| + From the Executive Director
+ What's New
+ Profile
+ Giving
+ Take Action
+ Photo of the Month
+ The Last Word
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 Go the Distance!
AIDS marathoners are now training to cross the finish line in the 2009 L.A. Marathon! Sponsor a runner now!
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 S.T.A.G.E. Salutes the Gershwins
The world's longest continuously running AIDS event turns 25 with an all-star musical tribute to George and Ira Gershwin. more...
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APLA Media Sponsor
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From the Executive Director
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 December 1 marked the 20th World AIDS Day, an annual observance that recognizes the devastating toll the epidemic has taken worldwide. More than 33 million people are living with HIV/AIDS around the globe, and there are five new infections every minute. Most who are HIV-positive do not know it.
Through our international programs, we're bringing our expertise to bear on the global epidemic, with staff on the ground in some of the hardest hit regions, including India, Central America, China and South Africa.
We’re working to strengthen existing networks that provide vital care and treatment to people living with the disease, while we build innovative and culturally appropriate HIV prevention programs. And our multilingual publications -- distributed here and abroad -- offer relevant HIV prevention messages for an international audience.
Learn more about our international work at our Web site, or consider supporting our efforts with an end-of-year gift.
Craig E. Thompson
Executive Director
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What's New
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 In February 2009, APLA will open a new dental clinic and expanded food pantry to reach underserved communities in South Los Angeles.
The new facility will provide first-rate dental care, food services and nutrition education to low-income people living with HIV/AIDS. Working closely with the Office of AIDS Programs and Policy and Second District County Supervisor Yvonne B. Burke, APLA has laid the groundwork to expand two core services it has provided for nearly three decades.
A recent community needs assessment in Los Angeles County revealed that 71 percent of people living with HIV/AIDS reported that they needed dental care -- but only nine percent of those in the county's client database were receiving such care. In its first year of operation, the clinic is projected to provide more than 1,500 dental visits for HIV-positive people who have not previously received treatment.
South Los Angeles has the highest proportion of women living with AIDS in Los Angeles County. Fifty-six percent of people with AIDS in the region are African American, 39 percent are Latino and 52 percent of all infections are attributed to men who have sex with men.
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Profile
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 When Frank Rodriguez first called APLA, he dialed the numbers nervously -- and then hung up.
"It was so difficult for me to reach out for help," Frank remembers, "but I had lost my job due to my HIV, and I needed support." On the third try, he completed the call and registered as an APLA client.
"I was very weak, so my mother brought me to my first appointment" with a Benefits and Work Services counselor, Frank explains. "I couldn’t afford my HIV drugs, so [my counselor] Joe signed me up for a program to get free medication. And he didn't just tell me how to sign up for disability benefits -- he walked me through every step."
Frank also made his first dental appointment in years with APLA Dental Services: "I was afraid at first, but every staff member -- from the receptionist on -- made me totally comfortable."
Years have passed since that first phone call to APLA, and life has changed: "The same counselor who helped me apply for disability is now helping me enroll in school and get back to work," he says. "APLA has been there at every step."
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Giving
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 Twenty years after their first donation to APLA, Herb Gore and Bob Wildman continue to give for the same reason: "The agency has always been at the forefront of responding to the AIDS epidemic," Herb explains.
"From the very beginning," he says, "when we started losing friends to AIDS, APLA was the first to offer care along with open and honest HIV prevention programs." And as the epidemic has changed, so has the agency's response: "We've seen APLA expand its programs for youth, people of color [and] women. The work is proactive and relevant," Herb says.
The couple joined APLA’s Leadership Council, a group of donors who support the agency's work with a generous annual gift. They also sponsor friends who sign up for AIDS Walk Los Angeles or the National AIDS Marathon Training Program.
"Through the progress reports we get -- the newsletter, the annual report, the e-mails -- we know that our gifts are spent wisely," Herb adds.
Learn more about our range of giving options or include APLA in your holiday giving plans.
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Take Action
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 APLA is working with a wide range of California-based and national organizations to make sure HIV/AIDS programs and funding receive top priority from the incoming Obama administration. Specifically, APLA and its partners have already sent letters to the new president to advocate for a three-year congressional extension of the Ryan White CARE Act to give the administration’s new healthcare team time to craft a National AIDS Strategy to address the domestic AIDS epidemic.
In an October news conference, then-Sen. Obama declared his support for increased funding for HIV/AIDS research, care and prevention as well as for the development of a national HIV/AIDS strategy within the first year of his administration. The U.S. requires all countries that receive funding for AIDS programs to develop national plans to address the epidemic -- but the federal government has never crafted such a plan for this country.
Learn more about the call for a National AIDS Strategy and stay updated with our online activist network, In the Loop.
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Photo of the Month
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Actress and Southland Theatre Artists Goodwill Event (S.T.A.G.E.) performer Valarie Pettiford offers a musical tribute to S.T.A.G.E. director David Galligan, this year's honoree at "A Thanksgiving Moment," APLA's annual Ambassador Council event, at Neiman Marcus in Beverly Hills. The 2009 S.T.A.G.E. event, a tribute to the Gershwin Brothers, will take place on March 21 and 22.
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The Last Word
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"We understand HIV from a biological point of view, but we want to look at the social, spiritual and cultural context of how [the disease] impacts these men’s lives."
-- APLA’s Associate Director of Education for National Programs and Publications Pato Hebert, in November’s "POZ" magazine. He spoke about APLA’s new publication, "To Be Left With the Body." The collection is the third in a series of pieces created by and for black gay and bisexual men to explore the impact of HIV/AIDS on their lives. Download your copy at our Web site.
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