LOCATION
Faith United Methodist Church
15015 Grant Street
Dolton, IL 60419

General number: (708) 841-3939

Please join us for a Community Celebration of the Extraordinary Life of Ann L. Dunmore

Perhaps more so than any other issue area, AIDS advocacy requires delivering lots of messages about who is most impacted by the epidemic and where disparities call us to action. 

In order to be sure these messages are accurate, AIDS advocates must be comfortable talking about epidemiology, which is the scientific study of disease distribution and the factors that cause disease to spread in a community.  The general public looks to us to understand what the numbers produced by the CDC and other public health authorities mean and to interpret what actions are necessary in response.  We need to get it right.

This presentation goes through, in an accessible and non-technical way, the epidemilogical concepts most commonly used in AIDS advocacy.  Its a great resource for old hands looking to brush up their chops or newcomers seeking to survey the landscape.

Check it out!

AIDS Drug Assistance Programs provided medications to over 166,000 individuals in FY2009.  Unfortunately, many ADAPs have put in place barriers to access such as reducing the eligibility, changing the formulary, and closing enrollment. Nearly 1,000 individuals in nine states are on waiting lists to receive their life-saving and life-sustaining medications through the AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAP). We need your help to ensure that the Obama Administration takes action to help those in need!

How you can help:

There are two ways you can help.  By the end of the week please call or email (or both) the White House.

At the age of 59, Renae Ogletree passed away due to a long struggle with lung cancer on April 23. A nationally recognized LGBT leader  for many, many years, Renae was an inspiring, smart, strategic, and passionate advocate. She was also an unwavering ally in the fight against HIV/AIDS from the beginning. Her fierce determination, her savvy, and her wonderful sense of humor will be deeply missed by everyone in the AIDS community, the LGBT community, and in the community at large - all arenas in which she contributed so much. We miss her deeply.

A public memorial service will be held Saturday, May 1, 11 a.m. at the Chicago History Museum, 1601 N. Clark, followed by a reception at the same location.

Read more about Renae's life and many accomplishments, including recollections from a number of friends, in this Windy City Times article.

Generally, Dose of Change does not cover technical matters of policy, however, given the ongoing ADAP funding crisis and surrounding advocacy efforts, we thought this brief case study of how ADAP drug rebates work in Indiana can provide advocates fodder for messaging and strategy.

Indiana reports that its HIV Medical Services Program has realized great benefits by using its Ryan White Part B funds to purchase insurance and cover drug co-payment costs.  The state uses its Part B award to provide a short-term traditional ADAP benefit and a long-term comprehensive health insurance benefit.

Beloved Chicago HIV/AIDS activist Ann L. Dunmore died suddenly on Saturday April 24, 2010 at the age of 63. Affectionately known as “Big Momma,” Ann was a tireless advocate, giving voice to the needs of people living with HIV/AIDS. Ann’s engagement with the HIV/AIDS community began at the AIDS Alternative Health Project (AAHP) with Michael Brickman. Ann saw the very real effects of HIV/AIDS on the MSM (men who have sex with men) community and the impact of advocacy. It was there, that Ann made friends with other like minded individuals; individuals who were unapologetically vocal, unwaveringly passionate, and undeniably tenacious. As a woman living with HIV, she wanted to improve the lives of other women living with the virus. Shortly thereafter, Ann Dunmore, agent of change, found agency at the Chicago Women’s AIDS Project (CWAP).

Prisoner rape devastates more than 100,000 women, men, and children
each year - including people who are living with or at risk of HIV infection. But you can make a difference by speaking out against sexual assault behind bars.

Please join the HIV Prevention Justice Alliance and Project UNSHACKLE in sending a letter to the U.S. Attorney General urging him to enact strong standards to end sexual abuse behind bars.

At least one in every five people who are living with HIV are involved in the correctional systems each year - so HIV prevention justice must include an end to sexual violence in detention.

Residents, business owners, and artists unite to paint first-ever “With Me Comes A Cure” mural; project will be the centerpiece of planned community garden; ceremony planned for May 22

WHAT: Artists and residents of the West Side neighborhood of Austin will resume work this week on an AIDS awareness mural that will become the centerpiece of a community garden.

The 15 x 30 foot mural, “Austin Is Doing Something (A.I.D.S.),” was inspired by With Me Comes A Cure, an awareness campaign of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) designed primarily to address the growing HIV epidemic among African Americans and stress the importance of developing an AIDS vaccine.

Our good friends at Treatment Access Expansion Project (TAEP) have put together two resources that will surely be useful for advocates trying to make heads or tails of the recently passed health care reform legislation: 

Slides with explanatory notes (PDF)

Adaptable Presentation (PPT)

While the legislation has been signed into law, most of the major provisions don't go into effect until 2014 and some, like closing the infamous Medicare Part D donut hole, won't be completed for years after that.  These resources from TAEP are a great way to prepare for the years of organizing and messaging around health care reform implementation that lie ahead.

Find out what's happening now, what's coming down the road and the work that remains to be done.

On the surface of it, the idea seems simple enough.  Get a bunch of people concerned about HIV/AIDS policy to your statehouse and have them ask their elected officials to support a list of policy priorities.  Statewide lobby day - DONE.

If only it were that easy.