Care for the Homeless Observes World AIDS Day

Yesterday, December 1st, client leaders of Care for the Homeless (CFH) observed World AIDS Day at the CFH offices at 30 E. 33rd Street in Manhattan. Members of the CFH Consumer Advisory Boards led presentations and discussions about services for people living with AIDS/HIV, current medical programs and advances and the New York State strategy to end the AIDS epidemic in the state by 2020.

Clients, CFH staff and others in attendance heard presentations for consumer leaders including
Calvin Alston, Gayle Dorsky and George Phipps. They lauded efforts announced by Governor Cuomo to end the AIDS epidemic – which he has defined as reducing new cases to the point where there is no net increase in AIDS cases in the state annually – by 2020.

“That’s a lot of ground to cover in the next five or six years,” according to Alston, “but the Governor and the AIDS Task Force have developed a workable three part plan to do just that.”

“As part of the Governor’s plan, advocates and activists like those of us who are client leaders are responsible for raising awareness and educating people about what needs to be done,” Ms. Dorsky said. “And along with promoting AIDS health education we need to work at reducing the stigma for people living with AIDS.”

The two CFH consumer boards are made up of leaders who are CFH patients receiving medical or social services at CFH locations across four of the five city boroughs. The boards provide feed-back and consumer input about CFH operations, organize and run various activities throughout the year including events like the World AIDS Day observance and voter registration drives, and advocate for public policies to prevent, fight and end homelessness.   

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