Rolling in the Living Affected

LA Corp Publishing Wing Produces New Paper
Community dialog and concerns have been the subject of numerous meetings, workshops or round
table discussions. Among the most talked about "need" for the LGBTQ community was the desire for a local newspaper dedicated to addressing challenges and issues impacting gay Arkansans. That void is being filled with the launch of The READ  which will began circulating its premier first edition Friday, March 28.

Cornelius Mabin, Executive Producer of the long running online blog, CorneliusOnpoint,(www.corneliusonpoint.blogspot.com) commonly referred to as COP 24/7  has been tapped as Managing Editor of the periodical. The paper will feature an assortment of hard news, columns, community announcements and "infotainment," to offer the widest possible coverage across Arkansas and the mid-south.

Mabin stated, "for some time I kept hearing that if we "only" had a newspaper...and so now that we now have it, I'm hoping that it will do its part in keeping everyone informed or entertained in some way. Our first run of 1000 copies will set the tone of how we move forward." He concluded, "we have capacity to build what ever we want if we can find common ground, as well as mutual perspectives to do so. At this time we are preparing to publish monthly depending on our success metrics."

Currently the roster of contributors include Tonya Estell, Sara Strickland, Terrene Sain, Michael Henderson, Mikaltodd Wilson and Keith Jones among others who will be apart of the team producing the monthly tabloid. "I'm very proud of our first edition and looking forward to getting this out into the area," said Tonya Estell. "It almost surreal that we brainstormed at a kitchen table and then made it happen!" Other's interested in submitting content contributions should contact Tonya Estell at tonya.estell@gmail.com

Under the LA Corp Publishing banner, The READ is the latest publication produced by The Living Affected Corporation. The entity has produced two periodicals included the ground breaking "Our Lives, Our Stories, The Untold Stories of Women with AIDS," and the first LGBTQ health Journal, Omnibus. "I'm excited about this new venture" said, Publisher, Diedra Levi. "Not having a local paper was a missing link that needed to be done based on the conversations that I was apart of. Therefore we moved ahead to make it a reality with high hopes that we get enthusiastic support from advertisers and contributors throughout the community."  The next expanded issue is scheduled for a May 2014 release.

COP 24/7 will be cross pollinating both its digital platform in conjunction with the new monthly piece. An official The Read launch party planning is underway and will be announced across all online portals. The new publication has affordable advertising rates for both color or black and white. Also individuals can support through various levels from Patron at $25 to the World Changer level at the $10,000 or more benchmark. For more information call Melina Granger, 501-349-7776 or 877-902-7448.

Observing LGBT Health Awareness Week

statement by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius

LGBT Health Awareness Week is an important time to bring attention to the unique health needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Americans and to highlight the progress we’ve made in our work to ensure LGBT Americans have the same rights and protections as other Americans, especially through implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

It’s critical for the LGBT community and all Americans to remember that Monday, March 31 is the last day of open enrollment and those who miss out can’t get covered through the Marketplace until 2015.

Access to affordable care has long been an obstacle to good health and financial security for the LGBT community and all Americans. On average, LGBT Americans suffer from higher rates of cancer, obesity, HIV/AIDS and mental illness than the rest of the nation. For those with chronic conditions such as HIV/AIDS, dollar caps on annual and lifetime coverage meant astronomical bills and debt for many in the community.

But thanks to the Affordable Care Act, it is a new day. Lifetime and annual dollar caps are a thing of the past and no one can be denied coverage based on their health history.
Legally married couples are treated equally when it comes to coverage or financial assistance, no matter who they are married to. And, for the first time, Marketplace coverage is now affordable for the LGBT community and Americans all over the country.
Remember: Monday, March 31 is the last day of enrollment – that’s only five days left to get everyone covered who still needs it.

This Administration is committed to improving the health of all Americans, including LGBT Americans, and we look forward to continuing this work during LGBT Health Awareness Week and beyond.

Keping the Living Affected Flame Burning

President Obama Announces Douglas M. Brooks, MSW, as Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy

 President Obama announced the appointment of Douglas M. Brooks, MSW, as the Director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP). A leading HIV/AIDS policy expert, Douglas most recently served as Senior Vice President for Community, Health, and Public Policy at the
Justice Resource Institute (JRI).  As the Director of ONAP, he will lead the Administration’s work to reduce new HIV infections, improve health outcomes for people living with HIV, and eliminate HIV health disparities in the United States.

“Douglas’s policy expertise combined with his extensive experience working in the community makes him uniquely suited to the task of helping to achieve the goal of an AIDS-free generation, which is within our reach,” President Obama said.  “I look forward to having him lead our efforts from the White House.”

A component of the White House Domestic Policy Council, ONAP coordinates the ongoing implementation of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy  and the HIV Care Continuum initiative, while working together with public and private partners to advance the federal response to HIV/AIDS. ONAP also works with the White House National Security Council,  the State Department’s Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator, and international bodies to ensure that America’s response to the global pandemic is fully integrated with prevention, care, and treatment efforts around the world. Through the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) initiative, the U.S. has made enormous progress in responding to the global HIV/AIDS pandemic, working with countries heavily impacted by HIV/AIDS to help expand access to treatment, care, and prevention.

Brooks, a person living with HIV, was most recently the Senior Vice President for Community, Health, and Public Policy at JRI , a health and human service agency based in Boston. He served as executive director of the Sidney Borum Jr. Community Health Center at JRI, has managed programs in urban and rural environments and has served as a consultant to domestic and international governments and non-governmental organizations assisting their efforts  to serve populations living with and at greatest risk for HIV/AIDS. Brooks was a Visiting Fellow at the McCormack School Center for Social Policy at the University of Massachusetts, Boston and was Chair of the Board of Trustees of AIDS United in Washington, DC.

In 2010, Brooks was appointed to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) and served as its liaison to the CDC/HRSA Advisory Committee and successfully led those bodies to achieve the tasks assigned to them in the National HIV/AIDS Strategy .  He has directly managed federally funded programs, meeting or exceeding targets for Ryan White projects, CDC Prevention for African American/Black youth, a HRSA Special Project of National Significance (SPNS), and a HOPWA SPNS. Brooks received a Master of Social Work degree from Boston University and is a licensed clinical social worker.

 

Seeking New Horizons

Empowering Entrepreneurs

by Casey Halter

How an HIV intervention grew into a microenterprise.

 

When Vanessa Johnson was diagnosed with HIV in 1990, she did not come across a lot of stories of African Americans like herself living with the virus. “I knew there were other women out there, but they just wouldn’t come out,” she says. So Johnson worked to change that. Living in Albany, New

As she worked in the field, Johnson observed that when women finally did come out to talk about their history, they didn’t talk about HIV specifically. Instead, she recalls, “when women told their stories, they talked about their childhood.

And just like me, they suffered a lot of trauma in the form of abuse. I thought about it intuitively and was like, ‘This is a common thread.’”

Thus, in 2007 she launched Common Threads, what is now a five-day, small-group training session that she offers around the country. It’s designed to help HIV-positive women connect the dots between their life experiences and their positive status and then to increase their willingness to tell their stories and disclose their status to their families, friends and communities. It’s storytelling as a means for disclosure, self-empowerment, HIV prevention and activism.

When an HIV-positive woman is faced with the stigma, shame, fear and misunderstanding of her diagnosis, one of the most difficult, yet most empowering things she can find is her own voice, says Johnson, who now lives in Washington, DC, and whose main job is consulting for AIDS services organizations including governmental agencies and faith-based groups through the Ribbon Consulting Group, which she founded.

Whenever possible, Johnson takes the Common Threads sessions, funded in the beginning by the U.S. Office on Women’s Health, on the road to budding activists living with the virus. Participants must be on HIV treatment and involved in an AIDS service organization, which usually helps fund the trainings. To date, more than 100 women across the United States have graduated from Johnson’s program, ranging from Washington, DC, and New York City to the states of Louisiana and South Carolina.

In 2012, funding ran out, leaving the program and its graduates, who also require money to support their travel and outreach, in dire straits. But the empowered women devised a way to help fund themselves and their healthy lifestyles: by launching microenterprises in which they make and sell jewelry and other wares. Today, teaching that business aspect is an integral part of the retreats.

York, at the time, she became an activist dedicated to helping women disclose their positive status and tell their stories. To read more about this project go to www.poz.com

There are 16 days left to get enrolled! Call 379-8203 for updates and information!

 

Soaring to New Heights

We Are Empowered!: Southern Women on Women

Southern Women on Women will be hosting its first recognition of National Women's & Girls HIV AIDS Awareness Day, Saturday March 8, 2014, 12-4, 401 North Maple Street, North Little Rock inside the First Presbyterian Church of Argenta. 
" We are every excited to use this event as our inaugural large scale program." said Tonya E.  She continued, " it our hope that this program will continue to empower women in our service area."

Under the auspices of The Living Affected Corporation, Southern WOW was designed as outlet for "women who love women," to come together to share their lived experiences and address some the challenges and barriers that exist. Currently the group has scheduled small group "coffee and conversation," meetings as well as bi-weekly "girls night out" meet ups.  Melina G, "We are concern with numerous issues such as violence, economic injustice and certainly how HIV has and is still affecting women, especially women of color communities."

Of the more than 1.1 million people living with HIV in the U.S. today, one in four is a woman. Women of color have been especially hard hit, accounting for the majority of new infections occurring among women in the U.S. There has been some good news when it comes to women and HIV in the U.S. with a reported significant 21% decrease in new infections among American women in recent years.

National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (March 10) is coordinated by the Office on Women’s Health (OWH), within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, alongside many organizations that play a critical role in the observance in communities across the nation. Greater Than AIDS is proud to support the efforts our partners across the nation in the outreach efforts on this day by making available free informational and promotional materials for community groups to use around awareness days. Items for National Women and Girl’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day are free, for download, or for low cost from vendors.

To help engage and reach women year-round, Greater Than AIDS also offers Empowered, a campaign developed with Alicia Keys that affirms the power of women — as mothers, daughters, sisters, friends, partners and people living with HIV – to change the course of this disease through every day actions. The cross-platform campaign includes public service ads (PSAs), social media promotions, informational materials, and more. “We Are Empowered,” an inspiring half-hour video of Ms. Keys in conversation with five women living with HIV, is available for community screenings and discussion. For more information on Southern WOW, call 501.379-8203 or check out their Facebook page.

Don't forget that you can still enroll until March 31, 2014! Call us at 349-7777 to schedule a educational outreach or enrollment event! We are here to serve the LGBTQI community and beyond!
Hit us up on Facebook or www.livingaffected.org