As we gear up for the 24th AIDS Walk Los Angeles on October 19, we find ourselves at an extraordinary time in the epidemic. More people than ever before are living with HIV/AIDS in the United States. Yet funding for domestic HIV/AIDS programs is shrinking, and here in California, HIV prevention programs lost $5 million in funding in the new budget.

On October 19, more than 30,000 people are expected to hit the streets for AIDS Walk Los Angeles, benefiting APLA and more than a dozen other AIDS service organizations throughout Los Angeles County. Since 1985, when Los Angeles hosted the world’s first AIDS Walk, the annual event has raised more than $60 million for HIV/AIDS programs countywide.

This year’s event coincides with troubling news that the number of people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States -- now as high as 1.5 million -- has reached record levels. In Los Angeles County, over 60,000 are living with the disease, also an all-time high.

The 10K walkathon, which begins and ends in West Hollywood Park, funds vital client services, including APLA’s food pantry network, dental services, mental health counseling and housing assistance. AIDS walkers also support targeted HIV prevention programming, along with advocacy efforts to defend government funding for HIV prevention and care.

Sign up to walk, give or volunteer today!

For nearly five years, Daniel Jay Robison rarely left his home. After he was hospitalized with a severe illness in 2003, Daniel returned home underweight and unable to walk. Too sick to eat, take his medication or leave his house, “I felt completely helpless,” he recalls. So he called APLA’s Home Health Program, and within days, a nurse and a social worker came to him.

Home Health staff shared tips on proper nutrition and helped him set up a system to stick to his medication. And when he had questions about applying for disability benefits, “they didn’t just hand me a phone number,” he says. “My social worker made the call with me to make sure I asked the right questions.”

This year marked a turning point for Daniel. With the help of an APLA therapist, he decided it was time to venture outside again. He began yoga class and now volunteers weekly to help others living with HIV. And in the coming months, he plans to get a free bus pass from APLA so he can travel farther. But for now, he's just happy to be outside and walk wherever he needs to go. 

The son of Indian immigrants, Shaumir Acharya started giving back at a young age. While in school, he sent shoes and clothing to Indian families and collected supplies for underserved families. After moving to L.A., the 26-year-old met a friend who had lost her entire family -- mom, dad and sister -- to AIDS. To lend support, Shaumir (pictured at right with APLA Volunteer Coordinator Raffael Montenotte) joined her in 2004 as a volunteer at an APLA fundraiser -- and that was just the beginning.

"Since then, I’ve volunteered at ‘The Envelope Please,’ at last month’s bartender auction and at several holiday events," he says. "Many Saturdays, I also help at an NOLP food drive [for APLA’s Necessities of Life Program food pantry network] outside West Hollywood and Silver Lake grocery stores."

For the first time this year, Shaumir also signed up for AIDS Walk Los Angeles as part of Team APLA: “It’s another powerful way that I can support APLA’s work,” he says. "For me, whether I’m giving time or money, it’s all about making an investment in my world and pitching in however I can."  

AIDS Project Los Angeles, UCLA and Physicians for Human Rights are teaming up for an October 23 town hall meeting entitled, “Politics and Realities of Global and Local AIDS.”

The event will be headlined by Congressman Howard Berman (D-28), the chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and moderated by APLA’s Craig Thompson and APLA board member and UCLA professor Tom Coates, Ph.D.

The event runs from 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm and is free and open to the public. RSVP to 818.620.3171. 

Learn more about APLA's global advocacy or join our online activist network today.