Current Projects and Planning Notes
The Michael W. Connett LIVING Trust
Urges your enlistment in:
"I want you to open your hearts and see the world in a different way.
You get from the world what you give to the world. I promise this will change your life for the better." — Oprah
A National Awareness Revival & Crusade
Against AIDS & Discrimination!!
In Loving Memory of Matthew
Shepard, Ryan
White, Michael Dorobek, Arthur Ashe, Bobbi Campbell,
"Bambi"...: and all those who have gone before us and their time...,
especially Those UNACKNOWLEDGED AIDS Victims...
Friday, January 27,
2012
"A Goal is simply A Dream with a Deadline" - "7 Habits - Stephen Covey"
"Live Like You Are Dyin'..." - "Tim McGraw"
Mission Statement
The Mission of this organization is simply to “Take up the slack” that now exists in caring for the “Quality of Life” issues of the infected/affected who are now living longer and preventing further infections, as seen thru the eyes of a long term survivor… The purpose therefore is organizing the funding, advocacy and provision of HIV/AIDS Prevention, Education and Social Support services according to The Denver Principles and The AESOP Initiative.
"The only thing that separates
any one of us from excellence is fear, and
the opposite of fear is faith. I am careful not to confuse excellence
with
perfection. Excellence I can reach for, perfection is God's
business." --
Michael J. Fox
YES! I Am…
R U 1 2 ??
Earth
Day Weekend: April 20-22
Sunday:
EARTH DAY: Linking Up with Local Traditional Events & Activities! Check the
Facebook Event Page for UpDates!
A Celebration of Diversity, Human Rights, Health, Heritage, Arts & Culture
“April Love; For the Earth & Each Other!”
2012 Worldwide HUMAN-LGBT Civil
EQUAL Rights March
(all rights to this event
protected & reserved by EHP, LLC 9/24/2011)(photo courtesy of
dreamstime.com)
Greater
Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky Official Site Presented By
The
Michael W. Connett LIVING Trust/South Bank HIVe
Michael W.
Connett, March Lead Organizer
315 W 7th
Street – Suite #2 * Covington, Ky 41011-1391
859-261-HIVe1
(4481) * Michael@SouthBankHIVe.com * @SoBankQueenBee
SoBankQueenBee@hotmail.com * SoB.QB01@gmail.com * SoBankBeacon@yahoo.com
"Quality of Life" Support & Networking
For the POZ CommUNITY on The South Bank, our "Circle of Friends" and supporters; the SoBnkHIVe is hosted by a long term survivor of HIV - The QUEEN Bee, Thank You!
"We must make people everywhere understand
that the AIDS crisis is not over; that this is not about a few foreign
countries, far away. This is a threat to an entire generation, that it is
a threat to an entire civilization... We need leaders
everywhere to demonstrate that speaking up about AIDS is a point of pride,
In the article "2002 for beginners - Start the New Year with 8 Resolutions You Can Make and Keep", Timothy Murphy advises:
"#8 - FREE YOUR HEART, FEED YOUR SOUL: Not to get all Oprah on you, but if you're going into 2002 with old resentments - against an ex, family or fallen-out friend - either patch things up or let the anger go. According to Everett Worthington, a psychologist who studies the health effects of forgiveness, "by giving an unwarranted gift to someone who doesn't deserve it, we find paradoxically that it is we ourselves who are freed from that bondage." That can mean lower levels of stress, depression, blood pressure - all coups for HIVers.
So that leaves just you and the universe. How do you talk to each other? Whether it's through an organized house of worship, some form of meditation or prayer, volunteering your time to others or even just a conscious gratitude that every day is a gift, reaching out to something bigger than yourself may greatly enhance all those pills, powders, and protein shakes. (Studies correlate more prayer with more CD4 cells - honest!) ..." From the January 2002 issue of POZ
This struck me because I consider Oprah one of my mentors and try to practice forgiveness as she once defined it: "Forgiveness is giving up the Hope that the past could be different". It also struck me because over the last ten years, I have come to learn that by giving an unwarranted gift to those who don't deserve it, it is I who is freed from that bondage of anger.
I had read this article weeks ago and set it aside in my commentary file. I was reminded of it as I watched Tom Hanks' stunning performance in "Philadelphia" again last night. I was watching for two reasons - to remind myself of how it still really is out there, and to write down this passage:
The Precedent: "The Federal Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as a reference for this Supreme Court decision: "Subsequent decisions have held that AIDS is protected as a handicap under law not only because of the physical limitations it imposes, but because the prejudice surrounding AIDS exacts a social death which precedes the actual physical one.
This is the essence of discrimination - formulating opinions about others not based on their individual merits but rather on their membership in a group with assumed characteristics."
My mission is to continue reaching out to something bigger than myself so that I may enhance all those pills, powders, and protein shakes; to live to tell as long as I am able and to share my experiences with any one who may benefit from what I've learned.
General Discussion/Brainstorming:
Volunteers/Donations Needed:
U.S. Warned Against AIDS Complacency
Sun
Jul 7, 2002
By
EMMA ROSS, AP Medical Writer
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) - The United States must revive the passion it once
had for tackling the AIDS epidemic, otherwise infection rates could start
climbing again, the U.S. AIDS prevention chief said Sunday.
"When the drumbeat changes
The DANCE Changes"
Date:
Wed Mar 13, 2002 9:15 am
Subject: [AEGiS] A Q&A from Ask the Doc
Question: What exactly is HIV positive?
Also, this is kind of a difficult
question, but if a person with HIV infection has survived for the past 10
years, how much longer will he continue to do so? One last question, is there
any sexual activity for him that can be engaged in without his partner
contracting the virus?
Answer:
HIV - positive simply means infection with HIV. It is not synonymous with AIDS (which is and always has been an arbitrary constellation of indicator conditions). The virus is active making copies of itself (and typically destroying the CD4+ cells) from the moment it enters the body.
The average time someone survives from
the moment of infection until death (due to HIV) continues to increase. At the
beginning of the epidemic, the average time was about 10 years. Many people
confuse the date of diagnosis with the date of actual infection. The former is
usually well known, the latter typically not known at
all. There can be many years separating the two dates. It currently is
estimated that at least 25% of persons infected with HIV today will survive for
more than 20 years, utilizing drugs and treatments available today. The effect
of combination antiretroviral therapy has been estimated to have added at least
3 years to the average survival of 7 years ago. Average survival today (of
persons infected 5-10 years ago) is about 15 years from moment of infection
until death. But averages are exactly that: averages. More precise estimates
for individuals depend on current and past HIV RNA levels, current and past
CD4+ cell counts, number of antiretroviral regimens used, adherence to therapy,
response to therapy, current health status, and CD4+ cell count trends over
time. At least 5% of HIV infected persons are estimated to be long term non-progressors. That is, in the absence of therapy, these
individuals maintain a CD4+ cell count 450 cells and typically have HIV RNA
levels < 5000 copies/ml. It is not clear what immunologic features
distinguish these individuals from the other 95% of HIV infected persons.
Sexual intercourse when the male uses a latex condom is considered very low
risk. The risk is not zero, because the condom could break. Similarly, the risk
of transmission from male to female is very low when the woman uses a female
condom. Oral insertive and oral receptive sexual
activity is low risk. Mutual masturbation (without condoms) approaches zero risk
of transmission of the virus. Deep kissing is risk free (unless each person has
active bleeding).
Rodger
MacArthur, M.D.
AIDS/HIV
Reaching the Unreachable.. Online Outreach
Outreach professionals are always looking for those hard-to-reach populations where HIV education is in desparate need. They take to the streets; to local bars and clubs; to bath houses. Now there is a new way to reach those hard to reach populations...online. The need for this type of outreach is certainly there. The web site Gay.com surveyed 3000 of their site visitors. 84% of those visitors reported they had met sexual partners online (Brown, Washington Post, 2/03). Other studies have traced STD outbreaks to internet chat rooms. many who have been diagnosed with STDs report the met the person who infected them via the internet.
Why the Internet?
What makes the
internet so attractive to those seeking sexual liaisons? First of all, the
initial meetings and discussions take place in a safe enviroment...in
front of a computer. For obvious reasons, many people fear meeting a stranger
in a strange, secluded place. Yet they are looking for sexual contacts. To ease
their fear and still meet potential partners, people take to the chat rooms.
Before any potentially harmful meeting takes place, two people can get to
"know" one another online.
Knowing one another brings us to the second reason the internet is so appealing. People can be whatever or whoever they please. Six feet tall, blue eyes and blond hair....an artist....an athelete...single....or "well endowed". The internet provides a safety net for those who want to pretend.
On the other side of that same coin, chat rooms allow people to be themselves without the fear of rejection. Being cast aside online is a far cry from being rejected in person. Chatters are free to learn about one another without the pressures of that uncomfortable "first meeting".
Finally, the internet can be a very private place. Many people exploring their sexual desires want to do so under the umbrella of anonymity. For instance, many heterosexual men look for male sexual partners to explore their bisexual desires. They wish to keep these relationships and their feelings of bisexuality from their wives or girlfriends. Chat rooms are a perfect place to do so.
Is there a need for online outreach?
Simply put,
yes there certainly is. Several studies have linked outbreaks of STD's such as
syphilis with partners found in internet chat rooms. Two studies presented at
the 2003 National HIV Prevention Conference noted that online chatrooms and Web sites are replacing gay bathhouses and
sex clubs as the most popular meeting points for arranging high-risk sex. In
fact the need is being recognized by prevention and outreach agencies across
the country. Funding streams are now allocating funds to maintain online
outreach staff. Mind you, the funds are limited but the fact that any money is
available unscores the perceived importance and value
of online outreach. Programs are now in place in Detroit, Seattle, Boston,
Miami and Los Angeles.
What is the advantage of online outreach?
Experts agree, people who use the internet to find sexual partners have a
greater number of partners than those who find sexual partners the traditional
way. In addition, many of their partners are nonlocatable
which makes partner notification, testing, and counseling problematic. Online
outreach gives prevention specialists another tool with which to educate about
safer sex and to locate potentially exposed persons. In addition, many times,
online counselors are reaching people at precisely the time they are deciding
whether or not to have anonymouos sex. Terrence Lo, epidemiologist with the California Department of
Health Services points out that by providing anonymity, the internet allows
counselors to reach those people who may be reluctant to discuss safer sex
issues in other settings.
Does online outreach work?
How effective is
online outreach? It's too soon to tell however some programs are showing
promise. From January 2003 to October 2003, The
Midwest AIDS Prevention Project in Ferndale Michigan spent over 100
hours online in chat rooms. According to their data, 289 client interventions
took place (Resource: Midwest AIDS Prention Project,
November, 2003). How many of those people would have engaged any prevention
efforts offline?
Reaching the unreachable...online
outreach and prevention.
Using the internet to educate...ironic...that's what the founding fathers of
the internet had intended all along.
~ Mark Cichocki
Copyright © 2004 About, Inc. About and About.com are registered trademarks of About, Inc. The About logo is a trademark of About, Inc. All rights reserved.
July 12-16, 2010
Camp Heart to Heart is a FREE summer camp for children ages 5-12, who are living in the shadow of HIV/AIDS. This includes kids who are either HIV+, have an immediate family member who is HIV+, or has lost an immediate family member to AIDS.
The camp was formed in 1999. It was dedicated in honor and memory of Lions member ... Tom Welker, PDG.
Camp Heart to Heart is a collaboration between Lions Camp Crescendo Inc., AIM of Kentuckiana, House of Ruth, Kentucky AIDS Life Alliance (KALA), and other Louisville HIV/AIDS service organizations.
Each year, during early June, the camp is held at Lions Camp Crescendo, which is about 25 miles south of Louisville, KY on 185 beautiful acres just off I-65.
Camp Heart to Heart is made possible through private and corporate donations and grants. All donations are tax deductible*and help defray expenses related to this community service project. Please help sponsor our kids. It will be greatly appreciated.
*Lions Camp Crescendo Inc. is a 501c3 organization.
More
information on opportunities for both campers and counselors are now available
thru the Case Management and Outreach staff at No. Ky.
Health.
Worlds Apart
by
Annia Ciezadlo
Why are HIVers in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood dying at twice the rate of
HIVers in the gay enclave of Chelsea? A case study of the ever-widening gulf
that divides the United States of AIDS
The health department says Harlem and Chelsea aren’t the only disparity: Across the city, people in whiter, wealthier neighborhoods live longer than those in poorer, darker ones—even when the two are side by side. Next to Chelsea, the (also relatively affluent) Greenwich Village–SoHo area had the city’s second-lowest PWA death rate, at 12.2, while an adjacent district with a high concentration of public-housing projects had the city’s highest—at 43.9, almost four times higher.
And it’s not just black and white. Consider other high-mortality neighborhoods, like the South Bronx and Crown Heights, both heavily Latino. “When we start comparing Harlem and Chelsea, one of the first differences that jumps out to us is race,” says Juan Battle, a professor of sociology at New York City’s Hunter College. “But if you look again, there’s another difference, which is class.”
And it’s there, at the American juncture of race and income, where HIV diverges into a kind of apartheid. The divide may not be as stark as that between HIVers in the West and those in Africa or Asia, but it’s impossible to ignore. Middle-class HIVers (still mostly gay white men) reap HAART’s promise of a “chronic manageable illness,” while the underclass (overwhelmingly African American) often lives as if HAART had never arrived. “What you see in Harlem mirrors a lot of urban areas in this country,” says Carole Bernard of the National Minority AIDS Council. And the disparity between Chelsea and Harlem could as well be the disparity between Dupont Circle and Anacostia in Washington, DC; West Hollywood and South Central in Los Angeles; South Beach and Liberty City in Miami; tony Atlanta and large swathes of the poor, rural south, where AIDS rates are climbing.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, between 1993 and 2001 (a span during which life-saving HAART was introduced), the deaths of PWAs nationally dropped by an estimated 75 percent among whites, but only by 50 percent among blacks. By 2000, AIDS rates (as opposed to just HIV) were nine times higher in blacks than in whites. Most studies have attributed such staggering rates to both late diagnoses and poor HAART adherence. But they are inextricably linked to poverty itself.
When poor people get sick, it’s often from causes that are impossible to untangle: years of cheap food; asthma from pollutants (most of New York City’s bus depots are concentrated in Harlem); IV drug use—which has little to do with race but does correlate closely with geography and class—that weakens their bodies and their resolve.
Most damaging: the lack of preventive care that comes from having no health insurance or high-cost insurance, and relying on the ER. Says Battle, “Poor populations don’t see the health care system as serving a preventive function—it’s serving a treatment function. So if you’re not sick, you’re not gonna go.”
And then there are the intangibles: depression; hopelessness; a corrosive distrust of the medical establishment. “You say one word incorrectly, and you’ve suddenly got a very angry client who’s ready to run out the door and never come back,” says Daniel Weglein, MD, Deborah’s doctor and Harlem United’s medical director. “It doesn’t matter how much services, treatment and counseling is out there if people aren’t ready to engage in care.”
“If you’re HIV positive, and you’re also homeless, and you have a substance abuse problem, and your children are in foster care, getting treatment for HIV is probably last on your list of priorities,” says Harlem United’s Cynthia Ceilan. “You’re either looking for your next fix, or trying to get your kids back, or trying to find a place to live.” Even when low-cost AIDS treatment services are available, poor people often don’t—or can’t—use them. If they do, the effort it takes just to stay “compliant” can be overwhelming. “Can we deal with HIV in poor communities without dealing with poverty?” Battle asks. “I would argue no. It hasn’t worked with high blood pressure, it hasn’t worked with asthma, it hasn’t worked with diabetes, and it won’t work with HIV” (see “Closing the Gap” ).
http://www.poz.com/index.cfm?p=article&art_id=3069
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