Join SASI & the Southern AIDS Coalition (SAC) at USCA, Washington, DC, September 7-10, 2017
Southern Pathway Workshops
Southern Stigma: New Research; Positive Action (Session Five)
Friday, September 8, 4: 15 PM – 6: 15 PM
Treasury, Meeting Level 4
Using the Law to Discriminate: A Southern Perspective (Session Six)
Saturday, September 9, 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Treasury, Meeting Level 4
The Intersection of Racial Justice, Mass Incarceration and HIV in the South (Session Eight)
Saturday, September 9, 4: 15 PM – 6:15 PM
Treasury, Meeting Level 4
Southern Salvation: Black Gay Men, HIV, and the Black Church (Session Nine)
Sunday, September 10, 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Treasury, Meeting Level 4
Other Sessions featuring SAC or SASI Staff
Preventing HIV in the Trump Administration (Session Three)
Friday, September 8, 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Pentagon, Meeting Level 4
Getting on the Same Page: Viral Suppression and HIV Transmission (Session Four)
Friday, September 8, 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Treasury, Meeting Level 4
Ending HIV in the Trump Era: Risk or Opportunity? (Session Four)
Friday, September 8, 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Pentagon, Meeting Level 4
Community-Based Strategies to Address HIV Stigma (Session Eight)
Saturday, September 9, 4:15 PM – 6:15 PM
Pentagon, Meeting Level 4
Expanding Sanctuary: Reimagining Resistance and Safety in our Cities (Session Eight)
Saturday, September 9, 4:15 PM – 6:15 PM
Congress, Meeting Level 4
_______________________________________
Join us at AIDSWatch, Washington, DC, March 27-28, 2017
Southern HIV/AIDS Strategy Initiative/Southern AIDS Coalition Meeting
Monday, March 27th from 1:20 to 2:40 p.m., West End at the Georgetown Marriott, 1221 22nd St., NW, Washington DC.
-
Hear about SASI’s latest research on HIV-related stigma
-
Learn about SAC and SASI’s policy priorities for 2017
-
Receive state-specific advocacy materials to share with your members of Congress
_________________________________________
Webinar: Thursday, March 17, 2016
2 – 3 p.m. ET || 1 – 2 p.m. CT || 12 – 1 p.m. MT || 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. PT
Register today!
Whether you are talking about numbers of new diagnoses, HIV or AIDS rates, death rates, survival rates, or infection rates among women, young gay and bisexual men, African Americans, Latinos, or transgender persons, the path to ending the HIV epidemic domestically must go through the U.S. South. Join the Southern AIDS Strategy Initiative (SASI), Southern AIDS Coalition (SAC) and the HIV Prevention Justice Alliance (HIV PJA) to learn how recent CDC funding for community-based organizations (CBOs) fails to follow the HIV epidemic.
This webinar will break down SASI’s analysis on the impact and misalignment of CDC prevention funding, with a community perspective about the impact of CDC’s funding decisions upon hard-hit areas of the South. Webinar attendees will learn about concrete action steps that you can take to make your views known to the CDC and demand they restore critical funding to CBOs in the South.
Presenters include:
Carolyn McAllaster, Director, Southern AIDS Strategy Initiative (SASI)
Valerie Mincey, Executive Director, BASIC NW Florida
Register now!
________________________________________________
Background resources:
- SASI Take Action Page that includes state-specific toolkits
______________________________________________________________
Register for AIDS Watch 2016 HERE.
AIDSWatch is the nation’s largest annual constituent-based national HIV/AIDS advocacy event, bringing together hundreds of people living with HIV and their allies to meet with Members of Congress and to educate them about the important issues at stake for people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States. AIDSWatch 2016 will take place February 29 – March 1, 2016 in Washington D.C.
Please join SASI and the Southern AIDS Coalition at AIDS Watch 2016.
Washington Court Hotel, 525 New Jersey Ave NW, Washington DC 20001
(Springwood Rooms). February 29, 2016. 2:00 – 3:15 p.m.
SASI/SAC meeting: HIV in the US South
Agenda
- Review of latest SASI research related to HIV in the US South;
- Discussion of and input into SASI/SAC policy advocacy agenda;
- Preparation for Congressional visits:
- Distribution of Southern State-based fact sheets (including Ryan White, HOPWA and CDC funding)
_________________________________
Southern REACH Grantee Convening
Thu, Oct 8 -9, 2015
Birmingham, Alabama
Carolyn McAllaster, Ronald Johnson, Robert Greenwald, Nicholas Carlisle and Kenyon Farrow discussing policy at the Southern REACH Grantee Convening.
________________________________________________________________
SASI at the US Conference on AIDS
Thu, Sep 10 to Sun, Sep 13, 2015
September 12, 2015–noon to 2 p.m.:
Plenary: HIV in the US South (coordinated by SASI and the Southern AIDS Coalition)
Saturday’s Plenary is devoted to HIV in the US South with Dr. Shanell McGoy, Director of HIV/STD at the TN Department of Health as the Keynote Speaker. Additional speakers: Kathie Hiers (AIDS Alabama), Cedric Sturdevant (My Brother’s Keeper), Monica Johnson (HEROES), Robert Greenwald (TAEP) and Robert Suttle (SERO Project).
Affinity Session: Women Living with HIV in the Deep South
Download Slides: Women Living with HIV in the Deep South slides
September 11, 2015–8 to 9 a.m. in the USCA Community Village
(SASI and the Southern AIDS Coalition)
Our Affinity Session, Women Living with HIV in the Deep South, will be held in the Community Village, Washington Convention Center, 801 Mt. Vernon Place. Speakers will look behind the statistics related to the HIV epidemic among women in the Deep South to look at factors that lead to the heavy HIV burden among women and will lead an audience discussion of possible solutions. Speakers include Carolyn McAllaster (Southern HIV/AIDS Strategy Initiative), Sharon Decuir (HAART, Inc. in Baton Rouge), Cynthia Rodgers (The Family Clinic, University of Alabama at Birmingham), Kathie Hiers (AIDS Alabama), and Nic Carlisle (Southern AIDS Coalition).
Keeping the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Funded and Current
Friday, September 11, 2015–2:30 – 4:00 p.m.
Download Slides: McAllaster USCA 2015 Keeping the Ryan White HIV AIDS Program Funded and Current
The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program needs to be continued and funded, and absent of reauthorization, the Program must adapt to the changing health care landscape within the current law. The FY2016 appropriations process relative to the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program will be discussed, along with ways in which the Program can adapt under current law. Strategies to distribute funding to areas with unmet need, including supplemental funding, and provide care and treatment to people with HIV who are co-infected with hepatitis will be examined.
Presenters: Carl Schmid, Deputy Executive Director, The AIDS Institute; Lisa Stand, Senior Policy Associate, The AIDS Institute; Nick Taylor, Policy Associate, The AIDS Institute; Carolyn McAllaster, Executive Director, Southern HIV/AIDS Strategy Initiative
_____________________________________________________________
Register HERE
Travel, Hotel, and Meeting Space Information HERE.
__________________________
October 23-24, 2014: 2o14 CAPUS Summit in Atlanta, GA. The Southern AIDS Coalition, the Southern HIV/AIDS Strategy Initiative, and the National Allliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors are co-sponsoring this Summit. State and CBO representatives from six Southern CAPUS states will gather to share best practices learned and challenges involved in the Care and Prevention in the United States (CAPUS) Demonstration Projects. Federal CAPUS Partners will talk about lessons learned from the multi-agency partnership. The Summit will finally address sustainability of the CAPUS-funded initiatives and opportunities for advocacy.
September 17-18, 2014: PWN-USA Summit 2014 in Ft. Walton Beach, FL. Join 200 women from across the country at PWN-USA’s first national gathering to build advocacy and leadership skills among women living with HIV. Register here: http://www.speakupwomenssummit.org/.
- Breakfast Planary: Southern Exposure with SASI researcher Kristen Sullivan and SASI Steering Committee member, Sharon Decuir. To include release of SASI Infrastructure Study: Baton Rouge
September 19-21: Positive Living 2014 , also in Ft. Walton Beach, FL. We are all aware of the tough struggles the HIV/AIDS community faces in today’s landscape. It is more important than ever that we all find our voice and speak up for the things we critically need to sustain a healthy lifestyle. Please commit to join the fight this weekend if you haven’t already. The more voices speaking out, the better chance of being heard. Register here: http://aidsoasis.org/events/positive-living-2014/
- SASI Workshop on Saturday, 9/20/14 at 3 p.m.: Advocacy Strategies Focused on the Ryan White Care Act, Carolyn McAllaster, Forum room in the Ramada, Ft. Walton Beach, FL.
- Find slides from the Workshop here: McAllaster Ryan White Care Act presentation 9-2014 Positive Living
___________________________
White Meeting on HIV in the Southern United States: On June 18, 2014, the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, under the leadership of new Director, Douglas M. Brooks, MSW, held its first ever meeting focused on HIV in the Southern United States. Southerners living with HIV, their advocacy partners, and representatives from several federal agencies gathered at the White House Executive Office Building to hear about the regional challenges the South faces in its fight against HIV and to ask questions. Douglas Brooks, who is living with HIV himself and who grew up in Georgia, kicked off the meeting by letting participants know that one of his top priorities is assuring that resources follow the epidemic. Full account of meeting here and agenda below.
White House Meeting on HIV in the Southern United States Agenda
SASI at the White House Meeting
Esther Ross, Kathie Hiers, Robert Greenwald, Carolyn McAllaster, Deadra Malloy, Joseph Interrante, Linda Rigsby, Robin Webb
Sergio Farfan, Valerie Mincey
April 28-29, 2014: AIDS Watch, Washington DC
SASI members from 10 deep south states attended AIDS Watch and visited their Congressional Representatives to discuss the importance of Ryan White funding, the need to modernize the Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS (HOPWA) funding formula, and the need to lift the ban on federal funding for syringe exchange programs.
Carolyn McAllaster leading SASI meeting at AIDSWatch 2014
SASI Steering Committee members at AIDSWatch 2014
Deadra Malloy Esther Ross, LaSean Hutcherson,
Valerie Mincey, Terry Munn
Kathie Hiers, Carolyn McAllaster Linda Rigsby, Soree Finley
Joseph Interrante
Robin Webb, Dazon Dixon Diallo Sharon Decuir, Alice Reiner
Vignetta Charles, AIDS United; Robert Greenwald, Dazon Dixon Diallo
February 13, 2014: Webinar: Marketplaces and Ryan White for States Not Expanding Medicaid, Thursday, February 13, noon – 1:30. Register here!
This free webinar is designed for case managers, peer navigators, planning council members and anyone else working on the front lines of the HIV epidemic, working in the states where Medicaid is not expanding.
During this 90-minute webinar policy experts from the Southern HIV/AIDS Strategy Initiative and the Harvard Law School Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation will cover several topics, including:
- accessing Navigators and other supports to avoid consumer scams
- selecting the best private health insurance plan
- “vigorously pursuing” ACA insurance yet remaining on the Ryan White program if that is the best course of action for you (or your client)
- spotting and reporting problems with marketplace insurance to support ongoing advocacy and improve coverage for people living with HIV
September 18, 2013: PACHA (Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS) holds meeting focused on the Ryan White Care Act. SASI director, Carolyn McAllaster, presented on Ryan White: Looking Forward.
DOWNLOAD SASI SLIDES: Ryan White: Looking Forward
September 9, 2013: SASI and NASTAD at the US Conference on AIDS, New Orleans, LA.
DOWNLOAD SASI RESEARCH SLIDES here.
| Monday, September 9th 8:30 – 11:30 am Imperial 5C Southern Discomfort: Developing and Using HIV Treatment Cascades and Research-based Advocacy Strategies to Focus Attention and Resources on the Southern HIV Epidemic. |
|
________________________________________________________________
- September 8-11, 2013, The 2013 United States Conference on AIDS, New Orleans, LA: The United States Conference on AIDS (USCA) is the “largest AIDS-related gathering in the U.S., bringing together over thousands of workers from all fronts of the HIV/AIDS epidemic…to build national support networks, exchange the latest information and learn cutting-edge tools to address the challenges of HIV/AIDS.” This year, the USCA will focus on the HIV epidemic in the South. Learn more about the USCA here. SASI will be co-leading a seminar at the USCA on Monday, September 9 from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. Stay tuned for more details.
February 25-26, 2013, AIDS Watch, Washington, D.C.: This two-day event, hosted by AIDS United, the National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA), and the Treatment Access Expansion Project (TAEP), includes a training to prepare attendees for visits with their Members of Congress, the Positive Leadership Award Reception, and meetings with Congressional offices. This year’s AIDS Watch priorities include:
- Increasing Congressional support for domestic HIV/AIDS appropriations.
- Educating Members of Congress on the importance of implementing and funding the Affordable Care Act; protecting Medicaid; and preserving the prevention and public health fund.
- Urging Congress to repeal criminal laws targeting PLWHA; lift the ban on federal funding for syringe exchange programs; and fully fund comprehensive, evidence-based sex education.
Learn more about SASI at AIDS Watch here.
July 22 – 27, 2012: International AIDS Conference in Washington, DC
- AIDS in America: The Invisible Epidemic, Tuesday, July 24th (participants included SASI members Kathie Hiers and Carolyn McAllaster)
June 19, 2012: SASI delegation participated in Congressional Roundtables sponsored by AIDS United and co-sponsored by Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC) and Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) in the Senate and Representative Hank Johnson (D-GA) and Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) in the House.
June 13, 2012: Farmer Justice presented a webinar entitled, The Southern HIV/AIDS Strategy Initiative (“SASI”): Focusing White House Attention on the HIV Epidemic in the South by SASI Director, Carolyn McAllaster. The power point slides are here: Farmerworker’s Justice Webinar Presentation and you can listen to the webinar here.
By May 18, 2012: SASI encouraged advocates and supporters to urge their Congressional leaders to Support Enhanced Responses to HIV/AIDS for Women and Southern US States.
April 25, 2012: Carolyn McAllaster, SASI’s Director, presented at the FAPP meeting on SASI’s work and the findings of SASI’s Research Report. See the SASI powerpoint presentation slides.
April 24, 2012: SASI delegation meets with new ONAP Director, Dr. Grant Colfax and with Dr. Ronald Valdiserri, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health, Infectious Diseases at HHS to discuss SASI’s Call to Action urging the creation of a State of the South Task Force.
April 23 – 24, 2012: SASI members participate in AIDS Watch in Washington, DC. More than 20 SASI supporters attended AIDS Watch and visited members of Congress from 9 Southern States to urge support for SASI’s Call to Action.
March 6-8, 2012: Raising Our Voices: An Advocacy Summit for HIV-Positive Women in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. SASI Project Director, Carolyn McAllaster, will be co-presenting the Lunch Plenary on Policy, Rights and Women-Centered Care–A Southern Perspective. See the SASI–Focusing White House Attention on the HIV Epipdemic in the South plenary power point presentation.
March 6-8, 2012: Raising Our Voices: An Advocacy Summit for HIV-Positive Women in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. SASI Project Director, Carolyn McAllaster and SASI Steering Committee member, Amy Rosenberg (along with her colleague Amy Killelea) will be conducting an advocacy workshop of SASI and Health Care Reform.
January 12, 2012: SASI releases Research Report on the HIV Epidemic in The South and Calls for Immediate and Increased Federal HIV/AIDS Resources to the South.
December 9, 2011: SASI delegation meets with Jeff Crowley, Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy and Greg Millett, Senior Policy Advisor with the Office of National AIDS Policy to deliver SASI’s Research Report and Petition Signatures.
December 9, 2011: SASI delegation meets with Dr. Ron Valdiserri, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health, Infectious Diseases and Christopher Bates, Executive Director of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS to deliver SASI’s Research Report and Petition Signatures.
December 2, 2011: Rural Women’s Health Members in Florida sign SASI Petition
November 10-13, 2011: SASI coalition members circulated our petition at the U.S. Conference on AIDS in Chicago.
October 25, 2011: Over 100 members of SASI coalition partner, Louisiana AIDS Advocacy Network, attended the Office of National AIDS Policy community meeting in Baton Rouge to ask whether next steps in the implementation of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy will be focused on communities with needs typical of those in the Southeastern United States.
September 27, 2011: Thanks to the leadership of SASI coalition partner, AIDS Alabama, there were more people lined up to ask questions about next steps in the implementation of the National HIS/AIDS Strategy at the Office of National AIDS Policy forum than could be accommodated.
southernaidsstrategy.org 