Posts Tagged ‘AIDS’

New Podcast Episode: STDs…the Truth Is Out There!

Wednesday, February 12th, 2020

In this episode Steph, Naomi and Andy debunk a few of the myths about sexually transmitted diseases or STD’s. You don’t want to miss this one!

Subscribe for more episodes or listen to each one on Spotify, iTunes and other platforms!

PrEP, PEP and Hep A: Podcast Episode

Wednesday, February 5th, 2020

In this episode of our new podcast, we discuss what PrEP & PEP are and how they both work. Plus learn about the rise of Hep A here in the Hudson Valley and how to protect yourself against a range of harmful sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

You can also listen to more episodes on Spotify, iTunes and other podcast platforms–subscribe today!

HVCS’ New Podcast: Peer Health Alliance talks about S…E…X!

Friday, January 31st, 2020

We are pleased to announce that the Peer Health Alliance has a new podcast all about safer sex, hooking up, and all sorts of fun topics.

“Parents Just Don’t Understand”…that’s why talking about sexual health with a PHA peer is so important. In this episode we talk about HVCS’ Peer Health Alliance or PHA program and what a “peer” is. Learn why it is important to get your difficult sexual health questions answered by someone like you, that gets you and has the training and resources to you need. There are some conversations you don’t want to have with even the coolest of moms!

Find more episodes here or listen on Spotify! and iTunes (other podcast platforms coming soon).

HVCS Receives $22,000 From The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, In Partnership With Macy’s

Monday, March 25th, 2019

The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS FoundationHudson Valley Community Services has been awarded a grant for $22,000 from The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation (ETAF) in partnership with Macy’s. The grant will be used for HVCS’ Psychosocial Support Services (PSS) program, which is a unique vehicle to provide HIV-positive residents of Westchester, Putnam and Rockland with emotional and psychological support, support groups, and ensure they remain connected to care and community. Specifically, ETAF’s grant will fund art therapy and interactive journaling for the women’s support group. PSS began on March 1, 2019.

HVCS is honored to be recognized for our innovative approach in support of people affected by HIV and AIDS. “Hudson Valley Community Services is a powerful part of a collective effort to achieve an AIDS-free world, a world Elizabeth Taylor is still helping to realize through ETAF” said Catherine Brown, Executive Director of The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation. “ETAF and Macy’s are honored to support HVCS with these funds to continue our aligned goals of health equity and zero discrimination for all people living with or at risk for HIV and AIDS.”

Through their Cause Marketing Program, Thanks For Sharing, Macy’s recognizes their responsibility to support disadvantaged communities and the needs of their neighbors. They are proud to partner with ETAF and have contributed to this grant.

The Psychosocial Support Services program’s main funder is the Ryan White CARE Act, Part A, administered by Public Health Solutions.

About The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation (ETAF)
Founded in 1991, The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation (ETAF) joins Elizabeth’s voice in the fight for social justice and human rights for people living with HIV and AIDS to achieve an AIDS-free world. Inspired by Elizabeth’s personal passion for the cause, in 2019 ETAF is focused on youth, women, children and families, ensuring they receive the direct care and support they need both domestically and in Malawi, the hotspot of the global epidemic. ETAF’s advocacy and awareness initiatives concentrate on elevating Elizabeth’s voice to secure care for the marginalized and social equity for all. To learn more or to make a donation please visit www.etaf.org.

VIDEO: Your Questions About Safer Sex, Answered

Monday, March 18th, 2019

 

Got questions about the latest ways to reduce your risk for HIV, STDs and hepatitis C? So do lots of our followers. Members of our Education & Prevention Department went live on Facebook to answer them. In this video, we covered PrEP, PEP, how risky certain sexual behaviors are (or not), and how to reach our programs for more services!

Need free testing services? Contact us at (845) 704-7624 — you can call OR text! ? You can also email us to set up an appointment.

The HIV Care Cascade

Monday, March 11th, 2019

The HIV Care Cascade intro graphicHave you heard of the HIV Care Cascade?

Essentially, the HIV Care Cascade is a way we can measure the effectiveness of HIV treatment among HIV-positive people. The Cascade uses viral suppression as a measurement–and viral suppression is the medical state in which the number of copies of HIV in a person’s blood is so small that it can’t be detected by the best tests we have. If someone is virally suppressed, they can’t infect anyone else with HIV, so it’s good for them and their sexual partners!

The Cascade is an analysis of the steps or stages of HIV medical care that people living with HIV go through from initial diagnosis to achieving viral suppression. The metrics were developed by New York State’s “End the Epidemic” (ETE) Task Force to track and report to the public the state’s progress on the initiative.

There are four key metrics in the Cascade, including: the number of individuals who are diagnosed with HIV; the number who have evidence of medical care during the year; the number who are retained in care (visiting a doctor more than once per year), and the number who are virally suppressed.

So, how are we doing? Since you can apply the HIV Care Cascade to different groups, let’s look at New York State as a whole and HVCS clients.

As for NY, numbers are improving…

7@% of HIV+ people in NYS are virally suppressedthe overall state average of viral suppression is 72% of HIV-positive clients who received at least one viral load test in 2017.

90% of HVCS clients who are HIV+ and in medical care are virally suppressed.
But HVCS clients are beating the average. We recently compiled our own HIV Cascade for the first time, using 2017 data from some (not all) of our programs. 90% of HVCS clients with evidence of some medical care (they received at least one viral load test in 2017) are virally suppressed!

We work as hard as we can to assist our clients with accessing and staying connected to medical care to keep them–and the whole Hudson Valley–as healthy as possible.

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Provides a $10K Grant To Support Our Clients

Thursday, August 9th, 2018

Broadway Cares red bucketBroadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS recently awarded HVCS a $10,000 grant to help support our Client Assistance Program, which includes our emergency food and toiletry closets. This grant will be used to help more than 150 clients by providing personal care items, toiletries, and household cleaning products (including laundry detergent). Most of us consider these items to be basic necessities but are luxuries for our low-income clients.

The majority of the clients CAP serves are low income, and they typically spend 50% (30% is considered affordable) of their monthly gross income on rent payments. After the rent payment, monthly food purchases and utility payments are made, there is little or no money left to afford basic toiletries, household cleansers and laundry products.

These basic items are not funded by government or private assistance programs. For example, the Supplemental Nutrition Access Program (SNAP), which many of these clients are eligible for, does not cover personal hygiene and cleaning products, leaving many without access to these items. These items, however, are necessary not only to maintain a clean and stable home, but to bolster one’s personal health and wellbeing.

CAP also assists our HIV-positive housing program participants. When they move into new housing, the program is able to provide basic cleaning supplies so they can move into a sanitary environment.

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS helps men, women and children across the country and across the street receive lifesaving medications, health care, nutritious meals, counseling and emergency financial assistance.

We are extremely grateful for the ongoing assistance from BC/EFA and its fundraisers, such as the Hudson Valley Dance Festival.

HVCS Joins HIV/AIDS Orgs in Condemning Efforts to Downplay Transgender, Diversity at CDC

Tuesday, December 19th, 2017

Hudson Valley Community Services joins other HIV/AIDS organizations in condemning efforts to ban or otherwise avoid seven key words and phrases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and in the process, erase the transgender community and diversity.

On Monday, December 18, 2017, five of the nation’s leading organizations focused on ending the HIV and STD epidemics in the United States – AIDS United, NASTAD, the National Coalition of STD Directors, NMAC and The AIDS Institute – expressed alarm over reports that the Trump Administration barred staff at the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) from using certain words in its FY2019 budget justification to Congress. Hudson Valley Community Services stands with them in opposition to this development.

It is now being reported that top officials merely suggested that the CDC avoid using the words as a technique to help secure Republican approval of the 2019 budget. Either way, we cannot do justice to all communities–especially those at the highest risk for HIV–by pandering to those squeamish of diversity.

The five organizations released a joint press release, stating: “While we continue to be in contact with the Administration, CDC, and other agencies regarding these reports, restrictions on these terms, in any manner, demonstrate this Administration’s troubling lack of commitment to science and we are seeking further clarification. Thanks to bipartisan support in Congress and the Executive Branch we have made incredible progress against HIV over the last decade. But budget proposals delineate policy priorities, and in rejecting science and evidence along with other commonly understood health language, this Administration calls into question its commitment to science and the health of all communities, including racial, ethnic, and sexual minorities.

“Discouraging use and reference to “evidence-based” or “science-based,” is concerning enough. However, any attempt to remove “transgender” and “diversity” from CDC vocabulary would represent an outright dereliction of the stated duties of the agency. Such efforts are unacceptable and cannot go unanswered. Transgender people and people of color live under constant threat of systemic and specific discrimination and violence. Erasing them from official CDC documents ensures ongoing discrimination and undermines the ability of CDC to effectively respond to their health needs.

“Evidence suggests the transgender community is particularly vulnerable to HIV and STDs. As citizens and residents of this nation, they should be treated with fairness and respect. As human beings, they are entitled to dignity and affirming care.”

HVCS joins AIDS United, NASTAD, NCSD, NMAC, and The AIDS Institute in their pledge to remain committed to ensuring that diversity is celebrated by our public health system and that its work is rooted in science, not politics. We stand with transgender staff, constituents, clients, and family, and will not relent in our demands that their health and the health of all marginalized and minority communities be prioritized by this Administration and the U.S. government.

Read their press release here.

More info:
AIDS United (AU), NASTAD, the National Coalition of STD Directors (NCSD), NMAC, and The AIDS Institute (TAI) are national non-partisan, non-profit organizations focused on ending HIV in the U.S. They have been working in partnership to identify and share resources to sustain successes and progress we have made in HIV and STD prevention, care and treatment in the United States.

Building A Healthier Hudson Valley: Louis’ Story

Monday, May 15th, 2017

formal dressesHVCS isn’t afraid to have tough conversations. We shine a light on problems that thrive in the darkness. That’s only one of the tools we can use to bring new HIV infections to zero because of the support we have received from you. You have also inspired us to be the strongest of advocates in preventing HIV/AIDS.  That is why we would like to share with you Louis’ story – one that your support has made possible.

Louis is twenty-four, has one more year of grad school, identifies as gay and is, by all outward appearances, happy and successful. Yet sometimes he doesn’t feel like he’s got it all together—he copes with low self-esteem and anxiety. He has a supportive family but feels like he’s not attractive or smart enough and worries about the future. Sometimes in social situations he relies on “liquid courage”—he has a few drinks. He wants a long-term commitment (and, one day, a husband) but knows that as a young gay man he’s at higher risk for HIV infection. The things he did to feel better about himself, like going out and drinking, only made things worse. “It felt like the odds were stacked against me,” he said. “I felt pretty hopeless and scared.”

Until he came in for a free HIV test offered our INFORM program, which specializes in HIV prevention for men who have sex with men.  The INFORM specialist told him that he could diminish his fear of contracting HIV by going on PrEP. The specialist connected him to a medical provider and worked out insurance coverage. He also referred Louis to a counselor to address his self esteem, supplied him with condoms, and discussed strategies for having a good time at parties without risking his health. “Now I always go with friends, and we make a pact to watch out for each other.” Louis feels more in control and  less anxious about the future now that he’s equipped with more tools to stay healthy. By helping us to activate an entire network of supports—from his doctor to his friends to his therapist—you’re helping Louis stay as healthy as possible while staying true to his dreams and goals.

We know you share our belief that a thriving Hudson Valley is made up of residents who are living their full potential: healthy, active and enjoying all the wonderful things that make this a great place to live. But even with nearly forty years of studying how and why HIV is transmitted, Hudson Valley residents are still being infected with HIV. So we still need your help.  Those who were at the highest risk decades ago are still at high risk because most people have a tough time talking about sexuality, desire, substance abuse, and race.  This silence, combined with entrenched stigma against those with AIDS, allows HIV to spread through our communities—communities we need to stay healthy and strong if we’re to be a vibrant, colorful Hudson Valley.

So we invite you to join us once again in keeping HIV prevention in the conversation. Your contribution means we can keep our HIV prevention programs strong. So please continue to help us build healthy communities right here in the Hudson Valley. Preventing the spread of HIV now means that more people can live their full potential.

Please give today.

Image Designed by borjandreu / Freepik

A Special Announcement: No Hudson Valley AIDS Walk 2017

Monday, April 24th, 2017

If you’re a longtime supporter, you may be wondering why you haven’t yet seen anything about the Hudson Valley AIDS Walk, usually held in May. The Hudson Valley Community Services will not be holding its customary Hudson Valley AIDS Walk this year.

After twenty-four years of holding the AIDS Walk, we felt that it was time for a big change. We’ve been tweaking the AIDS Walk each year to respond to your feedback and bring in new supporters and community partners. The time has come for more than tweaks—we need a complete reset. This decision was made in conjunction with our Board of Directors, our volunteer AIDS Walk committee, key staff members and feedback from past supporters. We are excited to announce that our staff and volunteers are working together to create new events that inspire and motivate our donors, participants and volunteers, and will bring in even more resources to help our clients.

Our new focus includes making the commitment to better serving our clients by identifying key fundraising targets. We look forward to sharing more success stories so you get to know our clients—and you see how your contributions are helping them. We’re committing to a more personal approach to community partnerships. And we promise that fighting HIV/AIDS and helping Hudson Valley residents living with AIDS are still top priorities.

With all these changes we don’t want to lose sight of an underlying principle: our clients still need you! We hope that as we embark on a new direction in our fundraising efforts that you’ll be more energized and passionate about the work HVCS does in the Hudson Valley. Our fundraising staff is hard at work on new ways for you to remain involved. We’re always open to your ideas and feedback, too. Let us know what interests you and how we can meet your goals for helping your community. Thank you for your past support, and we look forward to working with all our supporters as we move forward together.

We Still Need You!

What’s Next?

We’re forming a committee to help plan a new grassroots event—The Most Important Meal, a breakfast to raise funds for our food and nutrition
programs. We need volunteers to help sell tickets, line up sponsors, sell journal ads, and collect silent auction items. The Most Important
Meal will be coming to a Mid-Hudson location in Fall 2017. If you’re interested in volunteering on the committee, contact Anthony Accomando at (914)
785-8277 or aaccomando@hudsonvalleycs.org.

Host an Event for HVCS

Create your own mini-fundraiser by hosting a third-party event. It doesn’t have to be big or fancy, or raise a large amount to make a difference. All it takes is the desire to pitch in and an idea for a gathering. Organizing your friends, family and community and asking them to contribute small amounts can really add up! Help HVCS by organizing:

  • Potluck dinners
  • Walks, hikes or bike rides
  • Bake sales
  • Loose change collections
  • Charity days at your business: collect donations from employees or donate a percentage of all sales
  • Food drives
  • Paint-and-sip parties
  • Guest bartender nights
  • The possibilities are endless!

If you’re interested or you’ve got an idea, contact J. Dewey at (914) 785-8326 or jdewey@hudsonvalleycs.org.