ER M M SU SIVE! U L C X E
DEAR FRIEND,
This May marks 30 years since the HIV virus was first named. In three decades we’ve seen many friends and family leave us; we’ve seen remarkable advances in medicine; and now we see so many of our loved ones living healthy lives with HIV. But as we move forward, our biggest struggle will still remain the fight against stigma and indifference. A disease that once instilled fear is now all but invisible. But the people it affects are not. Your continued support through a gift of $25, $100, $250, or $500 can help us raise awareness, fight stigma, and break the pattern of indifference that helps the disease spread and keeps people living with HIV from seeking help.
“YOU GAVE ME HOPE...” In April, ASA case manager José visited a client in the hospital. He had been living with HIV for 15 years and was only now seeking treatment. As José prepared to leave, the man unexpectedly took his hand and begin to cry. “Just imagine a Mexican macho man [crying], because in Mexico, ‘men don’t cry,’ right?” José described. Holding José’s hand, the man expressed his appreciation: “Thank you very much because you ... gave [me] hope that I will get better. I was seriously thinking about killing myself because I did not see any hope.” For many Central Texans, stigma in their community shapes their ideas of HIV and of people affected by HIV. Even 30 years later, we still hear stories of men and women who are shunned by their families and friends. They are forced to eat on separate plates. They have been kicked out of churches and homes. Where stigma persists, HIV thrives. Stigma stops people from getting tested, keeps them from protecting their own health in relationships, and prevents them from seeking treatment. But as José’s client realized, there is still hope. “[That is] the most important reason all of us in ASA are working in this field,” José says. To help people who have no place to turn. To bring them out of isolation and to create new friendships and families. And to show them they don’t need to be invisible. With your gift of $25, $100, $250, or $500, we can make sure our neighbors aren’t silenced or shunned due to stigma, that testing is available to everyone, and that people living with HIV get the care they need. Respectfully yours,
Paul E. Scott, Executive Director