November 25, 2005
GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE 11
David's House continues after selling its building
by Julie Embree
Toledo David's House Compassion, Inc. has served Toledo and the surrounding area for over 15 years, providing support for individuals and families whose lives have been affected by HIV and AIDS.
Financial struggles in recent years almost led to the demise of those vital services. However, David's House has continued to provide case management for nearly 500 people, which has been requested in 12 counties.
David's House closed a chapter in its history on October 31, when it sold its former residential and office property at 501 North Detroit. The decision to sell the property was a difficult one and similar to decisions that other AIDS organizations across the country have faced.
With such a difficult task behind us, David's House is vigorously working on a strategic action plan to continue to improve our client services, efficiency and agency longevity in 2006 and beyond.
To continue to show your support, please visit www.davidshouse.com for information on VIP tickets available for the concert event, "Judy and Liza: Together Again" on February 25, 2006. Proceeds from the VIP ticket sales will benefit David's House and will provide an opportunity to enjoy appetizers, drinks and decadent desserts at a private reception with the stars of the show.
Do you have time to give? Contact Julie Embree, associate director, for volunteer opportunities at 419-243-7274. ♡
Julie Embree is the associate director of David's House Compassion, Inc.
U Toledo, ACLU press for medication access in jails
by Judy Maruszan
Columbus
In January 2004, the ACLU of Ohio challenged the Franklin County Correction Center for refusing to administer timesensitive HIV medication to an inmate serving time in the facility. Around the same time, the University of Toledo Legal Clinic received several complaints by prison and jail inmates of not receiving their HIV or AIDS medications.
Within a few months these two groups joined forces to create the HIV Prison Project, headed by Professor Rob Salem, instructor in the university's legal clinic, and member of the ACLU of Ohio affiliate board.
"This is not just a civil rights issue; it's a huge public health issue," said Salem, who has assigned the project to students and supervises their work. "People that study this issue suspect that the lack of treatment for prisoners with HIV is one of the biggest reasons for the spike of infections among African-American women.'
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Students have spent significant time doing community outreach, talking with health officials, prison administrators, and the prisoners themselves. They also compiled information
from county correctional facilities in Ohio on their HIV-specific policies, sending out about 92 Freedom of Information Act requests.
They discovered that there were either no specific policies addressing HIV and AIDS medications, or they were poorly enforced due to lack of funds. Salem and student Ken Clason culminated their findings with a presentation to the annual Ohio AIDS Coalition conference in Columbus this summer, pointing out the need for correctional facilities to come up with policies dealing specifically with the HIV prison population.
Going forward, the project is working closely with State Sen. Mark Mallory's office to propose legislation that would address some of the deficiencies in the current system of health care for HIV positive prisoners in Ohio. They continue to collaborate with the Ohio and national ACLU to identify particularly egregious cases that might be candidates for litigation.
They will also be creating a website soon to facilitate inmates' access to the project. The law clinic can be reached at 419-530-4131.
Judy Maruszan is the education coordinator of the ACLU of Ohio.
Popular guys make HIV prevention a popular thing
by Chris Hughes
Columbus-The Men 4 Men Project at the Columbus AIDS Task Force prides itself on being the HIV testing and prevention program in the city that is created by gay men, for gay men. It values empowering men to make educated choices in their sexual expression and honors the creative, sophisticated and mature strategies that gay men develop to maintain satisfying, significant relationships with other men.
In further finding ways to market those values and beliefs, Men 4 Men embarked on an exciting program for 2005, the Popular Opinion Leader program model developed by Jeffrey A. Kelly at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
This is based on the theory of "diffusion of innovation," which holds that social norms adopted within communities are usually first modeled by a few individuals within those communities.
Basically, get the popular guys to advocate HIV prevention methods and HIV testing, and eventually those methods will become the social norm.
The program has been successful in reaching out at first to the staff of bars to carry the message. At this point, the program has trained 42 members of the community to talk to their friends and acquaintances about the fact that
HIV is still a serious concern, and that in reality it is very easy to prevent either contracting it or transmitting it. They also let other gay men know that Men 4 Men has a rapid HIV antibody test that is administered by other gay men or gay-friendly test counselors.
The staff of the Men 4 Men Program would like to thank not only the participants of this program for their time and commitment, but also to thank those bars who have taken a lead in the community by requesting staff member trainings. The success this year is due entirely to those venues that continue to care about the wellbeing of their clientele.
Even though funding for the Men 4 Men Project has been cut, the Popular Opinion Leader model will still be offered for 2006 and hopefully beyond. The group will work with the current venues they are involved with and will look to others to join them. Despite growing challenges in funding, all efforts will be made to continue to provide the best service possible to the community with regards to HIV prevention and testing. As gay men, the Men 4 Men Project believes in the power of our community to make a differ-
ence.
Chris Hughes is the coordinator of the Men 4 Men Project of the Columbus AIDS Task Force.
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COLUMBUS AIDS TASK FORCE
Columbus AIDS Task Force 1751 east long street columbus, ohio 43203-2045 614.299.AIDS
866.739.0720 toll free www.catf.net
Proudly operating the ON6 AIDS/HIV/STD Hotline
800.332.2437 (voice) 800332.3889 (TTY for the deaf)