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.

Macy’s Passport® (Thursday, September 24)
Macy’s Passport joins fashion and compassion in the fight against HIV/AIDS, dazzling its audience with a high-energy runway fashion show mixed with dynamic theatre, innovative dance and designer appearances. It’s an evening not to be missed! APLA is the major beneficiary of this year’s event.

AIDS Walk Los Angeles (October 18)
More than 30,000 will take to the streets of West Hollywood and Los Angeles as the biggest AIDS fundraiser in Southern California turns 25! Online registration is now open.

From the Executive Director

California was a model in HIV/AIDS care and treatment for states nationwide until last Tuesday.

That’s when Governor Schwarzenegger signed the state budget -- and, in a last-minute move, wiped out nearly the entire general funds portfolio for California’s HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs -- saving only epidemiology and most (not all) of the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP).

The cruel irony of this budget logic is that it allows us the funds necessary to analyze the risk factors that lead to new HIV infections -- but provides no means to actually prevent them from happening.

The result is alarmingly easy to predict: The rate of new HIV infections will rise in California, and along with it, the cost of providing care for infections that were likely preventable from the start.

In L.A. County, with the country’s second-largest AIDS epidemic, it will take time to sort out which programs will be hit hardest. But what’s clear is that we will now face an unprecedented challenge in delivering vital care and prevention programs to those who need them most.

When government fails -- as it has now -- we must rely on the generosity of our closest friends to support this vital work. Thank you for staying with us.


Craig E. Thompson
Executive Director

What's New

In partnership with the UCLA School of Public Affairs and the Center for HIV Identification, Prevention and Treatment Services, APLA will soon launch the California Center for HIV/AIDS Policy Research, a new effort to provide California public health policy-makers with relevant and timely evidence to craft targeted, cost-efficient programs to address the AIDS epidemic.

The result of a three-year grant from the California HIV/AIDS Research Program (CHRP) of the University of California, the Center will focus on the geographic distribution of publicly funded HIV prevention and treatment services in relation to populations at high risk for HIV infection and people living with HIV/AIDS. It will also examine the efficiency and effectiveness of alternative approaches for delivery of publicly funded HIV services.

The UCLA and APLA collaborative center will be led by Dr. Arleen Leibowitz, a Professor of Public Policy at the UCLA School for Public Affairs, and APLA Director of Government Affairs Phil Curtis. In a press release, Curtis said that California has the "second-largest HIV/AIDS epidemic in the country. This grant will provide California health policy makers with… relevant and timely evidence they need to craft targeted, cost-efficient programs to address the epidemic." View more details in our press release. 

Profile

A San Francisco art director, Brad Lublin knew that the economy would eventually take its toll on his work. When his employer began abruptly terminating health benefits, he knew time was running short.

"I decided to make the move to L.A. in December," Brad, who has been living with HIV since 1991, explains. "But the entertainment job market isn’t much better here." He found himself with little income and no health coverage, so this month, he came to APLA for help.

"As a new client from out of town, I am amazed at the breadth of services that APLA offers," he says. "Back home, I might have to sign up at several different places to get the help I need -- but APLA offers it all in one stop." Initially looking only for help in applying for public benefits, Brad also signed up for APLA’s food pantry; a residential counselor to help him find stable housing; and for dental care.

"I didn’t necessarily know that I would need help when I first came to L.A.," he says, "but it’s incredibly reassuring to know that I can depend on APLA, now that I do." 

Giving

Jane Wishon is no stranger to volunteering. A member of her children’s PTA for 20 years, she spent countless hours planning school events. She lent her talents to political efforts, too. During the Prop. 8 battle, she traveled to West Hollywood ("I’d never been! Can you believe it?" she asks, laughing) to work on the campaign. But, after learning that one of her son’s teachers was HIV-positive, she turned her attention to AIDS.

"I went to APLA’s Web site and saw that there were so many ways I could help," she says.

Since last November, Jane has volunteered twice per week. She checks up on clients by phone, represents APLA at community events (like the recent L.A. Pride festival) and puts her previous technical writing experience to work to create procedure manuals to improve client care.

This fall, she’ll begin assisting clients at APLA’s mid-Wilshire dental clinic -- and, of course, "My October wouldn’t be complete without AIDS Walk Los Angeles," she says.

So why APLA? "There are lots of things I could do to fill my time," she says, "but how often do you finish your day and think, ‘Wow. I made a difference in someone’s life’? That’s why APLA."

View our open volunteer and internship opportunities to contribute your talents! 

Take Action

Tell State Leaders: Restore HIV Funding NOW!

California dealt a staggering blow to people living with or at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS this week when Governor Schwarzenegger eliminated all state funding for most of the state's HIV/AIDS programs.

In an unprecedented move, the governor slashed more than $489 million from essential health and human services programs. Included in these cuts is the elimination of state general fund support for nearly all HIV/AIDS programs -- a total reduction of more than $85 million.

This leaves California’s Office of AIDS with only a small percentage of its funding for vital initiatives like HIV education and prevention, HIV counseling and testing, home health and early intervention.

Simply put, many local programs that care for those living with HIV/AIDS and aim to prevent new infections will be unable to go on.

State leaders need to hear from all of us over the next few weeks. Contact Governor Schwarzenegger and state leaders by e-mail now using APLA’s In the Loop and stay tuned to apla.org for information on upcoming local protests.   

Photo of the Month

Above, activists take to the streets in June to protest proposed cuts to California’s general funds budget for HIV/AIDS prevention and care programs. In the coming weeks, protests will again focus attention on devastating HIV/AIDS cuts that were included in the budget package signed by Governor Schwarzenegger this past Tuesday.

For the latest information on upcoming actions, stay tuned to apla.org.

The Last Word

"[I] had a feeling… that what this represented was the tip of the iceberg. My sense was that these people were sick, and we had a lot of people that were potentially right behind them.”

-- Renowned AIDS physician and founding chairperson of APLA’s Board of Directors Joel Weisman, D.O., recalling his 1980 encounter with two patients with a confounding syndrome that would eventually be termed "AIDS." He would go on to co-author a 1981 report that would signal the official start of the epidemic. Weisman died on July 18 in Westwood. Read APLA’s public statement on his death and a news obituary in the July 23 Los Angeles Times.