Tag Archives: AIDS Interfaith Network

South Dallas AIDS Walk holds volunteer orientation

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South Dallas AIDS WalkVolunteer orientation for the second annual South Dallas AIDS Walk takes place Wednesday from 6–8 p.m. in the Oak Room at the Center for Community Cooperation, 2900 Live Oak St. The walk is set for March 24.

The 2.1-mile South Dallas AIDS Walk raises HIV/AIDS funding support and awareness in the South Dallas area. Last year’s inaugural event had 300 registered walkers and a total of 500 participants. This year’s goal is 1,000 walkers.

The walk begins at the South Dallas Cultural Center, 3400 S. Fitzhugh Ave. Registration on March 24 begins at 8 a.m. and the walk starts at 10 a.m. Live entertainment and activities take place after the walk.

The beneficiaries of this year’s event are AIDS Interfaith Network, The Anthony Chisom Foundation, The Movement and Abounding Prosperity.

For information email or call event chair Auntjuan Wiley at 214-455-7316. You can also register for the walk online.

—  David Taffet

AIN announces 3 benefits over next 2 weeks

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AIDS Interfaith Network announced three events in two weeks to benefit homeless and low-income clients of the agency.

“We really do have opportunities for everyone to support AIN,” writes Travis Gasper, AIN’s director of development. “From trying your hand with lady luck, to simply going out to dinner, you can impact someone’s life and support AIN. Every dollar makes a difference!”

Among the services AIN provides are transportation, adult day care, meals, pastoral services and translation.

The upcoming fundraising events are:

• Chili’s Give Back Day, Thursday, Feb. 23, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m, 3230 Knox St. in Dallas: Enjoy lunch, dinner, take-out or catering from Chili’s, and a portion of all sales go back to AIN. AIN Ambassadors will be at the restaurant all day; just stop by get a flier to present to your server. Let Chili’s do the cooking, and support AIN at the same time. Call 214-801-8006 for catering info.

• Charity Poker Tournament, Saturday, Feb. 25, 3 p.m. at the Brick, 2525 Wycliff Ave.: Feeling lucky? Play Texas Hold ’em Poker in our monthly tournament, in partnership with Pocket Rockets Dallas and the Dallas Bears. You don’t have to be a card shark to try your luck. Free to join, with great raffle prizes and drink specials all afternoon. Click here for more information.

• Making One Meal Matter, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 6–9 p.m. at Bread Winners in Uptown, 3301 McKinney Ave.: Dine out and make a difference! Bread Winners will donate 20 percent of your bill (including beverages!) back to AIN. An easy way to fill up and do good. Call 214-754-4940 for reservations.

—  David Taffet

Got a coat you don’t need anymore? Give it new purpose by donating it to AIN

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Fall is finally here, and that means cooler temperatures are here, and even cooler ones are on the way. In fact, the 10-day weather forecast for Dallas shows lows in the 40s, maybe slipping up into the lowest 50s, for the next 10 days. And we all know that much colder weather probably isn’t too far away.

And while the cooler weather is certainly a welcome change from this past summer’s heatwave, for those who don’t have and can’t afford winter clothing, it can be more than just an uncomfortable inconvenience; it can be deadly.

Joleen Ford, Daire Center coordinator for AIDS Interfaith Network, this week sent an email noting that the requests from clients for coats and jackets are already going up. And you can help by donating new or gently used coats and jackets now. Right now, Ford says, AIN is completely out of small- and medium-sized coats, which means that “a client in need would not be able to get basic protection from the elements.”

Ford adds: “Our clients, many of whom are homeless, would greatly appreciate new or gently used men’s and women’s coats. They are also in need of new or gently used men’s jeans (any width, 32/34 length) and new underwear ( M/L). Any razor, toothpaste or deodorant donations would be helpful as well.”

Donations can be dropped off during business hours at the AIN offices — 501 N. Stemmons Frwy, Ste. 200 — in Dallas. If you need directions or have any questions, call Ford at 214-943-4444.

So clean our your closets and put that stuff you aren’t wearing anymore to good use.

—  admin

Funding restored for HIV meals programs

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Micki Garrison and Steven Pace

Cuts that alarmed agencies turn out to be paperwork error

DAVID TAFFET | Staff Writer
taffet@dallasvoice.com

Two Dallas agencies that provide hot meals for low-income people with HIV — Resource Center Dallas and AIDS Interfaith Network — received notice last week that funding for those programs would be eliminated as of Sept. 1.

But the notice was a mistake. Dallas County Health and Human Services spokeswoman Blanca Cantu said Thursday, Aug. 18, that the mistake should be corrected — and funding restored to the agencies — before the beginning of the state’s new fiscal year.

“DCHHS is not defunding the meals programs,” Cantu said.

She said that the error was due to a paperwork snafu.

“Funds that should have been split between the food bank and the meals program were inadvertently combined and reflected as one total allocation to food bank,” she said. “Recent notifications of funding awards that were sent to service providers reflected the omission of funding for meals.”

AIDS services grants funded by the government go through a complicated process.

What programs will be funded is decided by the regional Ryan White Planning Council. The Dallas council covers Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Henderson, Hunt, Kaufman and Rockwall counties. Tarrant County is in a different region.

Once the regional Ryan White council decides what will be funded, the Dallas County Administrative agency decides who will get money for the which programs and puts out the contracts.

The money comes from more than one funding stream. Part A money is from the federal government and Part B is from the state. Since the contracts were for a Sept. 1 start, which matches the state fiscal year, agencies assumed the funding cut was as a result of budget slashing in the Texas Legislature.

However, Chris Van Deusen, a spokesman for the Texas Department of State Health Services, said, “No changes were made at the state level.”

And federal cuts would not have been made mid-year. The Ryan White budget year begins April 1.

Dallas County Health and Human Services Director Zachary Thompson was surprised to hear about the cuts. After checking with the Ryan White representative and the administrative agency, he confirmed that no cuts will be made to the meals programs.

“A revised allocation spreadsheet that reflects funding for both services is being processed immediately for submission to our contracts management division,” Cantu confirmed. “Revised awards are expected to be processed in time so that services are not impacted.”

The cuts would have had a greater impact on AIDS Interfaith than Resource Center. The $50,000 that AIN receives annually represents about a third of the agency’s budget for its meals program. RCD receives about $30,000, representing a much smaller portion of its meal program budget.

RCD serves lunch during the week. AIN serves breakfast and lunch weekdays and sometimes provides dinner on Saturday evening.

About half of the 200 people that access AIN’s program are among the most vulnerable and most compromised of those with HIV in Dallas. Many are homeless.

Without the meals program, they wouldn’t be able to take their medications.

Despite receiving the email that notified them of the funding cuts just three weeks before they were to take effect, both agencies were committed to continuing their meals programs.

“For the short run, we plan to sustain the program,” AIN Executive Director Steven Pace said before the county discovered the error.

Earlier this month, AIN received a $25,000 grant from the MAC Cosmetics AIDS Fund that would have helped continue the program temporarily.

“$50,000 is a small investment for a big return,” Pace said, adding that one emergency room visit to Parkland Hospital by someone sick from malnutrition could have cost the county more than an annual outlay to feed hundreds of people.

Micki Garrison, nutrition center supervisor for RCD, agreed. She said that without food, people with HIV cannot take their pills.

Several years ago, RCD lost much of its meals program funding from the government and made arrangements with the North Texas Food Bank to buy low-cost pans of food that form the basis of the daily lunches served. RCD supplements that with vegetables, side dishes and desserts.

Garrison worried that NTFB would face cuts in its budget, much of which comes from federal grants.

“If that’s threatened, there’s a big piece we cannot replace,” Garrison said.

Carrie Clark of the NTFB said that at the present time, her agency is not worried about any loss of funding and looked forward to continue working with RCD.

—  John Wright

AIDS Interfaith didn’t win the Toyota, so we’ll just have to go ahead and buy them one

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Steven Pace

As we informed you Monday, Dallas’ AIDS Interfaith Network didn’t win a new Toyota in the company’s 100 Cars for Good contest on Sunday. The Toyota went to the Food Bank of Lincoln, Neb., which we’re sure really needs it. We still haven’t seen the final vote totals, so we don’t know how close AIN came, but Executive Director Steven Pace says the agency “did well.” And guess what? Despite coming up short in the contest, AIN still needs a new vehicle to transport its HIV-positive clients — about half of whom are homeless — to and from medical appointments, etc.. And if everyone who voted in Sunday’s contest — and especially the slackers who didn’t — pitches in a few bucks, the agency could probably get one. From Pace:

The results are in, and unfortunately AIN did not come out on top in the Toyota 100 Cars for Good contest. However, thanks to you we did well. We are moved by and grateful for the outpouring of support from people like you, in the Dallas area and beyond.

We are also thankful to Toyota for selecting us as a finalist in this contest. Originally AIN was one of 5,000 organizations that applied; then we became one of 500 finalists; and then AIN was one of five organizations competing Sunday. We were honored to be considered alongside four other very worthy organizations, and extend our congratulations to the Food Bank of Lincoln, who will use their new Toyota to help people living in poverty in southeast Nebraska.

Our 18-hour “get out the vote” effort yesterday gave us the chance to meet so many new friends, and gave us the opportunity to tell them more about the life-saving services AIN provides for people living with HIV/AIDS, especially transportation. And anytime we can do that, it is always a win!

Although we didn’t win the Toyota, we still need to buy a new vehicle to ensure clients get to the medical care, food, and social services they need to survive.
So we’re asking you to donate online today. If everyone who voted yesterday gave $5, $10, $20 (or more if you’re able), we could still purchase the vehicle we need.

Click here to make a secure, tax-deductible donation to AIN.

Thank you again for your support.

With gratitude,
Steven Pace, MSSW
Executive Director

P.S. You can also mail a check to AIN, 501 N. Stemmons Fwy., Ste. 200, Dallas, TX 75207.

—  John Wright

AIN didn’t win the Toyota

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According to 100 Cars for Good on Facebook (screen grab below), the Food Bank of Lincoln topped AIDS Interfaith Network to take home the Toyota in Sunday’s voting. Assuming the results are in order according to how many votes each organization received, AIN finished second. Travis Gasper at AIN says he’ll be sending out an email with more info shortly, and we’ll update as soon as we get it.

UPDATE: Gasper says he received the following in an email from the PR company representing Toyota: “We are unable to provide your organization with the specific number of votes received, ranking among the other organizations or email addresses of each person who voted for your organization.”

—  John Wright

Vote now to help AIDS Interfaith win a Toyota

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AIDS Interfaith Network is one of five nonprofits competing today for a new Toyota from the company’s 100 Cars for Good program. AIDS Interfaith, of course, provides transportation and other services to low-income people with HIV/AIDS in North Texas. You can vote for AIN today and today only by going here. Below is a full press release, along with the video AIN created for the competition.

AIN NAMED FINALIST IN TOYOTA 100 CARS FOR GOOD PROGRAM

Toyota to Donate Vehicle to Local Nonprofit Organizations Based on Public Votes

DALLAS – North Texas-based organization, AIDS Interfaith Network (AIN), is one of 500 finalists in Toyota’s 100 Cars for Good program, which will award vehicles to 100 nonprofit organizations based on votes from the public. Voting began last month, and supporters will have the opportunity to vote for AIN on July 10, 2011.

Toyota’s 100 Cars for Good program will showcase five non-profit organizations each day for 100 days on Toyota’s Facebook page, facebook.com/toyota. Visitors to the page can vote once a day for the organization that they feel is most deserving of a new Toyota vehicle. AIN will be one of the five organizations highlighted for voting on July 10, 2011.

Local residents are encouraged to support AIN and its quest for a new Toyota. If AIN receives the most votes and is awarded the vehicle, it will be used to transport homeless and low income people with HIV/AIDS to medical appointments, AIN’s meals program and adult day care center, and other life-saving social services.

—  John Wright

DONATION

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UN-BEAR-ABLY GENEROUS | Dallas Bears on Saturday, June 25 distributed checks totaling $46,000 to four Dallas-area charitable organizations. Youth First Texas received $22,000, while AIDS Services of Dallas and AIDS Interfaith Network received $11,250 each. The Sharon St. Cyr Fund, which provides hearing aids for hearing-impaired individuals and makes grants to organizations for sign language interpreting services, got $1,500. The money was raised at the Texas Bear Round-Up in March.

—  John Wright

AIDS at 30: North Texas ASO info

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AIDS service organizations in North Texas offer a variety of programs and services to people with HIV/AIDS — from case management, to meals, to housing. Here is a list of the major ASOs in North Texas, what programs and services they offer now, and what they plan to offer in the future:

• AIDS ARMS
351 West Jefferson Blvd. Suite 300
Dallas 75208; 214-521-5191
Founded: 1986
What they do: HIV testing and prevention, long term risk reduction intervention, community outreach and education, client eligibility and intake, case management, outpatient medical care, medication assistance, medical case management, substance abuse and mental health treatment and support, prison outreach and community re-entry, support groups, client education.
What’s new and upcoming: In May, AIDS Arms broke ground on their second clinic that should open by the end of the summer. In addition to providing health services for persons with HIV not currently accessing medical care, the new facility will have resource rooms to bring the services of a variety of agencies under one roof.
A new pharmacy will open in the facility to provide the medications needed by clients.
Research will take place at the new clinic including looking into new PrEP treatments for persons with HIV.

• AIDS Interfaith Network
501 N. Stemmons, Suite 200
Dallas TX 75207; 214-941-7696
Founded: 1986
What they do: Outreach, linguistic services, HIV prevention and prevention for minority women, client advocacy, transportation services, The Daire Center adult daycare, meals program, volunteer services, pastoral services.
What’s new and upcoming: Programmatically, Executive Director Steven Pace said the agency would like to shift more resources to prevention. Pace put together a coalition of four agencies — AIN, ASD, Legacy and Legal Hospice of Texas — that plan to locate in one building. The Coalition for HIV/AIDS Services, as the multi-tenant non-profit center will be known, is negotiating for a building in North Oak Cliff and hope to begin renovation in 2012. The new building would eliminate leasing, allow the agencies to pool some services and equipment and provide one-stop shopping for clients.

• AIDS Outreach Center
400 North Beach Street
Fort Worth 76111
817-335-1994
Founded: 1986
What they do: The Sandy Lanier Nutrition Center, Geisel-Morris Dental Clinic, medical case management and mental health counseling programs.
What’s new and upcoming: Two years ago, AOC began offering more direct medical services with its dental clinic. Over the next two to three years, Executive Director Allen Gould said his agency would like to add more direct medical services including a clinic and a pharmacy to meet all of the needs of clients in one central location. He said they are determining whether to partner or build on their own to provide the services that would compliment what’s being done at the public hospitals.

• AIDS Service Dallas
P.O. Box 4338
Dallas 75208
214-941-0523
Founded: 1985 as the People With AIDS Coalition
What they do: Housing. ASD operates four apartment complexes to serve 225 men, women and children in 125 privately configured apartments.
What’s new and upcoming: ASD partners with Community Housing Development Organization developers to create models of senior housing throughout North Texas. As a consultant/co-developer, ASD receives incentive fees, which is unrestricted money that goes toward AIDS programs. The agency already owns three lots behind Hillcrest House. ASD President and CEO Don Maison said that they’re working on zoning so they can develop the property. With 350 people on the waiting list for housing, Maison said he hopes to develop additional housing in Oak Cliff and elsewhere in the city.

• Anthony Chisom AIDS Foundation
P.O. Box 225104
Dallas, Texas 75222
Phone: 214-239-9145
Founded: 2008
What they do: Bring support, health and medicine to people living with HIV/AIDS in the form of help with COBRA payment assistance, medication payment assistance, bus passes, rent, utility and emergency assistance.
What’s new and upcoming: “We’re a new agency, so we’re securing more funding to do more of what we’re already doing,” said Anthony Chisom. In the fall, the agency hopes to be able to include cell phone bills in its utility assistance program. This fall, Chisom is taking an exploratory trip to Malawi with hope to open a clinic there and is looking for partners to help make that happen.

• A Sister’s Gift
1515 N. Town East Blvd. #138-380
Mesquite 75150
214-421-4274
Founded: 2003
What they do: Services for women with HIV including testing, counseling and group sessions, short-term emergency assistance, case management, buddy program, education programs.
What’s new and upcoming: “Being a seven-year-old agency, our primary agency objectives center around introducing the community and stakeholders to our female-based service structure — being apparent females living with HIV need a different type of support than what was provided 30 years ago,” said Executive Director and CEO Cheryl Lewis Edwards. “Our long-term strategic plan hopes that ASG can serve as a catalyst for the community, clients and families to talk about HIV with the same ease the public now speaks about breast cancer.”

• Health Services of North Texas
4210 Mesa Drive
Denton, Texas 76207
940-381-1501
Founded: 1988 as AIDS Services of North Texas
What they do: With offices in Denton, Plano and Greenville, HSNT serves a five-county area including Rockwall and Kaufman Counties and areas of Dallas north of LBJ Freeway. HSNT provides a variety of services from HIV testing to transportation, primary health care services, food pantry, insurance assistance and case management.
What’s new and upcoming: The agency is focusing on becoming a Federally Qualified Health Center and expanding in the direction of providing primary health care to low-income people while continuing a special focus on persons with HIV.

• Legal Hospice of Texas
3626 N. Hall, Suite 820
Dallas 75219
214-521-6622
Founded: in 1989 as Dallas Legal Hospice
What they do: Legal services for low-income persons diagnosed with terminal illnesses or HIV disease.
What’s new and upcoming: Executive Director Roger Wedell said that as people live longer, the cases his agency handles become more complex. Founded to do simple estate planning, Legal Hospice now works on complex long-term disability and employment issues that may take months to resolve. He said he thought that trend will continue.

• Legacy Counseling Center
4024 McKinney Ave., Suite 102
Dallas 75204
214-520-6308
Founded: 1991
What they do: Mental healthcare, substance abuse treatment, and special care housing services for people challenged with HIV and AIDS.
What’s new and upcoming: Executive Director Melissa Grove said that Legacy has had 1100 percent growth over the last decade. The agency is looking for new therapists, especially gay male therapists, to meet the need. Legacy is also planning to expand its women’s programs so that women from around the state can attend its retreats. Fewer terminal patients stay at Legacy Cottage that once exclusively did hospice care. More people are at a crucial moment of their illness who are integrated back into a productive life.

• Resource Center Dallas
3701 Reagan St.
Dallas 75219
Founded: in 1983 as the Foundation for
Human Understanding
What they do: Operate the AIDS Resource Center, Nelson Tebedo Clinic, AIDS Food Pantry as well as the Gay and Lesbian Community Center.
What’s new and upcoming: Currently RCD is expanding dental programs and has a capital campaign to build new community center on land already purchased that is adjacent to Cathedral of Hope on the corner of Inwood and Cedar Springs Roads. The Center will bring all of its programs under one roof and continue to provide additional meeting space and services for community groups. Executive Director Cece Cox said that over the next few years, the agency is looking to expand a number of health programs to the general LGBT community that are now funded only for people with HIV and a new major focus will be general wellness programs.

• Samaritan House
929 Hemphill St.
Fort Worth 76104
817-332-6410
Founded: 1991
What they do: Housing and resources for persons living with HIV/AIDS and other special needs in Fort Worth.
What’s new and upcoming: After being refused a zoning variance last year for an additional property, Samaritan House recently began a collaboration with another non-profit to operate 184 units of quality, affordable housing for low-income individuals and families. Over the next few years, President and CEO Steve Dutton said that he hopes to provide additional housing for people with HIV/AIDS.

—  John Wright

‘AIDS at 30’ forum set for Tuesday

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Manisha Maskay, Ph.D, Dr. Brady Allen, M.D, and Dr. Christopher Evans M.D.

Panel discussion to explore the current status of HIV treatment and the future of treatment and prevention efforts in next decade

TAMMYE NASH | Senior Editor
nash@dallasvoice.com

Thirty years after the first cases of what would eventually come to be known as AIDS were discovered in gay men in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York, the struggle to contain the world-wide epidemic continues.

But where do we stand today in that fight, 28 years after HIV was determined to be the cause of AIDS, and 24 years after the FDA approved AZT as the first real treatment to fight HIV?

On Tuesday, June 28, Dallas Voice — in partnership with Cathedral of Hope and a slate of business sponsors and community organization partners — presents “AIDS at 30: A Community Forum,” to explore the questions of where we are now in the fight, and where we are headed.

The forum will be held at Cathedral of Hope’s Interfaith Peace Chapel, 5910 Cedar Springs Road. Doors open at 6 p.m., and the forum runs from 6:30 p.m to 8 p.m.

The forum is free and open to the public.

“We decided to produce this forum, ‘AIDS at 30,’ from a ‘today and tomorrow’ perspective,” said Robert Moore, Dallas Voice publisher.

“We all know the story of AIDS over the last 30 years. What people are really hungry for now is a real-world look at where HIV prevention and treatment are headed over the next decade,” Moore added. “People want to know that there is hope for a cure, and that the issue of HIV and AIDS is not yesterday’s story, but that it is, indeed, tomorrow’s story.”

The forum will be divided into three sections, with AIDS Arms Associate Executive Director Manisha H. Maskay, Ph.D., leading off on the topic of “HIV Prevention Strategies and Challenges for the Next Decade.”

Maskey has more than 30 years of experience in the field of public health, medical nutrition therapy and health education and behavior change. In addition to her work at AIDS Arms as both associate executive director and director of community and client services, she has worked for the Columbus Health Department in Columbus, Ohio, and as an assistant professor of medicine and director of clinical nutrition and health education services at the University of Chicago.

Dr. Brady Allen, M.D., with Uptown Physicians Group will lead the discussion on the evening’s second topic, “HIV/AIDS Treatment Today.”

Dr. Allen, who graduated from Southwestern Medical School in Dallas and completed his internship and residency at New Haven Hospital in Connecticut, has been one of the preeminent doctors in treating HIV/AIDS since the early days of the epidemic in Dallas.

After a brief retirement in 2008, he returned to Dallas and to Uptown Physicians in January 2009 to continue his practice.

Dr. Chris Evans, M.D., M.P.H., with AIDS Arms’ Peabody Health Center in Oak Cliff, winds up the presentation with a discussion on “What is the Future of HIV Treatment? The Facts. The Hope. The Fiction.”

A Yale University graduate, Dr. Evans completed medical school at Drexel University in Philadephia before completing his residency in Internal Medicine and a fellowship in Infectious Diseases at Montefiore Hospital in The Bronx. He has been involved in clinical researcher on HIV/AIDS since 2001 and has participated as a sub-investigator in more than 15 studies on HIV/AIDS treatments.

The forum concludes with an opportunity for audience members to ask questions of the panelists.

Platinum sponsors for the forum are Uptown Physicians Group and the Vasquez Clinic. Rx Partners Pharmacy is a gold sponsor.

Community organizations partnering with Dallas Voice to present the forum are AIDS Arms, AIDS Outreach Center of Tarrant County, AIDS Interfaith Network, AIDS Services of Dallas and Resource Center Dallas.

Proceeds from sponsorships and donations go to Lone Star Ride Fighting AIDS, the annual bike ride that raises funds for AIDS Services of Dallas, AIDS Outreach Center and Resource Center Dallas.

—  John Wright