Newsletter
Desert AIDS Project Community Action Newsletter
DAPCAN May 10, 2012
National Biking Month of May is for everyone, including those living with HIV/AIDS
Chief Executive Officer
Director of Marketing and Communications
Interactive Marketing Specialist
Volunteer Co-editor
Volunteer Co-editor
Volunteer Co-editor
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Honoring Harvey Milk and helping LGBT youth  Harvey Milk (1930 - 1978) was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977, one of the first openly gay men to attain political office. On election night, Milk reminded his supporters: "This is not my victory, it's yours. If a gay man can win, it proves there is hope for all minorities who are willing to fight." Tragically, Milk was assassinated (along with Mayor George Moscone) on November 27, 1978, only eleven months after taking office. Although he did not live to see his dreams fulfilled, the example of his life and leadership has made him an important national symbol in the ongoing struggle for gay, civil and human rights. Today, this annual event seeks to bring together all who support equality and justice to celebrate Milk's life, memory and dedication. All event proceeds will benefit anti-bullying efforts in Coachella Valley high school Gay Straight Alliances. Click hereto learn more about the event and here about the life and legacy of Harvey Milk. And just in: D.A.P. will hold a drawing for free tickets for clients to this event. To enter, call Ray Robertson at 760.323.2118, ext. 295 or email him at rrobertson@desertaidproject.org. Winners will be announced and contacted on Wednesday, May 16! (sb) |
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A Positive Life - The Series: Aging well with HIV & what you can do
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5th Annual Mid Summer Dance Party: DO ASK DO TELL
Do Ask, Do Tell everyone you know that D.A.P.'s Mid-Summer Dance Party V will be better than ever! The dance party will feature DJ Michael Antonio, dancers from SHARE Nightclub in Las Vegas and a performance by dance music icon Kristine W whose long list of #1 hits include "Feel What You Want," "One More Try," "Land of the Living," "Save My Soul" and many more. More information and tickets here. (jl)
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CLIENT CENTER COMMUNITY EVENTS The Client Community Center hosts regular activities and events every week (listed below). Community Center special events and other activities are here on the Community Center page.
Follow this link to see the recurring activities on the Community Center Calendar. |
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Coming Soon: SMOKING CESSATION CLASSES!
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Discover the gifts of your emotions and how to turn negatives into positives. This group is ongoing and you may join at anytime. Curriculum will repeat at the end of each cycle. For more information please contact the group's facilitator, or just show up. Ray is at 760.323.2118, ext. 295 or rrobertson@desertaidsproject.org. Embrace your feelings!
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Mike Roy will discuss HIV and the latest information on lipodystrophy. Lunch will start at 11:45 AM. RSVP to Ray at 760. 323.2118, ext. 295 or at rrobertson@desertaidsproject.org
Improve the quality of your life through education!
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The Courageous Healing Foundation helps people deal with abuse issues. Its founder, Randy Boyd, and MFT Carol Teitelbaum will discuss working and talking with men who have suffered abuse at the hands of someone they were taught to trust. Lunch starts at 11:45 AM. RSVP to Ray at 760.323.2118, ext. 295. More quality of life through education!
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Thursday, May 17 - The Basketball Diaries (1995) Film adaptation of street tough Jim Carroll's book about his free-fall into the harrowing world of drug addiction after his hopes of becoming a basketball star began to fade. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Lorraine Bracco, James Madio and Mark Wahlberg. Directed by Scott Kalvert. We all need a good flick!
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If you are ready to give up your nicotine addiction, this may be the help, direction and support you've been looking for! There are no scare tactics, patches or drugs involved. Just safe and
healthy techniques, and positive support as you finally leave behind this increasingly expensive and extremely unhealthy habit. The first classes started in mid-February, with eight participants. Of that eight, five stopped smoking and have not resumed. SO IT CAN BE DONE! Call now and sign up for the next classes which we'll start when we get at least eight enrolled. Classes will be facilitated by D.A.P.'s Ray Robertson, Certified Chemical Dependency Specialist. Call or email 760.323.2118, ext. 295 or 
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ACT UP joins Occupy Wall Street, demanding changes in housing policies and taxes to end AIDS
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As we continue to report, the U.S. Supreme Court will rule next month on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a decision that will have hugely significant effects on healthcare nationally and especially in California. If ACA is completely upheld, all should be well as implementation continues into 2014. But if part or all of it is struck down, negative consequences will be considerable in California, which has embraced and prepared for reform more aggressively than most states.And loss of the new healthcare law could be devastating for the HIV/AIDS community. A number of healthcare experts, policymakers and stakeholders have commented on possible responses by the state if the court rules against part or all of the ACA. Their opinions and perspectives 
The twenty-fifth anniversary of ACT UP seems to have reinvigorated the controversial organization to whom the HIV/AIDS community owes so much. Last week, it stood with Occupy Wall Street in New York City to protest city AIDS housing policies and to demand a "financial speculation tax," or FiST, that would involve taxing speculative trading on Wall Street and using those funds for HIV services. Click |
Pathways to Health and Well-Being HIV Conference coming to Palm Springs
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by Brett Klein, D.A.P. Fundraising & Special Events, Chair of Palm Springs Sustainability Commission I've always biked, on a banana-seat Schwinn at age 10 to a road bike for California AIDS Rides to a Townie for everyday. After 18 years living with HIV, biking remains one consistent activity that keeps my mind, body and attitude in check. Even with HIV, almost anyone can do it, at your own pace and speed and it doesn't cost a lot. Studies show that biking has many benefits for those living with HIV:
To get you in the mood, on Saturday, May 19, the Palm Springs Sustainability Commission hosts its second bike-in-to-a-movie event at the Camelot Theater. This FREE film (click here) about how biking became prominent in post-oil Cuba starts at 9:30 AM. So, get out and ride this month! Take in amazing views, get some exercise and clear your mind. Palm Springs is a great bike city with many trails and paths, and more are planned.
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The Pathways to Health and Well-Being HIV Conference is a collaboration between the County of Riverside County, County of San Bernadino, Desert AIDS Project and Bienestar. It will provide the latest information on Treatment as Prevention, Hepatitis and HIV Co-Infections, HIV & Holistic Health, HIV & Aging and much more. Dr. Neva Chauppette will be the keynote speaker. The conference will provide breakout sessions on these various topics and raffle prizes and a FREE LUNCH will be provided by the organizers. The goal of the conference is encourage all individuals to know their HIV status, and to empower those living with HIV to become better advocates for their own health, stay connected with care,and optimize their health and well-being. Attendance is free and registration opens at 8:00 AM but it's helpful to have head counts, so please register 
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Ride is coming up, June 3 - 9. Click |
Editor's Corner A Bike and a Buddy by Steve Bolerjack Like many of us, I grew up on a bike. I had an old Western Flyer at age seven, a racing bike in high school and vintage Schwinn (no one would steal it) in college, upon which I pedaled to every class I ever took. Later in Washington and New York, I was on the bike paths of Rock Creek and Central Parks every weekend. Two knee blowouts (while skiing, not biking), a broken ankle and a few tumbles slowed me down a bit but I kept riding, always preferring the bike and outdoors to an indoor treadmill. Then when HIV caught up with me and knocked me flat for a year or two, my bike gathered dust. I was recuperating with meds, but for a long time, simply didn't have the energy to ride and negotiate city traffic. When I left New York, I sold the bike. Years later in Palm Springs, I still didn't feel up to it, or so I told myself. One of those things of youth to let go, I thought. Then one day at the gym, I met and befriended Phill Gonder. Phill was also longtime HIV-positive and had suffered more than his share of illnesses. "I survived massive heart failure," he recalled in his Alabama drawl. "It was AIDS attacking my heart! But when I was recovering, I kept my bike right by my bed to remind me in one year I'm going to ride you. Biking is glorious. Every stroke, every pedal is a thank you." Indeed, Phill was the most enthusiastic and energetic biker I'd ever met. He rode everywhere and participated in every AIDS LifeCycle and Ride for Life he could find. "I ride for those who can't," he said in an interview. "I ride for those who won't. I ride because I can. I ride to live. No hill is forever." He admitted that he had good and bad days like anyone, but even when he came back from a ride utterly exhausted, he still felt the better for it. He showed me I could still enjoy biking--the speed, the air, the freedom--at my own pace and in my own time, and the hell with exhaustion. Phill inspired me to buy a good used bike, fix it up and take to the road again. Bikes had changed since my Schwinn days (the teenage guys at the bike shop smirked when I asked for a kickstand) but I got back out, slowly at first then further afield, if still on the flats (a long hill may not be forever, but it's still beyond my knees' current capacity). Phill kept biking until he couldn't anymore. He died of cancer in 2010. Anytime I hear about a bike event or often when I'm riding, I think of him a bit and give him a nod for helping me get off my butt and keep doing something I had loved, HIV be damned. I try to go for a spin several times a week, and as Phill had promised, I always feel better for it. Thanks Phill. I'd like to think that maybe somehow and somewhere, you're still riding too.
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Don't have a Kindle? Bookstores too expensive? Don't know where to get videos now that Blockbuster is history? Feel digitally overwhelmed? Miss the feel of an old-fashioned book in your hands? It's amazing how some of us overlook the nearly unlimited source of books and other materials at our area libraries that are practically next door. Palm Springs Library, at Sunrise and Baristo, has a huge collection of books, periodicals, CDs, DVDs and children's literature--all for free. Just get a card and then load up. The library is a quiet haven, with plenty of desks and carrels for private reading, writing and studying. It's also a cool retreat from the heat in summer. And there are libraries all over Riverside County. Click here for a directory of locations, hours and library websites. Many of them allow you to search and reserve books, music and videos online. It's a welcome step away from card catalogue days. (Look them up if you don't know what a card catalogue and the Dewey Decimal System are!) And remember the lending library here at D.A.P. and the inexpensive used books at Revivals. (sb) |
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Revivals stores continue to offer 10% discounts for "seniors"--anyone over 55--every Tuesday. In addition, Revivals offers 50% off men's clothing the first Thursday of each month and 50% off women's clothing on the first Friday of each month. Discounts are available on all donated items but does not include consignment or "new" items. Visit Revivals' website for store locations, hours and other information. (jl)
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The activity pictured here is tediously familiar to us all. Yet we here at DAPCAN are cautiously optimistic that there is a real chance we might be able to just stop all the pills someday. We've run several articles recently on the status of a possible cure for HIV/AIDS, but of course the need for many drugs continues. It may seem frustrating that no clear solutions or full cures have been achieved, but we feel it's important to follow all developments closely. Three HIV/AIDS activist groups met in March with researchers from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to describe the current state of cure research and identify barriers to moving such research forward swiftly and smoothly. The report of the Community Cure HIV Workshop is available here. "A cure for HIV will be essential to ending the AIDS pandemic," states the report, "but science that is focused directly on a cure is still in early stages and will likely require support of multiple stakeholders to proceed at the fastest pace." The report was authored by David Evans, Kevin Fisher, Siegfried Schwarze and our own Jeff Taylor. Click here and here to read the latest news. (sb) |
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This is really no surprise but it's now official: results from a recent study show that people with HIV whose antiviral regimen is taken as a single pill per day have better treatment adherence and a lower risk of hospitalization compared with those on regimens of three or more pills a day. Atripla, Complera and Trizivir are among the current single-pill, FDA-approved therapies. Of course, many factors go into the regimen that you and your doctor decide upon. But it can't to hurt to ask if a single-pill routine could be right for you, especially if adherence is a problem. Click here to read about the study. (sb) |
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Your editor has a sort-of-like-it/kind-of-hate-it attitude toward Facebook. Reconnecting with old acquaintances and distant relatives can have decidedly mixed results. However, Facebook has many things going for it (besides, it seems inevitable these days) and one is a page called Positive Survivors Living with HIV. The group page has the usual cute kitty and what-I-had for dessert pictures, but it can be interesting to scan through to see how others across the country are dealing with chronic HIV/AIDS. It also has useful links to HIV-related news and other sites. Check it out here and decide for yourself if it's worth the time. Your editor isn't sure yet. (sb) |
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Strange bedfellows: a local look at serodiscordance
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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) now recommends that anyone over 50 who is HIV-positive but not yet on antiviral therapy should begin a regimen at once. HHS cites a number of reasons, including the higher level of over-the-counter medications that older people take (which may suppress or adversely affect symptoms and the immune system); the increasingly clear fact that HIV advances the aging process; and the general decline of the immune system strength with age. The new guidelines also suggest that older patients and their doctors frequently monitor their medication therapy for effectiveness and especially for drug interactions. Click here for some good information and links to other resources related to aging. (sb)
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Even after more than 30 years of AIDS, "serodiscordance," (an unknown word before the epidemic) remains an issue for many people, especially when it comes to relationships and sex among gay men. What does it mean to advertise yourself as "negative, but HIV-friendly" or as a "serosorter"? 
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May is also Hepatitis Awareness Month
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Focusing on May as bicycle month is a lot more fun than thinking about yet another disease, but we all know that living with HIV makes us more susceptible to hepatitis and therefore we must pay attention. Last week, we noted that one out of every four people living with HIV also has hepatitis C (HCV) and it bears repeating that according to the 
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Remember that the Desert AIDS Project toll-free phone number is always available at 866.331.3344 as well as the website at www.desertaidsproject.org. (jl) |
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Do you need to take another look at something you read in DAPCAN somewhere only to find that it's long gone from your inbox? Now you can find past DAPCAN issues online by clicking this link. As always, you can also read the most current edition of DAPCAN on the D.A.P. website by visiting www.desertaidsproject.org/newsletter. (jl) |
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To contact state and federal officials, click on name:
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ADAP may pay Medicare Part D premium ADAP-eligible clients who have to purchase Part D prescription drug coverage may qualify to have their Part D premium paid by the State of California. Follow this link to the Part D Premium Payment Program Application. You can also call the State of California at 916.449.5900 for more information. (jl) |
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Medically Indigent Services Program (MISP) / AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) For those who qualify, medical care and help paying for your medications are available through the MISP and ADAP programs. You can find out if you qualify by scheduling an appointment by calling the numbers below. You can schedule your MISP and ADAP appointments together for Moreno Valley office ONLY. If you qualify for ADAP only, there is a local ADAP office right here at Desert AIDS Project. Specify the Palm Springs office when you call to make your appointment. Here are the numbers: 877.501.5085 - toll free ***NEW YEAR REMINDER!: Your annual appointments to continue qualifying for ADAP are usually scheduled on or before your birthdate. Avoid risking loss of coverage and long call hold times. Don't let the date creep up on you without making an appointment! The earlier you call, the better. (sb) IMPORTANT NOTICE: Faxed MISP applications tend to get lost in the process. Most persons who have faxed their application have had to re-apply later. It's best to apply in person in Moreno Valley, and get a "receipt of application", and use that as proof that you applied to avoid any uninterrupted services with your DAP medical doctor visits. (rv) |
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Call 211 for essential human services in Riverside County 2-1-1 is a toll-free service for residents looking for information about essential human services such as affordable housing, food pantries, help for an aging parent, free or low cost health services, addiction prevention programs, employment, support groups, volunteer opportunities, and 1,700 additional services! (jl) |
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For months we've been telling you about a program where ADAP-eligible clients who have to purchase Part D prescription drug coverage may qualify to have their Part D premium paid by the State of California. Your editor decided to take his own advice and apply for this benefit. I am happy to report that, after a simple application process, I was approved and my premiums were paid by the State for the entire year! If you haven't yet applied, just follow this link to the Part D Premium Payment Program Application. You can also call the State of California at 916.449.5900 for more information. (jl)
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| "Literature is not conformism but dissent. Those authors who merely repeat what everybody approves and wants to hear are of no importance. What counts alone is the innovator, the dissenter, the harbinger of things unheard, the man who rejects the traditional standards and aims at substituting new values and ideas for old ones." --Ludwig von Mises, Austrian economist and anti-Nazi activist |
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