help us to save some money, cut down on waste, and maybe save a tree or two. If you have any other ideas, please email info@nmac.org

How We Are Trying to Reduce Costs
These are very difficult financial times, particularly in the state of California. The California advocates have done an amazing job, all the funding cuts to the ADAPT program were restored. Ryan Clary of Project Inform wrote on his Facebook page “We are not done but for now eating donuts in celebration of fierce advocacy (truly fierce advocacy, not Obama's definition) by people with HIV and their advocates.” We want to thank the Bay Area Host Committee, they continue to contribute and support the meeting during this crisis.

With this financial reality, we could not ask the Bay Area Host Committee to raise money for special events. As a result, Bristol Myers Squibb will sponsor one of their events and the other will be held at a donated church next to the hotel. We are very lucky to have the Glide Memorial Church directly across the street from the Hilton. This church is more than a church; it is a sanctuary for poor people in the Tenderloin. The church has a drop-in center, daily free meals program, housing, women's center, training and employment program, health center, and a family and youth services program. They have years of service to people living with HIV/AIDS.

At Glide, we will hold El Día de los Muertos or the Day of the Dead service to honor everyone we have lost to HIV/AIDS. Traditionally celebrated in Mexico every 2nd of November, and closely associated with the Catholic celebrations, All Saints' Day, El Día de los Muertos brings together family and friends to pray for and remember loved ones who have died. Many honor the deceased with private altars featuring sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, which they often leave as gifts on their graves.

The spring USCA survey identified lack of funds as a major barrier to your participation. So we've added a new scholarship option: Option C. This option includes an airline ticket, hotel, and registration. We are no longer accepting applications for Option C: however, other unique registration and scholarship opportunities are still available

Youth Registration Rate: Anyone under 25 may register for the "youth" rate, which is 50% less than the regular registration fee. Proof of age will be required.
USCA Registration and Hotel Room Discount Package: If you pay for your registration now, you are eligible for a special $25 per night discount on hotel accommodations at this year’s venue, the Hilton San Francisco.
USCA Registration and Individual USCA Sponsor Membership Package: This unique package offers a $90 discount on conference registration and individual membership with the National Minority AIDS Council (NMAC). There are many benefits to NMAC membership, including the opportunity apply for USCA scholarships! To learn more about NMAC membership, call Cynthia Stannard, Member Services at (202) 483-NMAC (6622) ext. 325 or members@nmac.org
Group USCA Registration Rate: Finally, we will be offering a group registration fee, in July.

Per the needs assessment, we are also offering more advanced skills building workshops geared to HIV/AIDS professionals; sessions on how organizations can navigate fiscal challenges; and discussion groups on working with special populations. In addition to these workshops, we hope to offer:

1. A job fair
2. Meetings with the Obama Administration
3. Additional continuing education credit courses and offering

Not only we are trying to help with some of the costs, but we are also trying to make sure you get value for your money.

How Scholarships Decisions Are Made
For many constituents, scholarships are how they get to the meeting. The deadline to apply for scholarship Options A or B is July 10th. Our online system is down at the moment; you can either wait or download the PDF version and mail it to NMAC. To provide transparency, we want to share information about the selection process. Scholarships are distributed based on the needs identified in the application and how the recipient will use his/her experience after the conference. Priority is given to People with AIDS and agencies with small budgets. Additionally, the following rules run the process:

1. Maximum of one scholarship per agency
2. At least one scholarship per state
3. At least two scholarships for each of the top 20 cities impacted by HIV infection
4. Ten scholarships are set-aside for a specific target population. In 2009, the target population is the transgender community.

Scholarship applications are reviewed by your USCA partner agency. Each partner receives a limited number of scholarships. As a way to ensure that People with AIDS get scholarships, we have an optional section where you can list your HIV status. Please know this information is optional and your entire application will be shared with your USCA partner agency and their reviewers, including your HIV status and all other information you put in the application.

I hope you will attend this year's meeting. We have a new administration, new priorities, and lots of challenging issues to address. Please feel free to email me at any time at pkawata@nmac.org.

Yours in the struggle,

Paul Kawata
Executive Director
National Minority AIDS Council, 1931 13th St. NW, Washington, DC 20009-4432
Tel: 202.483.6622; Fax: 202.483.1135; Website: http://www.nmac.org

Please support AIDS Programs of the National Minority AIDS Council CFC #10557 (new number)

2009 United States Conference on AIDS
October 29-31, 2009
San Francisco, CA
http://www.2009usca.org

Update On Washington DC HIV/AIDS Epidemic

Recently I had the privilege of hearing Dr. Shannon Hader, Washington DC HIV/AIDS Administration Director, discuss the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Washington DC. I read the stories in the Washington Post and Time Magazine, but they contained only a small synopsis of the real problem. To hear the entire presentation and to see all the statistics is a real call to action. All are welcome to join us, space it limited to the first 100 people.

The National Minority AIDS Council, along with the AIDS Institute, National Association of People with AIDS, and National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors invites you to a presentation by Dr. Hader on the state of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Washington DC. All are welcome to join us, please bring your friends and family. It is a very eye opening report that will both shock you and demand your action.

Join us on Tuesday, June 30th at 10:00 AM at the Reeves Center at 14th & U St NW. Please RSVP in advance so we have enough space (RSVP @ info@nmac.org). You will need to bring a government ID to get into the building. We will meet in the Community Room on the 2nd floor.

As folks who live and/or work in the District, it is critical that we understand what is happening in our own backyard. It will be up to all of us to fight back and save the District.

Frank Oldham
NAPWA

Julie Scofield
NASTAD

Carl Schmid
AIDS Institute

Paul Kawata
NMAC

Letter from President

I read a letter from then Senator Obama

The Denver Principles

2008 video about the Denver Principles

Twitter

Follow Me On Twitter

National Minority AIDS Council Public Service Announcement

We love Nancy Wilson

Save Paul - Register for the 2009 USCA!

OMG

Follow Me On Facebook

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Yours in the struggle,

It is how I close all of my emails. For me its not just a sentence, its an homage to my friend and partner in crime, Michael Hirsch.

When I first came to Washington, I had no idea which way was up. The serendipity of me getting this new job, without any knowledge of DC, meant that I had to scramble from day one. Michael was one of the first persons to take me under this wing. He was the quid essential New York Jewish Gay Activist. He was outrageous, maddening, and fun. He was also the first executive director (ED) of the New York People with AIDS (PWA) Coalition and the first ED of Body Positive.

Michael used to come to NAN (National AIDS Network) board meeting and infuse during the meeting. He always wanted to remind us that HIV was about real people with real problems. It was because of Michael that I got accepted into the PWA community. He was the one that insisted that I attend organizing meetings that would later become the National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA).

In those days, we didn’t have email, so Michael would write me these long diatribes about life, the movement, his frustrations and his joy. They were intimate letters between someone who was dying and someone who would remember. In many ways, they were the culmination of his life. He would close each letter with “Yours in the struggle”.

The call
I got the call. If you did AIDS work in the 80s or early 90s, you know the one. Its the call where they say you need to come to the hospital/hospice/home quickly because your friend is about to pass. When I got the call for Michael, I was in Washington and needed to rush to New York. I remember hopping that shuttle and praying that he would hold on so I could say goodbye. The taxi ride from LaGuardia to Saint Vincent’s was one of the longest in my life.

As I rushed down the hall, I saw Michael’s mother and sister sobbing. My heart sank, I thought he was gone. Just then Rona Affoumado came up to me and said “Oh God, you just made it. The family has just decided to pull the plug.” I wasn’t’ too late.

Rona escorted me into Michael’s room. It was all pumps and whistles from the many machines trying to keep him alive. It had that funny smell, the smell of death. Michael has been unconscious for the last 24 hours, the morphine had stopped the pain and allowed him to sleep. As they turned the machines off, there was a eerily silence. I held Michael’s hand and told him how much I loved him. Just then, his eyes opened and a single tear rolled down his cheek... and then he was gone.

The nurse would later tell me that his opening his eyes was probably just a reflex, but to me it was a sign. It was Michael saying goodbye, to remember him, and to honor his legacy. So I close all of my letters and emails with “Yours in the struggle”. I do it to honor his life and the lives of so many that we lost.

Yours in the struggle,

Paul Kawata
Executive Director
National Minority AIDS Council, 1931 13th St. NW, Washington, DC 20009-4432
Tel: 202.483.6622; Fax: 202.483.1135; Website: http://www.nmac.org

Conference Call With Dr. Mary Wakfield

Save-the-Date for NMAC’s August Stakeholder Call
Wednesday, August 5th at 1:00 PM (Eastern)

Save the date for NMAC's August Stakeholder Call on Wednesday, August 5th, 2009 at 1:00 p.m. EST/ 10:00 AM Pacific, featuring guest speaker Dr. Mary Wakefield the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)

Due to the large number of participants expected, the call is not planned to be an open forum. You may submit your questions for Dr. Wakefield in advance, however, via info@nmac.org until Tuesday, Aug 6th, 2009, 5 p.m. EST.

Dr. Wakefield joins HRSA from the University of North Dakota (UND), where she was associate dean for rural health at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences, a tenured professor, and director of the university's Center for Rural Health.

“As a nurse, a Ph.D., and a leading rural health care advocate, Mary Wakefield brings expertise that will be instrumental in expanding and improving services for those who are currently uninsured or underserved,” President Obama said in announcing her appointment. “Under her leadership, we will be able to expand and improve the care provided at the community health centers, which serve millions of uninsured Americans and address severe provider shortages across the country.”

Dr. Wakefield brings experience on Capitol Hill to her post at HRSA. In the 1990s, she served as chief of staff to two North Dakota senators: Kent Conrad (D) and Quentin Burdick (D).

She also has served as director of the Center for Health Policy, Research and Ethics at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., and worked on site as a consultant to the World Health Organization's Global Programme on AIDS in Geneva, Switzerland.

Dr. Wakefield is a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and was elected to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies in 2004. She served on the IOM committee that produced the landmark reports To Err is Human and Crossing the Quality Chasm. She also co-chaired the IOM committee that produced the report Health Professions Education, and chaired the committee that produced the report Quality through Collaboration: Health Care in Rural America.

In addition, she has served on the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, as chair of the National Advisory Council for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, as a member of President Clinton's Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Health Care Industry, and as a member of the National Advisory Committee to HRSA's Office of Rural Health Policy.

At UND, Dr. Wakefield also was director of the Rural Assistance Center, a HRSA-funded source of information on rural health and social services for researchers, policymakers, program managers, project officers and the general public. In addition, the Center for Rural Health administered a $1.6 million award from HRSA under the Critical Access Hospital Health Information Technology Implementation program.

Dr. Wakefield is a native of Devils Lake, N.D. She has a bachelor of science degree in nursing from the University of Mary in Bismarck and master's and doctoral degrees in nursing from the University of Texas at Austin.

The call will be limited to the first 200 participants. I am so sorry that we ran out of space last time. The call will be recorded and podcast on NMAC’s web site at a later date.

Approaching My 20th Anniversary

As I approach my 20th anniversary at NMAC, I am trying to capture some of our history. NMAC’s history is the history of the AIDS movement, especially for communities of color.

Part of why I was hired in 1989 was to make a decision about the future of NMAC. At that time, the board was seriously considering closing the agency, we had just found out how much debt the agency was carrying and our inability to pay staff. On my first day at NMAC, I had to write a personal check for $5,000 to cover the upcoming payroll and I let go of half the staff (4 out of 8). As you can imagine, I was not particularly popular with the surviving staff. Part of my reputation for being “a hard ass” was because of these actions.

The board and I made a decision that I would spend 3 months trying to save the agency, or we would close it responsibly. Part of why I feel so attached to our mission is that we fought so hard to keep NMAC open and to keep our mission going.

Like many agencies back then, there was no there, there. NMAC was all potential and no substance. We had no real programming, or at least no real programming that had value to our constituents. We were also broke with few new opportunities. We were doing lots of things, staff was very busy, but the things they were doing really didn’t matter.

Staff at that time did not understand that distinction. They would tell me “look at all these reports we are doing, look at all the meetings we are attending.” For them, being busy was the same as being valued. They forgot that at the end of the day, all the great ideas require resources to make them happen. Without money, you are just potential.

By early 1990 I set about creating some ..there
Computer Give Away Program
CBO Meeting as part of International AIDS Conference
CDC Funding

We needed an early win, something that was visible, showed substance and brought much needed funds into NMAC. In 1990, computers were still not fully understood by the nonprofit world. I was very concerned that our constituents (people of color) would be left behind in a technology divide. Computers were still a novelty, those agencies that had computers could do better accounting, better design, and could get rid of the old IBM electric typewriters. Typewriters were what we used before we had computers.

Working with my friend, Fred Silverman, the head of corporate contributions at Apple, we started the computer give away program. Fred was an out gay man working in corporate America who wanted to do something about AIDS. Like many of us, he was losing too many friends. I had met Fred in my previous job as the Executive Director of the National AIDS Network (another story for another day).

The reality is that I stole lots of the funders from my previous job and brought them to NMAC. I know that everyone thinks funding is about the good work of the agency and that might be true for some funding. For corporate/foundation money, it is much more about relationships. Funders have to make the difficult decision between many qualified nonprofits. Who they choose will survive and grow, who they don’t choose will close. When you have two equally qualified nonprofits, how do you choose? Usually, funders select the agencies where they have personal relationships. It is these relationships that gives funders the “courage” to believe that someone will do what they say they are going to do.

Working with Fred, NMAC received a $250,000 grant to purchase Apple computers for our constituents. I was also a founding board member at NAPWA, so we also funded PWA Coalitions. There aren’t many PWA Coalitions left in the movement, but in those days, they were the cornerstone for PWA empowerment. PWA Coalitions were organizations that tried to have the majority of the board and staff be People With AIDS. They were doing for their own, kinda like FUBU. Most cities had at least one such coalition, some cities like NY, SF and LA had several.

NMAC’s computer program stared in 1990, and continues today. Computers gave NMAC substance, a viable program and much needed money. In the future we would continue the mission of this program with the Office of AIDS Research (OAR), not Apple. To date, we’ve provided over 1,200 CBOs with computers and internet access.

International Conference
In those days, the International AIDS Conference was held every year. In 1991 it was slated for San Francisco. Since I had started the National Skills Building Conference at my last job, I had gained a reputation for putting on meetings. In 1990, NMAC got a $150,000 grant from the United Nations to do the pre-conference for “community” prior to the SF meeting. That year, Senator Jesse Helms decided that he would codify restrictions against foreign PWAs from entering the US for either travel or immigration. As a result, the international community proposed a “boycott” of the US until this policy was changed. To this day, the International Conference has not happened in the US because of these policies. We are hoping with a new administration that we can reverse this policy and bring the conference back to the US in 2012.

So NMAC had a big decision. The UN told us we could either hold the meeting in SF or move it outside of the country, it was our decision. In other words, they did not want to take the “heat” for this decision. There was intense lobbying, the US government wanted us to keep the meeting in SF and not embarrass the government, international activists wanted the meeting outside of the US. Ultimately, NMAC decided to support the boycott and we moved the meeting to Paris. This was a pivotal decision, we let everyone know that we would always support community, even if it got us in trouble with the government.

In 1991 we held the meeting in Paris. I can honestly say it was the worse meeting I have ever held. It was so bad that I vowed never to hold another international meeting. I’ve stayed true to my words, except we did hold a NATAF in Vancouver and Mexico. I would also come to regret these decision. (another story for another time)

CDC Funding
In 1990, we also received our first CDC funding to provide technical assistance to community based organizations. This money was on top of an existing grant with the Office Of Minority Health to provide similar services. NMAC has provided some form of capacity building for over 20 years.

Between OMH, the new CDC funding, and grants from Apple and the United Nations, we were able to cobble together enough resources to keep our doors open. By the end of 1991, it was no longer a question of staying open, it now became about creating substance and programs that had value to our constituents and could be funded via government, corporate or foundation grants.

Running NMAC
For my perspective, there is not such thing as a “natural” manager. Learning to manage people is a skill that takes time and commitment. Senior staff is currently reading a book by Malcolm Gladwell where he says that to be good at anything, it takes 10,000 hours of practice. I was very lucky, I had a board that allowed me to make mistakes and gain those 10,000 hours.

During my early years at NMAC I was unhappy and angry. You have to understand, I was going to 2 to 3 funerals per month. I felt powerless, the only thing I could do was hold my friends hands and tell them “its ok to let go.” You do that 100 times and see how you feel. At the same time, I did not feel like I could give voice to my anger. Who am I to be angry? I am still alive. Who am I to be unhappy? I am not rotting in a hospital with doctors and nurses afraid to touch me.

So I stuffed my anger, I denied my unhappiness. This made me and NMAC a toxic place to work; however, most AIDS organizations in those days were toxic. No matter how hard we all worked, we could not stop the dying. It was up to the scientist to make that happen. Even when we got our first break in 1996 with combination therapy, we were still very cautious. How many time before had we been promised “the cure”? It really wasn’t until 2000 when I started to believe that these treatments may work. Unfortunately, 2000 was also the year that Bush II was elected.

I still have moments of anger, but they’ve been replaced mostly by sorrow. I grieve for the hundreds of thousands of gay men who died. There is a whole generation of my peers who are not here. I grieve for the little boy I used to be, the one who came to Washington in 1986 to fight AIDS. I was all potential and no substance. I really believed I could change the world. In many ways, I think we did... but we paid a very heavy price for this change.

Playing For Change: Song Around the World "Stand By Me"

I love this video!