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 allows us to provide state-of-the-art dental care to an APLA client in our mobile dental van.

Your donation, large or small, helps us help those in greatest need.

From the Executive Director

New Year, Expanded Focus

The new year brings an expanded focus to a wide range of APLA's HIV/AIDS prevention and care programs:

In the final months of 2009, Shared Action, our capacity building assistance program, received a multi-year grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The funds will allow APLA to leverage its expertise to support and strengthen the HIV prevention work of other community-based organizations and health departments nationwide.

We continue to grow our new HIV testing program, which now offers fast and free counseling and testing in multiple locations from South L.A. to Lancaster.

With funding from California's Tobacco Control Program, APLA is quickly becoming a regional smoking cessation resource for HIV-positive tobacco users and the organizations that serve them.

And we've launched operations in Oakland, providing administrative and fiscal support to the Global Forum on MSM and HIV (MSMGF). Guided by an international steering committee, MSMGF advocates for increased funding and access to effective HIV prevention, care, and treatment and support services for gay men and other men who have sex with men.

You make this work -- and all of our work -- possible. In troubled times, we're fortunate to have loyal friends like you, who help us meet the current and emerging challenges of the AIDS epidemic here and abroad. Thank you for your support.

Craig E. Thompson
Executive Director

What's New

House Calls: APLA's Home Health Program Turns 20

Each weekday morning, a small corps of registered nurses and licensed social workers fans out around L.A. County to bring APLA care to clients who are often homebound.

Four clinical teams (each consisting of a nurse and social worker) comprise APLA's Home Health Program, which coordinates care for hundreds in fragile health. Some clients may be recovering from surgery and only require short-term care from the program. Yet others’ needs are more complex and include problems of aging, hepatitis, tuberculosis, diabetes or cancer. All are HIV-positive or living with AIDS.

APLA broke ground with the pilot program more than 20 years ago.

"Before our program, the state would provide intermittent home care at best," recalls Home Health Program Manager Scott Singer. "Maybe two hours a week for a bath, and that was it."

APLA's program introduced a new model of care: intensive nursing and palliative services at a lower cost than an outside hospice.

Two decades later, the program has expanded its offerings. Its broader focus includes psychosocial issues -- mental health, addiction and issues of aging, for example. Program staff coordinate treatment, in-home therapy and housing help: "We're really the central hub for all of our clients' needs," Singer says.

The program, which is largely state-funded, has taken a substantial loss due to California's budget woes. Its clinical staff has been cut by a third, although the program's caseload continues to grow.

"These days," Singer says, "we must do more with less."

Learn more about the vital work of APLA's Home Health Program at our Web site.

Profile

"Every Visit... Was a Success"

It's hard to underestimate how thoroughly APLA client Noland Butler was affected by his severe dental problems.

"I couldn't communicate with people," he explains. "I was too self-conscious to speak, or if I did, I couldn't clearly pronounce my words. My mouth and gums would constantly hurt. I'd lost teeth. And I could only eat soft food -- and even then, only on one side of my mouth."

Noland would have also dreaded the process of seeing a dentist -- if he could have afforded it.

"There's the self-consciousness about the work I needed. And then, the fact that I'm HIV-positive. But it never got that far, because even the co-pays added up," he says.

But when he came to APLA for his weekly visit to the food pantry, he noticed a card advertising APLA's dental clinics.

"That's when I met [Medical Director of APLA Dental Services] Dr. Steven Vitero," Noland beams, "and every visit with him was a success."

"Everything from the registration process to the anesthesia was comfortable," Noland adds. "And Dr. Vitero took so much pride in the work he did for me."

"Two beautiful crowns later," Noland feels like he's part of the conversation again.

"I'm more social, less withdrawn, and I can express myself in a more positive way now," he says. "I'm just a healthier person, all the way around."

Learn more about APLA Dental Services and how your generous gift can make more stories like Noland's possible.

Giving

"We Pulled Off the Impossible"

When the final fundraising countdown to AIDS Walk Los Angeles 2001 was interrupted by the tragedy of September 11, Lenny Scroggins, a veteran AIDS walker and co-captain of employer Blue Cross's team, wondered about the impact on fundraising efforts nationwide.

"There was tremendous need on the East Coast," Lenny recalls, "and Blue Cross employees were working hard to help those who were impacted. But we were also just weeks away from AIDS Walk, and I knew that many thousands of Angelenos living with HIV/AIDS still depended on us."

That's when the team "pulled off the impossible," he remembers proudly. "Our staff offered critical support for victims of 9/11 -- and simultaneously raised thousands for the AIDS Walk."

According to Lenny, it's just part of the corporate culture at the company, now known as Anthem Blue Cross. 

"Our staff is now coordinating a shoe drive for Haitian children," he says. "We've also remained one of the top AIDS Walk teams. And the president of Anthem, Leslie A. Margolin, has offered her leadership as a former member of the Board of Directors and current member of the Ambassador Council at AIDS Project Los Angeles."

It's the Anthem culture that has influenced Lenny's own recent work: Under his leadership, the Anthem Blue Cross team hit gold status, raising more than $37,000 for this year's Walk. He's also organizing a fundraising house party for APLA, and this October, he too joined APLA's Board of Directors.

"I have seen HIV affect too many of my friends," Lenny says, "and I'm just glad that I can do something to help."

Hosting an APLA house party is fun -- and easier than you might think! To learn more, call Associate Director of Development Joel Wyatt at 213.201.1564 or send an e-mail to jwyatt@apla.org.

Take Action

State Funding Update

On January 8, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger issued his initial budget proposal for fiscal year 2010-11 -- and it contained a rare glimmer of good news for APLA clients and all Californians living with HIV/AIDS. The proposal, which marks the beginning of what is widely expected to be a contentious budget negotiation process, includes an $87.5 million funding increase for the state's AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP).

APLA and its allies met with the administration and key legislative staff in the lead-up to this month's budget announcement to call for full funding of ADAP, which offers HIV drug therapy to more than 35,000 uninsured or underinsured Californians. Demand for ADAP is expected to increase significantly in the coming year, in part as a result of the national economic downturn.

But the latest budget proposal makes no effort to restore funding from last year's crippling $85 million cut to the state's HIV/AIDS budget. That reduction cascaded down to Los Angeles County, triggering a $10.9 million cut to a range of care and prevention services. California's HIV/AIDS prevention budget remains completely unfunded.

You can use your voice to help California rebuild its HIV/AIDS safety net: Subscribe to "In the Loop," APLA's online activist network today.

Photo of the Month

On January 18, APLA families, undaunted by rain, enjoyed an expenses-paid trip to Disneyland, thanks to generous donors at this year’s Macy's and American Express Passport. Icon and activist Sharon Stone made a special on-stage appeal during the 2009 event to keep shelves stocked at APLA's countywide network of food pantries -- and to send APLA clients and their children to the Happiest Place on Earth.

"[My son] D.J. had the time of his life!" reported APLA client LaVera Anom. "It was his first visit to the Magic Kingdom, and it was such a thrill!" 
 

The Last Word

"To say that we were shocked is to put it mildly."

- APLA Director of Government Affairs Phil Curtis, quoted in the DC Agenda during a Jan. 21 Capitol Hill briefing on last year's $85 million cut to the state's HIV/AIDS general funds budget.
APLA was the hardest hit AIDS service organization statewide, losing nearly $2 million and trimming staff and services as a result of the cuts.