January 4, 2005

The Answer? Get Yourself and Your Posse To Washington DC — Create Your Own National Voice On AIDS

We call for a national resurgence of AIDS advocacy in the United States that highlights the work that all our communities do on the front lines of the epidemic, to fight AIDS and to care for those living with the disease.

We call for a national march on Washington, with groups of people living with HIV/AIDS, advocates, activists, service providers and family members walking and traveling by caravan from their homes to our nation's capital, meeting with others and with local newspapers, radio and television stations along the way to demonstrate their resolve, the work being done in their communities, and the need for more resources to do the job right.

We call for four days of action, support and prayer in Washington, including meetings with every member of Congress, the President and the Vice-President, mass marches, support meetings with PLWHAs from every corner of the globe, daily prayer meetings with members of Congress and community and faith leaders, and common demands for leadership from the American government.

We call for unity and support among all communities struggling with this disease: communities of color including African-Americans, Latinos, Asian-Pacific Islanders and Native Americans; immigrants from all nations; lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people; women; leaders of the faith communities and all religious denominations; students; youth; older Americans; and the friends and family members of those living with AIDS and HIV; as well as all of the 50 million people now living with AIDS and HIV all over the world.

We call for action from our elected officials to end AIDS now by carrying out the domestic and global demands embodied in the AIDSVote playform, including:

• a reauthorized and strengthened Ryan White CARE Act,
• protection of Medicaid, Medicare, welfare and Social Security disability benefits,
• new effective action to fight the global AIDS pandemic and assist orphans and vulnerable children,
• concrete steps to provide effective HIV care and prevention to all populations including immigrants, and
• a rededication to AIDS policies based on public health, real-world science, proven-effective interventions and actual community needs.

We call on you and your organization to join us. Help to create a re-energized, grassroots movement in this country to end AIDS.

The Housing Works AIDS Issues Update is reported, written and edited by Diana Scholl, David Thorpe, Phil Fox Rose, Christine Campbell, terri smith-caronia and Housing Works staff. Send your feedback, leads and story ideas to d.scholl@housingworks.org.

You can reach us by phone at 212-967-1500 x168, by fax at 212-868-4222, and by email at d.scholl@housingworks.org. Housing Works provides housing, advocacy and services to homeless people living with AIDS and HIV. Housing Works is the nation's largest community-based AIDS organization and the nation's largest minority-controlled AIDS organization.

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