Bill Rosendahl, LA Cith Councilmember: Let’s help the homeless for the holidays

Let’s help the homeless for the holidays
by Bill Rosendahl, December 4, 2011

Dear Friends,

As the holidays approach, the weather has grown colder and harsher, and those who are forced to live on the streets need our help.

During the last week, we opened the Emergency Winter Shelter Program, which will provide more than 200 beds for the homeless on the Westside thru mid-March.  But the program – and those it serves – sorely needs your help.

Can you help by donating personal items and supplies for the shelters?   The items, listed below, can be left at any of my offices between now and December 16.

• Toiletries:  razors, soap, toothpaste, feminine hygiene products; foot spray; deodorant; combs; hairbrushes; nail clippers; shower shoes.
• Clothing:  men’s underwear; women’s underwear; socks; t-shirts; coats; jackets; hats; scarves; gloves; men’s pants; women’s pants; shoes; adult diapers.
• Personal items:  backpacks; reading glasses.
• Items for shelter:  coffee; creamer; sugar; books; magazines; board games.

These items can be dropped off at either of my field offices or downtown:

City Hall
Room 415, 200 N Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
213-473-7011

Westchester
7166 W Manchester Ave
Los Angeles CA 90045
310-569-8772
Hours: 9a-5p

West LA
1645 Corinth Ave, #201
Los Angeles, CA 90025
310-575-8461
Hours: 9a-5p

Thanking you in advance for demonstrating the 11th District is a community that cares.  Together we can make this special season a little warmer for those in need.

Happy Holidays,

—Bill

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Congresswoman Barbara Lee’s (D-Calif.) Congressional Address for World AIDS Day

Congresswoman Barbara Lee’s (D-Calif.) Congressional Address for World AIDS Day
uploaded by Congresswoman Barbara Lee, November 30, 2011

Congresswoman Barbara Lee on the House Floor 11-30-11

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Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), The Hill: HIV discrimination still a challenge 30 years later

HIV discrimination still a challenge 30 years later
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), November 30, 2011

chers—

this article appeared in the nov 30 issue of The Hill.

—rk

World AIDS Day 2011 marks tremendous progress in the global response since the first discovery of AIDS cases 30 years ago. The good news is that new HIV infections worldwide are at their lowest levels since 1997. Promising research shows that eliminating new HIV infections in children is possible — and our goal of doing so by 2015 is within reach. AIDS-related deaths are at their lowest level since the 2005 peak. We know that U.S.-funded research yields revolutionary breakthroughs in the global and domestic AIDS response.

Despite U.S. efforts, however, the world is truly at a tipping point and we must not be complacent. AIDS is still the greatest humanitarian crisis of our lifetime. Thirty-four million people are living with HIV globally. Of the 15 million people medically recommended for anti-retroviral medication, only half have access to the drug treatment. This means some 8 million people still await treatment, including more than 5,000 people in our country.

African-Americans — especially women and young men who have sex with men — face the most severe burden of HIV in the United States. And with domestic poverty rates on the rise, there is real concern that income inequality, homelessness and long-term unemployment will hinder outreach and prevention efforts in the most critical communities as well as create barriers to effective treatment for those with the virus.

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Maria T. Mejia, The Body: World AIDS Day (My Thoughts)

World AIDS Day (My Thoughts)
by Maria T. Mejia, December 1, 2011 (World AIDS Day)

For our World AIDS Day 2011 section, we wanted to capture the diversity of the AIDS community. So, we reached out to people across the world — regular contributors and those who have never written for us before — and asked them to guest blog. These columns are written by people who are living with HIV, have been affected by HIV, or work in the field.

World AIDS Day has become one of the most recognized international health days, and a key opportunity to raise awareness, commemorate those who have passed on, and celebrate victories such as increased access to treatment and prevention services.

Started on Dec. 1, 1988, World AIDS Day is about raising money, increasing awareness, fighting prejudice, fighting stigma and improving education. World AIDS Day is important for reminding people that HIV has not gone away, and that there are many things still to be done. PEOPLE ARE STILL DYING OF AIDS!

Thirty years into the illness I still find many people making the disease a moral issue. It is not a moral disease; it is a human condition.

There is still not a cure! We want a cure. I know that the lab companies are making better medication … but we want a cure or a vaccine! Some places, like here in some states in the U.S., thousands of citizens are on waiting lists for lifesaving medications. This is horrible; it breaks my heart seeing people in such need of these medications, and they can’t get them! What is going to happen to the newly diagnosed?

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Thomas DeLorenzo, The Body: Secretary Clinton, Can We Take Care of the Americans With AIDS First?

Secretary Clinton, Can We Take Care of the Americans With AIDS First?
by Thomas DeLorenzo, December 1. 2011 (World AIDS Day)

For our World AIDS Day 2011 section, we wanted to capture the diversity of the AIDS community. So, we reached out to people across the world — regular contributors and those who have never written for us before — and asked them to guest blog. These columns are written by people who are living with HIV, have been affected by HIV, or work in the field.

World AIDS Day, for most of the country, is just another day. However, for a person living with AIDS like myself, it is a day of victory. Unfortunately this particular World AIDS Day is marred with insults and ignorance. A few weeks ago, Secretary Clinton announced the United States set a new direction for its global AIDS campaign, with an emphasis on HIV-fighting drugs that can prevent new infections. The key word in that statement is “global.” Secretary Clinton waxes poetically about creating an AIDS-free generation, declaring that it “has never been a policy priority for the United States government — until today.”

Secretary Clinton, I must ask you this. What happened to the nearly 7,000 Americans who are living without the very lifesaving medications you speak of? What about waiting lists in our own country? What about money for us? I am one of those people who depend on the AIDS Drug Assistance Program to receive my HIV medications. Without the help of the program, I am not sure how I would afford to, well, stay alive.

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Michelle Rattinger, George Washington University Hatchet: 9 Conference Photos: ‘The Beginning of the End of AIDS’

‘The Beginning of the End of AIDS’ 9 conference photos
by Michelle Rattinger, December 1, 2011 (World AIDS Day)

photo above: The star-studded panel included renowned musicians Alicia Keys and Bono, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, D-Calif., Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., as well as other distinguished HIV/AIDS activists. Michelle Rattinger | Senior Photo Editor

President Barack Obama speaks to the importance of HIV/AIDS prevention at The Beginning of the End of Aids event in the Jack Morton Auditorium Wednesday morning. Michelle Rattinger | Senior Photo Editor

Lead singer of Irish rock band U2, Bono, greets audience members before the start of the panel discussion. Michelle Rattinger | Senior Photo Editor

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Tan Ee Lyn, Reuters, Hong Kong: Children with HIV in Asia suffer resistance to AIDS drugs

Children with HIV in Asia suffer resistance to AIDS drugs
by Tan Ee Lyn, December 1, 2011

chers—

this is the kind of report we will see more often as HIV meds are used as prophylaxis. new virus infecting new persons will already be resistant to meds in this “rich-served-first-to-the-exclusion-of-the-poor-who-were-only-going-to-die-without-paying-anyway” embedded distribution model. it exacerbates the difference between rich and poor globally. the article also raises the problems of pediatric dosage and (non-)access to medicines for the poor, medicines from which big pharma hasn’t finished extracting sufficient profit,

and a vaccine? duh. the most recent advances in the vaccine field were 75 years ago. since then, big pharma has been closing down and not investing in vaccine research facilities (call it infrastructure, if you will), because “virtual” cures pay so much better. a vaccine you get once and you’re done with it. a virtual cure you take multiple versions marked up a hundred- to hundred fifty-fold, forever.

it makes conrad murray look tame by comparison.

—rk

(Reuters) – Teenagers in Asia receiving treatment for HIV are showing early signs of osteoporosis and children as young as five are becoming resistant to AIDS drugs, an anti-AIDS group said on Thursday, urging more attention be given to young HIV patients.

The finding, made available on World AIDS Day, is a reminder that while more people in Asia now have access to basic AIDS drugs, improved medicines remain out of reach and patients — both adults and children — still suffer from inadequate care.

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JohnsHopkins, YouTube, World AIDS Day 2011 Slideshow: Getting to Zero

World AIDS Day 2011 Slideshow: Getting to Zero
uploaded by JohnsHopkinsSPH on Nov 30, 2011

World AIDS Day 2011 marks 30 years of AIDS. This student slideshow highlights the most recent statistics, challenges and goals in the continuing fight against HIV and AIDS.

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YouTube on World Aids Day: Why are you Facing AIDS @ USCA 2011

Why are you Facing AIDS @ USCA 2011
uploaded by aidsgov on Nov 28, 2011

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Grant Slater, 89.3KPCC: 11 names added to AIDS memorial in Lincoln Park

11 names added to AIDS memorial in Lincoln Park
by Grant Slater, November 23, 2011

Eleven more names of people who have died from AIDS were added to The Wall Las Memorias AIDS monument in Lincoln Park today. An artist sandblasted the names from those who died this year, in preparation for World AIDS Day ceremonies planned to take place next week. Hundreds of victims of the HIV virus are already on the monument ad there is space for 7,500 more.

The eight-panel project was inspired by a Quetzalcoatl serpent, an Aztec symbol for rebirth, and snakes down a walkway in the park. Six of its walls are painted with murals, while two are reserved for names.

Program Manager Enrique Topete said the wall in East Los Angeles helps destroy barriers that keep the Latino community from talking about HIV.

“The stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS makes it very difficult for people to actually talk about it, since of course its surrounded by sex, and within the Latino community sex itself is taboo and it’s a very difficult subject to touch upon,” Topete said. “I think this event itself assists people and it normalizes, like, it brings it down to home and it helps people talk about the disease itself.”

The two walls in the middle of the park will someday hold 7,500 names. New names will be added annually, and unveiled at a special ceremony on World AIDS Day, Dec. 1st.

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