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In Focus: Fall 1996Project Inform TransitionsBoard of Directors members Will Carter and Joel Thomas have finished their terms and will now be volunteering for Project Inform in other areas. Ken Turner of Turner Accounting is a new Board member and Treasurer. New members of the Project Inform National Board of Governors include Gwyneth Paltrow and Jerry Moss. Marvin Carter, from AIDS Project of the East Bay, is Project Inform’s new Outreach and Education Coordinator. Michael David, from Boston’s Positive Directions, will provide administrative support. We would also like to recognize the ongoing hard work of two other staff members: Sandy Chan, Hotline Assistant, and Reuel Sherwood, Constituent Services Assistant. Supporting Project InformThe generosity of our donors and volunteers enables us to offer a range of services free-of-charge. Contributions from our constituents provide 70% of our budget, one of the highest percentages of any major AIDS organization. Other funding comes primarily from private and corporate foundations. Project Inform receives no government funding. There are many ways to support PI. To name a few, you can send a check, send a matched gift, purchase event tickets, join our pledge program, or create a gift or bequest in support of a particular program. Project Inform is eligible to receive matching gifts from corporations and foundations. A matching gift is a contribution from an organization that matches the amount given by an employee. Please check to see if your employer has a matching gift program and let us know when you make your donation. Your employer will typically give you a Matching Gift form to fill out. For information, call the Development Office at 415-558-8669. Estate PlanningIf you are interested in learning more about how to make a gift through your estate or a special gift of stock or property, please call Tom Teasley at 415-558-8669. Project Inform is grateful for recent donations from the estates of the following individuals: W. Andrew Brubaker Partners in Hope, a major fund raising program, kicks off in September. Headed by Susan Brautovich, the program promotes major donations to Project Inform. Approximately 20% of our annual budget is funded by these contributions. Starting at $500 per year for individuals or $1000 for organizations, contributions may be made by check or Visa/MasterCard; or as a monthly or quarterly pledge. To join the program or get more involved, contact Tom Teasley at 415 558-8669. Special EventsThe Project Inform Awards Dinner – On June 17, the Project Inform Awards Dinner was held at The Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles. It honored the contributions of Diahann Carroll, Morgan Fairchild, Linda Grinberg, Dr. David Ho and The Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center and Greg Louganis. It was a great success and had to be expanded repeatedly to accomodate all who wanted to attend. Once again, the terrific team at The Sterling/Winters Company produced an outstanding event, which netted more than $75,000 to support PI’s general operating expenses. Thanks to Erik Sterling and Jason Winters, Jon Carrasco and Stephen Roseberry, Steven Rosenblum, and Miles Robinson.
A Special ThanksThe Project Inform Los Angeles Awards Dinner was underwritten by The Sterling/Winters Company, Moretz Sports and The Egio Family. Additional major support was received from many donors and attendees, including:
Reaching OutPI has conducted town meetings and trainings in diverse settings. These venues include prisons, rural support groups, targeted events to people of color and women, and AIDS forums, including WORLD’s HIV University. Upcoming San Francisco outreach events include: Introductory Town Meetings held every first Wednesday of the month at the PI offices and the Quarterly Update Town Meeting, November 7, 1996 at 6:30 pm (location to be determined). Also watch for local announcements of PI-sponsored Town Meetings in Minneapolis, Minnesota; Little Rock, Arkansas; Washington, DC; Miami, Florida and Fort Lauderdale, Florida. For information about sponsoring a Project Inform Town Meeting or In-service Training in your area, call Marvin Carter or David Evans at Project Inform at 415-558-8669. For the second year, PI is participating in planning and presentation for the National AIDS Treatment Activists Forum(NATAF), one of the nation’s key events for training new treatment educators and advocates. More than 130 new educators, the majority of them women and people of color, will attend. Martin Delaney, Brenda Lein, Ben Cheng and Anne Donnelly will be presenting this year. Turning Ideas into ActionWith the recent availability of 3TC, protease inhibitors and non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs), access to, and cost of, therapies is a growing problem. The good news is that there are more useful therapies available to treat HIV and the opportunistic infections associated with HIV. The bad news is that these therapies are expensive and it is increasingly difficult to ensure that all people have access to the therapies that they need. Project Inform has worked to reform the California State AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), and national policy on health care delivery and access. PI’s advocacy team also meets with industry to reform patient assistance programs and drug access policies. Members helped change the 3TC patient assistant program so those previously denied access may now qualify. They also met with the makers of the protease inhibitors, Indinavir (Crixivan) and ritonavir (Norvir), to discuss their patient assistance programs. They are also hopeful that dialog with the makers of fluconazole, a commonly used antifungal agent, will result in cost reduction measures. Looking to the future, the advocacy team is pushing to focus research attention on emerging areas. Now that it may be possible to dramatically decrease HIV replication with the new antivirals, it is increasingly clear that more nucleoside analogs are needed to broaden the range of combination therapies. PI has initiated dialog with industry to reinvigorate research in this area. Also, through the efforts of Project Immune Restoration, PI works to stimulate research into immune-based approaches to managing HIV. On the Policy FrontThe policy department plays a key role in bringing a community perspective to the national policy front. With the National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA), PI was instrumental in overturning language in a bill calling for discharge of all HIV+ military personnel. Through PI’s activity in the ADAP Future Funding Working Group, the largest funding increase seen to date was realized to cover the cost of HIV/AIDS therapies for people who can not afford them. And, by coordinating with the AIDS Budget Coalition, PI helped obtain a major increase in the California ADAP budget and the addition of all three protease inhibitors. The policy department is currently working on treatment and health care delivery issues. Project Inform believes that access to health care is a right and that barriers to health care for HIV positive people need to be removed. When people cannot access quality health care, including specialist referral and a full range of coverage for therapies, advances in medical research have little impact on changing the course of the epidemic. Now is a critical time to get involved and speak out on the need for ADAPs. For more information, see the article in this issue of the PI Perspective on ADAP, or call Ryan Clary or Anne Donnelly at 415-558-8669. PI thanks David Lewis, a long-time volunteer, for his co-authorship of HIV Infection and Managed Care (PI Perspective #17), which we failed to acknowledge earlier. Voices of ChangeWith over 1,000 members from 48 states, Project Inform’s Treatment Action Network (TAN) is a national grassroots network advocating with elected officials on HIV/AIDS policy and funding issues. TAN is a driving force of AIDSWATCH, a brainchild of Project Inform, which has become the largest national AIDS lobbying effort. In May, over 400 people went to Washington, DC to advocate for funding for AIDS research, prevention, care and housing programs. With Congress deciding on AIDS funding every year, it is critical to increase the number of TAN voices. Never underestimate the power of your own voice. TAN members across the country have provided elected officials with input that has changed the course of decision making, increased AIDS funding and protected the rights of HIV positive people. Through voter registration drives, educational campaigns, letters, phone calls or visits to elected officials, you can make a difference for people living with HIV/AIDS. Staff at PI will give you the information you need in order to make these communications effective. If you can help, call the Project Inform Hotline and ask for a TAN packet. People Making a DifferenceVolunteers are the heart of PI – initiating projects and supporting vital programs. In memory of Bill Bradley (a founding Board member who died in 1993) PI’s Board of Directors presents the Bill Bradley Exemplary Volunteer Award at the annual Appreciation Dinner. It recognizes volunteers who demonstrate outstanding service to the community. This year, Dennis Fillmore and Art Copleston received the award. They have helped out at Project Inform in many ways and are most noted for their outstanding job as operators on the PI National HIV/AIDS Treatment Hotline, delivering inspiration, information and hope to thousands of people throughout the years. The PI Hotline receives over 4,000 calls every month with 30% coming from women. The efforts of volunteer like Dennis and Art enable PI to give timely, reliable information to those in need. The next Hotline training is scheduled in early November. If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area and want to volunteer on the Hotline or in any other areas, contact Mark Owens for details at 415-558-8669. PI on the WebNow people all over the world can find PI treatment information, policy alerts, press releases and announcements of upcoming events via our new website, named by Internet magazine as one of the top new websites of 1995. This May people from over 54 countries accessed over 7,000 PI fact sheets. If you use the Internet routinely, you can help PI save money by getting the PI Perspective and other information through our on-line services. Please write, call or email Karen Meng at PI and let her know that you get the journal through the Internet and you would like us to withhold mailings (You may also email support@projectinform.org). Thanks! In Memory of Friends and SupportersDonations have been recently made to Project Inform in memory of:
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PAST ISSUESFall 1996 |
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