how can i get more involved?

[kellyspoppi]

recently i have made several posts in other forums about going to washington dc to participate in aidswatch. during the posts i have asked others to speak up for total access to medical treatment.

i have received several PM's asking me how can i get connected? how can i get more involved? there are no organizations in my area made up of plwa activists.

only over the past 6 months have i come to understand that things are much different in other states than new york, where aids activists are far more organized and more involved in ryan white networks, boards of directors of their ASO's (aids service organization), and community advisory boards.

yes, there are other states who are organized as well, like california, illinois (mostly chicago), and massachusetts. but the point here is, from state to state, little is known by many of us aids activists of what type of organizations there are out there for us to advise posters on this forum where you can go to get involved. what is the primary coalition/network in each state? what is the prime ASO in your area of each state.

so one of the things i would like you to do is to write into this thread any aids organizations there are in your state, especially ones where plwa's are meeting to do activism work. if there is a campaign to end aids (C2EA) representative in your area, please let me know. that way, i can hopefully get those who wish to get involved across this country access to those groups/persons in their states.

one thing you can do to get involved is to call congress this week and ask your 2 senators to sign onto the EARLY TREATMENT FOR HIV ACT or ETHA (senate bill S.860). ETHA allows states to extend medicaid coverage to include low income people with hiv who have yet to become disabled from aids.

i have read many posts on these forums where folks have stated they can't obtain medical treatment because they don't have insurance & can't obtain medicaid benefits. ETHA would make that possible.

here's what you do. call the capital switchboard (1-800-614-2803) and ask them to put you through to your senators office. ask then to speak to your senators staff person who handles hiv & health care issues. then ask that staff person, if your senator is a republican, to call sen gordon smiths' (R-OR) office and agree to sign onto ETHA. if your senator is a democrat, call and ask to speak to their  staff person who handles hiv/ health care issues and request they call senator hillary clintons' office and agree to sign onto ETHA.

if ETHA is not passed, low income people living with hiv will continue to have to wait until they get an aids diagnosis, and are so sick that they become totally disabled, before they will gain access to care through medicaid. remind them that waiting to treat someone until they have aids will cost their state and federal government programs far more money than if you gain access to care and life saving meds as early as possible. 

it is a start folks. your phone calls this week can make a difference for hundreds of thousands of plwa's who are having difficulty accessing treatment.

and i look forward to hearing from as many folks across this country as possible with your grass roots organizations and ASO info, so we can begin to get others involved who want to be a voice for change and help to make a difference.

thanks for your help.

kellyspoppi   

[viewer1977]

HERE IN WASHINGTON ST. WE HAVE A HIV/AIDS ACTIVISM.
I PERSONALLY WOULD LIKE TO BE A PUBLIC SPEAKER AND I HAVE TALKED TO THE AIDS FOUNDATION HERE.
BUT FOR SOME REASON , HAVE NOT GOT MUCH RESPONCE.
I DID CALL MY CONGRESSMAN AND ALSO SIGNED THE PETION AS WELL.
I MOVED FROM TEXAS TO WASHINGTON, BECAUSE THE HEALTHCARE IS BETTER HERE, WHICH IS ALSO VARIES FROM STATE TO STATE.