Letter from the Executive Director

After a competitive application process, CAP was pleased to find out we have been selected for another three years of funding from the Office of Minority Health (OMH) for their Curbing HIV/AIDS Transmission among High Risk Minority Youth and Adolescents (CHAT). This award will bring $675K in HIV prevention funds to Oregon over the next three years and allow CAP to continue our local CHATpdx program.

CHATpdx is aimed at reducing HIV risk and transmission among Portland's at-risk youth. It weaves together peer education, expanded HIV testing services, increased partnerships and collaborations, and social media efforts to reach at-risk youth, with a special emphasis on reaching youth of color.

CAP's CHATpdx program was initially selected as one of ten programs across the country in 2009 to receive three years of funding. In 2012, OMH released a follow-on request for proposals (RFP) with a stated expectation to fund four to five sites across the country. CAP is excited to once again be among the selected grantees.

Under the newly announced award, CAP will partner with the Oregon Youth Authority (OYA) and the Native American Youth & Family Center (NAYA) to further reach youth involved in the juvenile correction system as well as Native American youth. We will also be expanding our collaborations over the next three years to other community partners to reach more youth.

Feel free to email Alaiyo Foster for more information, or follow us on Facebook. 

Bar Challenge: AIDS Walk Portland

Team Hobo's (photo by AJ Meeker)

Gay bars hold a special place in the fight against HIV/AIDS. When there were no government resources to help folks infected or affected, the bars were there, raising money to pay for medical care, lawyers, funerals and more. Owners and patrons alike gathered to plan and grieve, to share information and advocate, to socialize and celebrate without judgment. 

Portland gay bars are no different and continue in this same tradition as a part of Bar Challenge 2012. Five bars are competing in the Bar Challenge, registering walkers to their team, holding special events to raise money, and posting all the AIDS Walk Portland materials that help get the word out. The benefits to winning are significant, but more than that, the money raised is epic.

In 2011 and 2010, Hobo's was the Bar Challenge winner, with over $20,000 raised by their team over both years. Dave Beherend, server at Hobo's, quotes Elizabeth Taylor when he talks about why he walks, "It's (HIV/AIDS) nobody's fault, just everyone's problem!" 

For the Bar Challenge alone, we anticipate over $30,000 raised for this year's walk. These funds and the ongoing support of the gay bars in Portland are irreplaceable. We honor our bar partners and ask you to thank anyone working at one -- they make a difference, and so can you. 

Here are the top 3 Bar Challenge bars so far:

• Boxxes/Fish Grotto, $4778
• Silverado, $4153
• Hobo's, $3960

Join a team, attend a fundraiser, make a donation.

Axis

We're very excited to announce that CAP has received funding to create a brand new peer-delivered services program! Through Ryan White funds administered by Multnomah County, CAP will provide Peer Support Specialist training to 12 people who are living with HIV and have had personal experience with mental health issues and/or substance abuse. We're very pleased to be collaborating with Project Able Oregon, who will provide the training. Those who complete the training will be certified as Peer Support Specialists and will be eligible to apply for three part-time positions at CAP, providing mentoring and support services to CAP clients.

We've had an incredible response to our call for applicants to participate in the training, with almost 50 applicants! There were so many strong candidates and such compelling stories about their desire to draw on their own personal experience to support others in the community that the selection process has been a difficult one. We hope to have additional opportunities to provide this kind of training in the future and look forward to being able to offer this peer support to CAP clients.

Aging AIDS Epidemic Raises New Health Questions -- Numerous studies presented at the 19th International AIDS Conference (IAC) show that as people live longer with AIDS, they may confront other health challenges, such as premature aging and an increased risk of heart disease. 

One-third of the nearly 1.2 million people living with HIV in the U.S. are over 50, and by 2020 half will be, said the director of CDC's National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention. Studies suggest that people with HIV/AIDS may be at higher risk for the chronic illnesses of aging, or may experience them earlier. HIV triggers body-wide inflammation to help fight the virus, a process that persists and can quietly damage organs even with good medication. At the IAC, some older people living with HIV participated in a web-based project called "The Graying of AIDS" to share their knowledge and stories.

NAACP Urges Black Churches to Address AIDS Epidemic -- NAACP is launching a campaign that calls on black churches to speak out about AIDS. The organization released a 66-page manual entitled "The Black Church and HIV: The Social Justice Imperative."

NAACP recommends partnering with health organizations on HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. The brief says, "As we make efforts to address the HIV crisis, the Black Church should not be a place where people experience HIV stigma and discrimination, but rather a place of healing, support, and acceptance." The manual asks churches to dispel HIV myths including the incorrect notions that HIV primarily affects white gay men; one can contract HIV by getting tested for it; and active church members are not at risk for HIV. The manual points out, "Regardless of our church activity or engagement, as long as we are having unprotected sex or sharing needles in our communities, we are at risk for contracting HIV."   

Scientists Making Slow Progress on AIDS Vaccine -- At the 19th International AIDS Conference, Bart Haynes, the director of the Duke University School of Medicine's Human Vaccine Institute, reported on the discovery of a series of "Achilles heels" on the surface of HIV -- developments that have reignited the search for an AIDS vaccine. "We know the face of the enemy now. We have some real clues about how to approach the problem." 

He detailed several key challenges that have made developing a vaccine so difficult. Because HIV is a retrovirus, it does not simply infect the body; it inserts itself into a cell's genome. "An HIV vaccine must totally prevent infection," Haynes said. "Once infection occurs, the virus inserts into the genome, and the immune system can't kill it." In addition, though the body tries to defend itself, it cannot keep up with the rapid pace at which HIV mutates. To be effective, an HIV vaccine would have to stimulate the production of broadly neutralizing antibodies to attack the virus regardless of its mutations.

Haynes said scientists have discovered potential weak points on HIV that appear to stay the same, even as the virus mutates. These could become the targets for vaccines.