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February 29, 2008
KINK GOES INSIDE
his prowess to State Senate Dems
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Kink: Advocacy in action |
After 13 years of fighting for people living with HIV/AIDS in New York and throughout the country, Housing Works legislative counsel Michael Kink is leaving us to go on "the inside" as director of policy and special counsel to the Democratic party in the State Senate. Kink takes up his new post on Monday.
Kink came to Housing Works in 1994 as a senior staff attorney, and two years later set up camp in Albany to establish an office that proved a powerful organizing and lobbying base for people living with HIV/AIDS, disabilities and chronic illnesses, LGBT people, homeless people and people living in poverty. Kink was also instrumental in developing Housing Works offices in Washington, D.C. and launching AIDSVote.org and Campaign to End AIDS, as well as the Update you are reading this very moment...
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SLEET AND SNOW WON'T KEEP US AWAY
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HASA for All takes Albany |
On Tuesday, Judy G. had the chance to tell Assemblyman Darryl Towns what was on her mind: The fear that she might have to pay more than 30 percent of her income toward her rent. "I wouldn't be able to survive," she said. "We have to choose between feeding ourselves and keeping a roof over our heads." Two dozen folks from Housing Works, Gay Men's Health Crisis and Harlem United and other groups crowded around a conference table in Towns office nodded in agreement. Towns replied, "The state has not done enough about housing for anybody. In fact, we've done a horrible job. But we have a new governor now. Pataki didn't care."
Despite the sleet and snow dripping from their coats, hundreds of people with HIV/AIDS like Judy G. braved the cold and trudged around Albany to meet with Senators and Assembly members for the AIDS Awareness Lobby Day, organized by the New York AIDS Coalition. Elevators in the Legislative Office Building were overflowing as consumers went door-to-door reminding legislators to address their concerns this session...
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RIGHT ON THE MONEY, WRONG ON PREVENTION
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PEPFAR reauthorization not all smiles |
In a bipartisan compromise the House Foreign Services committee approved a draft bill (H.R. 5501) for the reauthorization of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) Wednesday that expands global AIDS funding to $50 billion—the U.S.'s fair share in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa—as well as $9 billion to fight tuberculosis and malaria.
Though the bill vastly improves the 2003 initiative, like all compromises, no one's totally happy—particularly reproductive health advocates, who are angered by the bill's ambiguous language regarding HIV prevention, the reinsertion of the heinous "prostitution pledge" and the lack of funding for family planning, and basic health care for women that is an essential part of ending the AIDS epidemic...
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VIRGINIA IS FOR C2EA LOVERS
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Fordham, one of C2EA-Virginia's founders |
As Greg Fordham sat on the Ryan White Community Planning Group in Norfolk, Virginia, he became increasingly frustrated by HIV/AIDS care providers dismissing the transportation needs in his community. Most people affected by HIV/AIDS live on one side of Norfolk but the services are on the other. "I got tired of other people deciding what was right for me and knowing what was wrong," said Fordham, who was diagnosed with HIV in 1995 and also lost his legs during a car accident in 2003. "The reason we're discarded most of the time is because people don't realize it's you they're talking about. It's just 'those people, those people.' I became an activist when I realized I was one of 'those people' they were talking about."
Since that realization, Fordham has worked with other activists in Norfolk, Virginia to launch the state's Campaign to End AIDS chapter. In 2005, Virginia ranked tenth highest in annual reported cases of HIV, and black males in Virginia were nine times more likely to be diagnosed with HIV/AIDS than white men, and black women were four times more likely than white women...
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