AFC
MID-YEAR UPDATE
www.aidschicago.org
Letter from the President Dear friend, It’s hard to believe, but half of 2013 is already in the books! It has been a tremendously productive year and a busy one. With the full implementation of the Affordable Care Act just around the corner, we have been thinking of creative ways to connect as many people as possible with life-giving medical care. No doubt, this is a game-changer for people living with HIV/AIDS. But the AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) has made headlines well beyond health reform because eradicating HIV is not simply a policy matter. It involves housing and care and prevention and research and development and human rights. That’s what this report is about: It unpacks our comprehensive approach to ending this epidemic and shows that these past six months will help guide us in the years to come. Sincerely,
David Ernesto Munar President/CEO
ADVOCACY: Unwrapping ObamaCare and All That Matters in HIV Politics The Illinois General Assembly is important every year, but this past session saw particularly high stakes with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on the horizon. In March, Governor Pat Quinn proposed a $4.27 million cut from the HIV budget during FY14, most of which would come from the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), an initiative that provides low-income people with HIV medications.
Each episode will be about ten minutes and will address questions that listeners submit via email, Facebook (Facebook.com/AIDSChicago), and Twitter (@AIDSChicago). This has been a banner year for Illinois AIDS advocates in Springfield. By May 31, the General Assembly passed measures to:
AFC couldn’t stand for that. AFC organized three Lobby Days, engaging different regions of the state each time, to advocate for ADAP funding. In total, over 150 people traveled to Springfield to inform elected officials about HIV/AIDS and ADAP. The General Assembly voted on the budget, as the session came to an end, and restored $3.25 million to the HIV funding line. This was a major win for people with HIV, but the work is far from over.
With the ACA coming in 2014, AFC is switching gears from advocating to educating. Health care reform is confusing for anybody—especially for people with HIV and dual diagnoses, and those who are precariously housed. This summer, AFC launched a podcast called Unwrapping ObamaCare, via our Inside Story blog. This series seeks to explain the basics of health reform, using terms that are already in the general public’s vocabulary.
• Expand Medicaid to cover more people under the Affordable Care Act; • Make comprehensive sexual health education a must for school systems that choose to teach this subject; • End a decades old law that required medical professionals to notify the school principal whenever a child tested positive for HIV. To stay abreast of AFC’s latest advocacy efforts, sign up for our Online Action Bulletin by emailing Lucy Baglin, Policy Coordinator, at lbaglin@aidschicago.org.
CARE: Empowering Communities for Change AFC named Iliana Gilliland Interim Director of Care on January 14, and she immediately went to work. Backed by a strong, compassionate team, she led trainings for case managers, educating them about CountyCare and the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). CountyCare, a new Medicaid program for uninsured adults in Cook County, formed under the ACA, is already in place. People have been able to enroll in it for about a year; however, many individuals, including case managers, have been unaware of its terms and qualifications. To empower social service providers, AFC hosted four trainings in the past six months pertaining specifically to CountyCare. Additionally, staff organized three other trainings that centered on the ACA, which goes into effect on January 1, 2014, but open enrollment begins this October.
Both CountyCare and the ACA will have major impact on people living with HIV because both will change the way people access care and afford services, including medications. HIV case managers need to have acute knowledge of health reform because they connect clients with resources and provide insight into managing life with a complex disease. • Learn more about the CountyCare report at AIDSChicago.org/CountyCare.
• AFC also created HIVHealthReform.org to educate the HIV community about the tremendous opportunities that exist through the ACA, to improve health care access for people with HIV. We accomplish this goal by maintaining a blog, sharing information through an e-mail newsletter, and hosting regular webinars. • In July, the Quinn administration selected AFC to participate in the ACA In-Person Counselor Grant Program. AFC’s grant award of $650,000 will fund a network of agencies in Chicago, helping educate consumers about their choices under the ACA.
HOUSING: Opening Doors, Improving Health Care AFC is also doing cutting-edge work in Chicago’s low-income housing world with two grants from the federal government, specifically the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The target population for this funding is people who have experienced homelessness and have been diagnosed with a serious mental illness and/or chemical dependency. Often, vulnerable individuals with this disposition are reluctant to visit doctors and psychiatrists and substance use providers in medical facilities. These grants provide resources for a nontraditional treatment option: practitioners visit vulnerable individuals in their newly acquired housing units. The first grant, which AFC received four years ago, funds this nontraditional approach to treatment; the second, received two years ago, is split. Most of the funding connects more of the target population with in-home services, while the other portion seeks to foster a more efficient working relationship between SAMHSA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The catalyst for this change is the SAMHSA Chicago Community Consortium. This 21-member leadership council consists of key city, county, state, and federal partners (from both public and private sectors). This month, AFC is releasing a comprehensive report from the Consortium that comprises 23 practice and policy recommendations to SAMHSA and HUD, as well as background information about the target population and its
environmental contexts. The inauguration of this SAMHSA plan couldn’t be timelier, given its convergence with the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid expansion in Illinois. Hopes are high that this vulnerable population will not only receive improved housing and health care services, but that there will be significant cost savings with a more efficient housing sector.
AFC supports over 1,000 people through its housing programs. • HUD awarded a grant to AFC’s Center for Housing and Health to provide 135 addition housing units to people who are homeless and highly vulnerable. • AFC provides supportive housing subsidies for 534 chronically homeless people throughout Chicago, and the Center for Housing and Health funds another 135. • AFC provides 800 people annually with rental assistance subsidies, as well as one-time emergency rent, mortgage, and utility assistance payments.
PREVENTION: Stepping Up to Combat HIV at Home and Abroad Step Up. Get Tested. was one of the most ambitious HIV-testing initiatives Chicago has ever seen. The month-long program aimed to test 5,000 people from June 1 through July 7, and it sought to reduce the stigma associated with testing. Because Step Up. Get Tested. involved 33 organizations, including AFC, the final numbers aren’t yet calculated; however, Cynthia Tucker, AFC’s Director of Prevention and Community Partnerships, has processed enough data to say that they far exceeded their goal of 5,000. AFC also passed its individual testing goals two months in a row. For May and June each, AFC sought to test 371 people. In May, however, 396 people received HIV tests and in June 431 people, setting a new benchmark for the organization. Step Up. Get Tested. was so successful, in part, because it used POWER 92.3, a radio station in Hammond, Ind., to promote testing and sponsor giveaways and music at events. Though the initiative is officially over, AFC has entered the second year of a three-year program to test at nontraditional sites, focusing on gay and bisexual men. Currently, AFC provides testing via 35 locations. AFC, in partnership with the Chicago Department of Human Services, also offers routine tests to individuals in low-income communities. Several of AFC’s other prevention initiatives have also had tremendous success in 2013:
Mapping Pathways recently released a landmark report that urges local communities to prevent HIV by considering strategic use of antiretroviral drugs. Learn more about this at MappingPathways.org. • AFC participated in the first ever Give OUT Day, a national 24-hour stretch of fundraising for LGBTQ organizations. The money AFC raised during this campaign benefited IRMA, the International Rectal Microbicide Advocates. Discover more about the importance of funding this work at RectalMicrobicides.org.
DEVELOPMENT: Fighting HIV with Endurance and Comedy TEAM TO END AIDS (T2) was thrilled to welcome Keefer Pulford as interim Manager of Endurance Events in June. He joins Cecilia Boyd and Ali Vos in the office and will focus primarily on multisport events.
• Volunteer! AFC always needs an army of people to maintain a meaningful presence in the community. Contact Rhett Lindsay at rlindsay@aidschicago.org for information about volunteering at any of our events.
This year, AFC is training 200 marathoners, 60 half marathoners, and 78 triathletes. Together, they have raised nearly $350,000—and they still have six months of fundraising left.
• Ways to give:
In other departmental news, AFC’s Spring Dinner with comedian Paula Poundstone was a huge success. The event raised more than $112,000 and treated hundreds of individuals to an evening of delicious food and laugh-out-loud fun.
AFC is gearing up now for the 2013 AIDS Run & Walk, hosted at Soldier Field on Saturday, September 28. Event registration is $30 in advance; $50 on-site. To register as an individual or as a team, find course routes and more, visit AIDSRunWalk.org or call (312) 334-0946. Online registration ends September 18. AFC has done a tremendous amount of work to start 2013, but we’re not done—and neither are you. We encourage you to get involved with AFC and continue leading by example. Here are some suggestions to further this good work on a grassroots level: • Get tested! Knowing your status is among the most important tools in the fight against HIV. Email Anthony Galloway at agalloway@aidschicago.org to find testing times and locations near you.
• Form a team for the AIDS Run & Walk Chicago on September 28. Visit AIDSRunWalk.org to register, donate, or learn more.
• Make a gift online at AIDSChicago.org/Donate.
• Sponsor a distance runner or triathlete. Search for people you know at T2EA.com/Chicago and support them on their life-giving journey.
• Save the date for World of Chocolate (December 6) and our Annual Meeting & Donor Recognition event (November 7). Discover more about these events at our website, AIDSChicago.org.
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AIDS FOUNDATION OF CHICAGO MID-YEAR UPDATE