In Focus: Spring 1996

Project Inform Welcomes …

David Kiviaho as our new Hotline Manager. David has worked at the NO AIDS Task Force in New Orleans for several years. PI staff met David in New Orleans while conducting town meetings, so he was no stranger when he applied for the job.

At Project Inform’s March Board Meeting, the Board of Directors reluctantly accepted Board President Rod O’Neal’s request for a leave of absence. Rod will be unable to continue to serve as Board President, but he is enthusiastic about developments in his professional life that have filled up his schedule and confident that the new strength of the Board allows this move. At the same Board meeting, Curtis Ingraham and Tom Kelley were elected as Co-chairs for the rest of the 1996 term. Curtis and Tom bring a unique blend of talents to guiding the Board and we will benefit from their solid leadership.

Joining the National Board of Governors are Barry Krost of Los Angeles and Tom Blount of Atlanta. Barry is a former Board member of AIDS Project Los Angeles and AmFAR whose commitment to the fight against HIV/AIDS has been demonstrated nationally for more than a decade. Tom Blount is a former Board member of AIDS Treatment Initiatives and the AIDS Survival Project of Atlanta, and has been a major supporter of Project Inform’s national mission for several years.

Project Inform is pleased to welcome two new Board members, Julia Violich and Gregory Horowitt. Julia Violich is a Regional Director for PacificCare of California and brings an important perspective from the world of managed care. Julia brings experience securing corporate funding for other HIV/AIDS nonprofits such as Continnuum HIV Day Services. Greg Horowitt is an Organizational Consultant with Gregory Scott Associates. For two years Greg has been an active volunteer on the hotline. He was a Founding Member of the Make-a-Wish Foundation, and was active with the Crisis Abuse Prevention Center in San Diego.

Supporting Project Inform

The generosity of our donors and volunteers enables us to provide a range and depth of services free-of-charge. As a grass-roots organization, contributions from our constituents provide nearly 70% of our budget, one of the highest percentages of any major AIDS organization. The remainder of our funding comes from a mix of private and corporate foundations and earned income. Project Inform receives no government funding and does not compete with other agencies for Ryan White money.

There are many ways to support Project Inform. To name a few, you can send in a check, purchase event tickets, join our monthly pledge program, or help us create a special gift or bequest in support of a particular program. For more information, call the Development Office at 415-558-8669.

Two special ways to support Project Inform, are to join Project Inform’s Partners in Hope with a gift or pledge of $500 or more, or to make gifts of any size in memory or honor of friends and loved ones. For more about Partners in Hope, the Memorial and Honor Gift Program or other gift opportunities, please call David Mills at 415-558-8669.

Another way to support Project Inform is to shop at Under One Roof, the Shop for AIDS Relief, on Market Street in San Francisco, or at Stadtlanders Wellness Center on 8th Avenue in New York City. Each offers a wide variety of gifts and personal items. Those that directly benefit Project Inform are identified, but all of the items support worthy AIDS-related organizations. Also, in the San Francisco Bay Area, support our efforts by contributing your “extras” to Community Thrift, and specify that your contributions support Project Inform.

Project Inform Annual Report

This year, for the first time, Project Inform will produce an annual report covering the activities and achievements of 1995, along with an overview of Project Inform’s first ten years. We will print limited numbers of the annual report in May, and will include a brief abstract of the report in the next PI Perspective. If you want to make certain that you receive the publication, let us know by marking the box on the enclosed envelope and return it to us as soon as possible.

Upcoming Fundraising Events

Project Inform’s 1996 fundraising calendar is now being finalized, but there are a few events coming up that we can share with you now:

Project Inform is planning a major events in San Francisco and Los Angeles. The second LA Project Inform Awards Dinner will take place on June 17, 1996 at the Beverly Hills Hotel. People who have made a significant impact on AIDS will be honored from the scientific, philanthropic and entertainment communities. This year, researcher David Ho of the Aaron Diamond Institute, Linda Grinberg of the Linda Grinberg Foundation, Greg Louganis and Morgan Fairchild will be honorees. We are again indebted to the Sterling/Winters Company team for producing this great event.

This summer, Project Inform will once again sponsor the Ron Wilmot Bike Ride. This is a San Francisco event in which we encourage people to ride a bicycle with Ron Wilmot in support of AIDS organizations. We have not yet set the date for this event, so call the Development Office at 415-558-8669 for more information about the Ron Wilmot Bike Ride.

The third Project Inform Evening of Hope which recognizes the hard work and accomplishments of Project Inform and its volunteers, along with others, will be held this fall in San Francisco. For more information about any of these events, call the Development Office at 415-558-8669.

A Note from the Outreach Department

Articles elsewhere in this issue of PI Perspective explain why this is a time for both great hope and great caution. As many more useful and effective antivirals make it to the market, it will be critical for people to understand how to use them for best effect. If the new drugs are used haphazardly, they will provide only a short term benefit for many people, followed by rapid development of resistant virus. The longer we live with these new treatments the more we will understand about the right and the wrong ways of using them.

Getting out the word about this important information is key to Project Inform’s mission and the goal of it’s Outreach Department. To further this goal, Project Inform will be hitting the road again this year conducting its new National Town Meetings Program. Some dates have already been set, others are still tentative. We want to give you advance notice where some of these meetings are planned and when. Call David Evans, Project Inform’s Outreach Coordinator, and ask how Project Inform may be able visit your area!

In addition, Project Inform provides featured speakers at many events and conferences sponsored by other organizations around the country. Watch for local announcements.

Volunteer Program Services

Volunteers are vital to Project Inform’s programs and operations. Over 200 volunteers help in community outreach and education, research advocacy, grants and fund-raising, data entry, and office work, as well as the Treatment Action Network, Project Immune Restoration, and our national Treatment Hotline. In return, Project Inform gives something back to the volunteers. These benefits include:

Access to recent treatment information
Training in HIV education and advocacy
Networking with HIV+ individuals
An opportunity to use talents and learn job skills
Satisfaction from helping fight against AIDS

Want to volunteer? We need your help. If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, please contact Mark Owens, Volunteer Coordinator, at 415-558-8669. If you do not live in the Bay Area, there are also many ways to volunteer and help Project Inform in its activities:

Get involved in PI’s Treatment Action Network
Sponsor fund-raisers or help at Town Meetings
Give PI materials to local AIDS service agencies
Share PI information with your local media

What ideas do you have? As you can see, you can be an active member of the our team in many different ways wherever you may live. So, get involved. Together, we are a stronger force in fighting HIV disease.

Treatment Action Network Members Lobby For Emergency Assistance

The Treatment Action Network (TAN) has been active in recent weeks, working to increase funding for AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs). TAN is Project Inform’s national grassroots network of individuals lobbying on HIV/AIDS research and treatment issues. In late February, over 1000 TAN members received an Action Alert asking them to urge their federal representatives to support President Clinton’s emergency funding increase of $52 million for ADAPs. These critical programs, funded by Title II of the Ryan White CARE Act and state funds, provide HIV/AIDS treatments to low-income people who are not eligible for Medicaid and do not have prescription drug coverage under private health insurance.

The grassroots response to this issue has been overwhelming. Many TAN members not only wrote and called their elected officials, but worked to get letters of support from mayors and governors, contacted their local media, and set up district meetings with staff members of their senators and representatives. The result has been strong bipartisan support for the increase. As of press time, the increase has been approved by the entire House of Representatives and the Senate Appropriations Committee—no small feat considering the anti-spending climate in Washington! Once again, TAN members have proven the importance and efficacy of a constituent-driven grassroots campaign.

The Treatment Action Network will also play a major role in AIDSWatch `96, the only national AIDS lobby days, which will be held Sunday, May 19 through Tuesday, May 21 in Washington, DC. AIDSWatch is a great opportunity to come to the nation’s capitol and meet directly with your elected officials and to lobby for increased funding for research, care, prevention and housing programs.

No lobbying experience is necessary to participate in this event. All AIDSWatch participants will be given an extensive briefing before meeting with their representatives. The best advocates are those most affected by the epidemic and who are willing to put their personal story behind the statistics.

If you are interested in attending AIDSWatch, or would like to become a member of the Treatment Action Network, please contact Ryan Clary, TAN Coordinator, at 415-558-8669.

Treatment Hotline Update

Project Inform’s HIV/AIDS Treatment Hotline will be undergoing significant program upgrades during 1996. These will include, but are not limited to:

reorganization of Hotline space
additional educational workshops
formation of a Hotline training team
increased quality assurance and program evaluation mechanisms
continued update sessions between the Information/Advocacy departments and the Hotline program

If we can secure adequate funding, this year may also see major improvements in our information dissemination. Some items on our wish-list include:

on-line referral and treatment information access
a fax-back system
on-site Internet access for hotline support
complete revision of the current Hotline referral and resource system

Also, statistical tracking of data being distributed and evaluation of constituent’s special information requests began in January to assist the Hotline in realizing:

a global picture of our constituent base demographically and informationally
a formalized reporting system for internal and funding purposes
data needs which will assist in developing campaigns targeting specific treatment information or constituencies
how constituents hear about the Project Inform Hotline, providing PI with detailed information necessary in identifying treatment needs of its national/international constituent base
how to reach agencies or organizations in need of PI program updates and/or educational information

PI’s Treatment Hotline remains committed to providing crucial information vital to anyone focusing on HIV/AIDS treatment strategies and options. Your continued support of the Hotline is greatly appreciated.

Information Department

Major new projects are underway in the Information Department. One exciting development is the Project Inform World Wide Web service now online with all our information, including the What’s New? and the PI Perspective. We also announce the latest on new treatments and public policy actions on our home page. So check http://www.projectinform.org frequently. Of course, as with so many projects here, we owe it all to the efforts of a small crew of dedicated volunteers; special thanks to Grahame Perry, Paul Buckley and Dave Thomson!

In Memory of Friends and Supporters

We come from many backgrounds throughout the nation and across the globe. We are brought together as a community in our fight and our losses.

Robert Beekley
Raul Campanioni
Duncan Campbell
Richard DeMauro
Anthony Esposito
David L. Giese
Jon Greenberg
Robert Kent Hansen
Randy Johnson
Tom Lepore
Ralph Long
Bernard David Nathan
Vance Ogden
Michael Pozgar
Roger Sahli
Eric Wohlegmuth