| + From the Executive Director
+ What's New
+ Profile
+ Giving
+ Take Action
+ Photo of the Month
+ The Last Word
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Fast Facts
There are enough people with HIV/AIDS in Los Angeles to fill Dodger Stadium.
$20 buys five bags of groceries for those living with HIV/AIDS who are most in need.
$100 gives at-risk youth a week of HIV prevention education.
Your donation, large or small, helps us help those in greatest need. |
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 National HIV Testing Day (June 27)
In Los Angeles, one in five people who are living with HIV/AIDS do not know it yet. Visit HIVLA.org for locations of free HIV testing sites in your area.
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Return to Work Symposium (July 16)
APLA clients preparing to return to the workforce can meet with Benefits and Work Services specialists and representatives from the California Employment Development Department and the California Department of Rehabilitation to learn strategies for heading back to work.
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From the Executive Director
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 Over the past weeks, low-income people living with HIV/AIDS in California, and particularly in Los Angeles, have been challenged by a series of threats to the programs they depend on most.
In May, we shared with you the California governor’s proposal to decimate state funding for HIV/AIDS care, prevention and treatment with a crippling cut. And we learned of a troubling proposal to slash food pantry and treatment education services to low-income people living with HIV/AIDS across Los Angeles County.
But I want to share with you some victories, too. After vigorous advocacy in Sacramento and a public outcry from our supporters, state lawmakers have proposed more modest HIV/AIDS cuts that will save vital programs. And for now, food pantry programs too have been removed from the chopping block (though treatment education remains at risk).
We know that public action works. If you’re not already a member of our online advocacy network, I urge you to join “In the Loop” now to learn how you can help us continue to defend vital HIV/AIDS funding. People living with HIV/AIDS depend on you now more than ever. Thank you for staying with us.
Craig E. Thompson
Executive Director
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What's New
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With a grant from the State of California’s Tobacco Control Program, APLA this August will begin providing clients with referrals to free or low-cost tobacco cessation programs and will become a regional resource to increase knowledge among other AIDS service organizations of programs to help HIV-positive tobacco users quit.
A tobacco-control health educator will join APLA’s Treatment Education staff to address the tobacco-related health needs of people living with HIV/AIDS. The educator will also offer community presentations on tobacco use and HIV and will develop a range of educational materials regarding smoking cessation. Tobacco-related resources will also become a part of HIV L.A., a comprehensive print and online directory of HIV/AIDS services in L.A. County.
Research reveals that people living with HIV/AIDS who smoke are at increased risk of oral diseases, pulmonary complications, and AIDS-related and non-AIDS-related malignancies as compared to non-smokers. Tobacco smoking also appears to decrease the effectiveness of HIV treatment regimens. Over than half of people living with HIV/AIDS are smokers -- more than double the rate among the general U.S. population.
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Profile
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 When Ted Fronczak was laid off from his sales job six weeks ago, he did some quick calculations: His unemployment benefit, at $600 per month, would not even cover his rent.
"Even if I could make up the difference," he explains, "then I’d have a roof over my head and nothing else. No food, no transportation, absolutely nothing."
Faced with choosing between the basics -- food or shelter -- Ted made an appointment with an APLA housing case manager.
"Right away, the staff at APLA guided me through the enrollment process for a program that would help me with my rent," he says. "Where others often didn’t understand the unique challenges that an HIV-positive person might face, APLA staff knew exactly how to help."
It wasn’t Ted’s first experience with APLA, either. Dental clinic staff cleaned his teeth and prevented oral infection. He received free food from the Necessities of Life Program food pantries. And with his monthly Metro pass from APLA, he schedules important doctor’s appointments easily, knowing he’ll have a way to get there on time.
"Not only does APLA provide the basics that I need, but the staff also treats me with the utmost kindness and respect," he adds. "And without those programs, I just don’t know where I’d be."
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Giving
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One of Bruce Brown’s first donations to APLA wasn’t cash, check or charge. It was custard -- frozen custard, to be exact. Bruce, who previously owned Lickity Split Cafe in Hollywood, donated hundreds of scoops of the sweet stuff to hungry guests as a corporate sponsor at APLA’s summer events.
And his involvement with APLA continues. With a background in software development, Bruce volunteers weekly at The David Geffen Center, offering support for APLA’s constituent management software service and research on possible new software solutions for APLA’s Web site.
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Bruce and his Shiba Inu puppy “Atari”
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At a recent gathering of APLA Leadership Council members (a group of donors who provides significant financial support to APLA programs and services), Bruce and his partner decided to join with a donation.
"In tough times, and with the state of California considering major cutbacks to vital social services, I felt it was more important than ever to contribute," Bruce says. "A bag of groceries or a dental exam -- these are the things that keep people healthy -- and even a few dollars a month can make a huge difference."
Learn more about APLA’s Leadership Council, about the benefits of corporate sponsorship or view our current volunteer opportunities to get involved.
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Take Action
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 In May, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced a wide-ranging proposal to eliminate general funding for virtually all of California’s life-saving HIV/AIDS care, treatment and prevention programs from the state's fiscal year 2010 budget, beginning July 1, 2009.
APLA and its community partners mounted a vigorous advocacy campaign to protest the cuts. APLA clients and staff traveled to Sacramento to speak with lawmakers; advocates made news in Los Angeles and Sacramento with vocal protests; and APLA issued an alert through “In the Loop,” its online advocacy network, generating letters, calls and e-mails to state lawmakers.
As a result, California’s Budget Conference Committee voted last week to implement smaller cuts that preserve services and programs essential to Californians living with HIV/AIDS. But the fight isn’t over yet. Critical services like the AIDS Drug Assistance Program, HIV prevention and education and HIV testing are still in jeopardy.
You can make a difference now! Please contact your representatives in the State Assembly and Senate. Tell them to support the Budget Committee’s recommendations for HIV/AIDS programs, which will ensure the continuation of life-saving services.
Sending a letter to your legislator is fast and easy using APLA’s "In the Loop," Make your voice heard now!
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Photo of the Month
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APLA Executive Director Craig E. Thompson rallies a crowd in Hollywood on June 5 to defend government funding for HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention programs.
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The Last Word
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"When the lifetime cost of care [for a person living with HIV/AIDS] is $600,000, cutting HIV prevention dollars is not a good long-term investment.”
--APLA Executive Director Craig E. Thompson, as quoted in a June 9 Los Angeles Times article, on the effects of proposed budget cuts to state and local HIV/AIDS
prevention and care programs.
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