APRIL 4, 1997 GAY PEOPLE's ChroniCLE

COMMUNITY GROUPS

Some of the Ryan White money is not being spent

Cleveland-Now that we have your attention, there are more events unfolding in this area of Ohio that directly affect the lives of those that we love who are living with HIV or AIDS.

For those of you who have been living under a rock, the City of Cleveland and the surrounding counties have been eligible for Title Ryan White fund-

ing for the past year. These federal dollars come to our area because we have had more that 2,000 deaths due to complications of AIDS.

Many people in our

for the people, both for the current fiscal year and the next fiscal year. For neither year were we granted the full amount of supplemental funds requested.

Now the problem: Our current fiscal year for Title I ends May 3. The March 19 Title I meeting brought to light the fact that a sum in excess of $100,000 has not yet been spent! If

ACT UP

area have benefited for THE AIDS COALITION TO UNLEASH POWER years from the Title II Ryan White Funds. Most

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noticeably these are people with AIDS: A portion of the money is distributed to those who are living at or near the poverty level in the form of direct financial assistance. It is our belief that poverty is one of the most underreported complications of living with HIV.

Two very disturbing events have occurred in the last several months regarding these funds.

The Ryan White Title I Regional Planning Council was formed to assess the needs of PWAS in our area, set priorities regarding these needs, then administer the distribution of these funds to AIDS service organizations, or ASOS, that run programs eligible for these funds.

Keep in mind that these funds are to be used for programs that provide direct services to PWAS-not day-to-day expenses of the ASOS that are providing these services. Beyond the initial funds that we are eligible for, the Council had requested that the federal government provide supplemental funds

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this money is not claimed by some viable program by May 3, it will have to be sent back to Washington. What kind of message are we sending along with these dollars?

Even the most lame administrator can

figure that out. Do you know anyone living with HIV or AIDS who is financially better off this year than they were last year? Even one person?

In this very same fiscal year, for the first time in many years, if ever, the Title II funds for our area were not fully distributed. Historically our area of the state has used all of our Title II funds and then some. Coming to the end of the fiscal year Title II had in excess of $140,000 that were not yet spent. It is our understanding that a good portion of these funds will stay in our area due to some lastminute initiatives taken by concerned providers in our area.

The questions must be asked: How could this happen? Between the two federally funded programs we are looking at over $250,000. The AIDS crisis is not over! Only the outrage of several PWAs present at the Title I Planning Council meeting moved the Council to enact some unusual measures that classified this situation as an emergency.

In the defense of all members of the Coun-

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cil and the ASOs involved in this process, the federal government's regulations regarding these funds make it very difficult to give much of this money away.

We are not saying that the people working on these programs do not care, but there does not seem to be the sense of urgency with the AIDS crisis that once existed. Unless of course you or someone that you love is living with HIV or AIDS and the poverty that usually accompanies this disease. How many times do you need to hear it? The AIDS crisis is not over!

Where are the hundreds of brilliant individuals in our community that could help to administer these funds and the programs that could potentially save the lives of those we love? Do they really think that wearing those nauseating red ribbons will stop the suffering of thousands of our loved ones?

There are hundreds of people in our area who are working every day to stop this plague. They are tired and they need your help. While we have seen great strides in medical treatment over the past year, they mean nothing if they are not available to all those living with HIV and AIDS. If you go on believing

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that you are not needed, that someone else will do it, many more people will die needlessly.

Cleveland now has a city administration that is beginning to hear our long-suffering cries for help. The mayor's office has now promised us a meeting with the We mayor. have the federal funding that can make progress to eliminate the suffering of those living with HIV and AIDS. What we need most of all is your voice and your talent to ensure that these opportunities are fully used.

Any one can pick up the phone and call the mayor, write a letter, or sit on a Ryan White Title I committee-even you!

Silence = Death.

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