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"The Honorable George W. Bush, President The White House| 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20500 "Dear Mr. President: "As leaders of national, regional and local organizations committed to ending the human suffering caused by AIDS, we are appreciative of the focus you and your administration have placed on the global AIDS pandemic. We also recognize and applaud the work Secretary Thompson and the Health and Human Services (HHS) staff put into approving the new HIV rapid tests. Your recognition of the importance of fighting HIV/AIDS is to be commended. "However, we are deeply troubled by recent developments and federal policy changes in HIV prevention. The most recent actions by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with regard to federal funding of locally-approved HIV prevention programs at the STOP AIDS Project in San Francisco are only the latest in a series of events which appear to prioritize political ideology over sound science and public health practices. The cumulative effect of these policy changes threatens to increase, not reduce HIV transmission rates, and jeopardizes the lives of thousands of men and women across the country who are at risk of HIV infection. "We simply cannot afford for HIV/AIDS to continue to be mired in political debate. Unfortunately, these recent actions seem to be not just isolated events but indicative of a growing and very troubling trend. Increasingly, federal agencies are making politically motivated decisions intent on dismantling or discrediting programs and funding initiatives targeted at those communities most at risk of infection: people of color and gay and bisexual men. This trend is not acceptable and works against not just the health and safety of at-risk groups, but the health and safety of all citizens. We need your leadership on this issue. "We have outlined our major concerns below: "Funding for Domestic HIV/AIDS Programs "The HIV epidemic is growing in America every day, while federal resources to fight it are not keeping pace. If the government does not fully fund federal AIDS programs, there is only one sure result: The American taxpayers will see both costs of treatment and the death toll rise dramatically. A recent study from the Emory University Rollins School of Public Health states that "failure to reduce new HIV infections in the United States by 50 percent in the next two years could cost the nation more than 18 billion dollars." For three years your Administration has recommended essentially flat funding for domestic AIDS treatment and prevention programs, ignoring the increasingly devastating toll this epidemic is taking on Americans. "HIV prevention has never been funded at the levels needed to meet the CDC's goals of halving HIV infections by 2005. When more people than ever before are living with HIV/AIDS, flat funding is simply not acceptable. Forty thousand Americans are newly infected with HIV every year, half of them under the age of 24. Further, the epidemic is hitting low-income communities of color hardest. Adequately addressing the epidemic now means recognizing long-existing health disparities and dealing with social mores in tandem with traditional HIV prevention. We must fully arrest this epidemic - and that requires a national commitment to both sound public health and compassion on a larger scale than we have seen in the twenty-two year history of AIDS. "The CDC's New Prevention Initiative
"While we are supportive in general of the initiative's stated goals, we are extremely concerned that released drafts of these new guidelines signify a dangerous shift in health policy that will negatively impact efforts to prevent new infections and educate individuals about their risk for HIV infection. The initiative focuses almost entirely on HIV testing and prevention programs for HIV-positive people. By doing so, it shifts already inadequate resources away from other effective strategies (specifically health education and risk reduction) which are critical to keeping at-risk individuals uninfected. Community-based health education and risk reduction strategies have been under fire from a small number of elected officials and their staff members, despite overwhelming scientific data about the effectiveness and necessity of these efforts. Rising trends in new HIV infections are not in and of themselves signs of a failed effort as much as evidence that resources to halt the spread of HIV have been too meager.
"As such, the new initiative fails to support targeted comprehensive prevention strategies for at-risk populations including people of color, especially women of color, as well as injection drug users, gay men, homeless individuals, and sex workers. These populations comprise the vast majority of new infections in our country each year and require comprehensive ongoing prevention interventions that reflect the reality of their lives. Community-based organizations, in collaboration with state and local health agencies, are uniquely positioned to deliver and target comprehensive prevention interventions to vulnerable populations. The CDC has set the goal of reaching 200,000 people in the U.S. who don't know their HIV status. With no guarantee that the CDC will support community-based interventions with these groups, we have little faith that such a goal is achievable. The CDC acknowledged years ago that hard-to-reach populations depend absolutely on well funded programs developed and implemented by community-based organizations. "We are further concerned that the recommendations for prenatal HIV testing policies will result in pregnant women being HIV-tested without their knowledge and explicit consent. Data demonstrate that states with so-called opt-out prenatal HIV testing policies have high percentages of pregnant women who do not know they have been HIV-tested. Medical ethics require that patients understand their examinations and treatment, especially concerning a disease as medically and socially serious as HIV/AIDS. Providing pregnant women with information about HIV and an opportunity to choose an HIV test is not an onerous burden upon medical providers. "Finally, we question the release of these draft guidelines without any coordinated efforts with other federal agencies that would indicate how programs already struggling to provide Americans with access to health care, including the AIDS Drug Assistance Programs, will meet the treatment, care and housing needs of newly identified HIV-positive people. "Local Community-Based HIV Prevention Does Not Mean 'One Size Fits All' "Since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in the U.S., community-based responses have been critical to successes in prevention, care and treatment. While the government remained silent, our communities led the way by creating culturally relevant programs and media campaigns targeted to individuals and communities at risk for and living with HIV. These successful programs dramatically reduced HIV infection rates and prevented tens of thousands of HIV infections. Recent spikes in HIV infection rates require communities to produce more innovative, culturally-relevant messages targeted to specific at-risk populations. "The recent actions of the CDC with regard to the STOP AIDS Project are a prime example of an organization creating culturally relevant programming. While the work that STOP AIDS does may be, at times, controversial to some people, they are working to build innovative, culturally competent, scientifically-based and effective prevention interventions that address the realities of HIV risk and prevention for a particular community at high risk of infection. Multiple and invasive government program reviews and financial audits have shown that they have complied with the requirements for review and approval of their materials. The CDC itself in February reported that they were using current, effective models as the basis for their work. STOP AIDS continues to be singled out for attention based solely on the politically-motivated demands of conservative Congressional ideologues. This has extended far beyond reasonable oversight or accountability and become nothing more than harassment. "This kind of relentless and intrusive engagement between the CDC and a grantee sets a troubling precedent. The chilling impact this has had on community-based prevention efforts across the country is unacceptable. The law governing the federal funds at issue here forbids their use "to provide education or information designed to promote or encourage, directly, homosexual or heterosexual activity." It is clear that these programs are designed not to promote sexual activity, but instead are designed to promote the adoption of behaviors that lower the risk of HIV transmission. The efforts that STOP AIDS is engaged in are completely consistent with both the spirit and the letter of the law. While these programs may make some people uncomfortable, STOP AIDS is doing what is necessary and appropriate to save lives in a community at imminent risk. "The regulations enforcing Section 2500 of the Public Health Service Act require agencies such as the STOP AIDS Project to direct their activities towards those most at risk. In their case, that means targeting gay men who are already sexually active, and whose sexual behavior puts them at high risk for becoming infected with or transmitting HIV. An abstinence-only message offered to this and other populations that are made up of sexually active people is of extremely limited use. In particular, the strategy of abstaining until marriage is even less useful to gay men, the majority population impacted by HIV infections, who are forbidden from entering into legally recognized unions. "AIDS is a public health crisis, not a political campaign. We ask you and your agency officials to work with community-based HIV/AIDS prevention organizations, and refrain from stonewalling those whose HIV prevention philosophies do not match the most conservative political ideologies. We ask you to call on Congress to do the same. "Condoms, Abstinence, and Information "While your Administration may prefer to educate Americans about sexually transmitted diseases through an abstinence-only policy, current science continues to demonstrate that comprehensive HIV prevention - including but not limited to abstinence - is the most effective way to help reduce new infections. "We continue to be troubled that sound public health information is being measured against a political standard and not by science. We refer to the fact that information about condoms and condom efficacy virtually disappeared from the CDC web site for more than a year. Scientific studies have proven numerous times that condoms work and public health experts continue to advise that condoms should be a part of a comprehensive approach to HIV and STD prevention. "While the best protection against STDs, including HIV, is to abstain from sex or remain monogamous with an uninfected partner, it is also critical to ensure that sexually active individuals have information about condoms. In addition, comprehensive school health education - including encouraging teens to delay sexual activity and providing them with appropriate, scientifically accurate information on the effectiveness of condoms - is critical. "Teens are among those most likely to have multiple sex partners and engage in unprotected sex, and therefore are at highest behavioral risk for acquiring most STDs. Further, extensive research indicates that comprehensive school health education programs that include information on condom use do not encourage teens to initiate sex at an earlier age or engage in more frequent sex if they are already sexually active. "Potential Censorship at NIH and Other Federal Agencies "Published reports and communication with researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other federally-funded research institutions has led us to be extremely concerned about the potential of censorship in science. The heart of public health policy must be dictated by science, not partisanship. When researchers are discouraged, intimidated or threatened by federal agencies because of the perceived controversial subjects of their work, the scientific progress of our nation and the health of its citizens are compromised. "In particular, when HIV/AIDS researchers are implicitly or explicitly discouraged from doing research that includes any mention of gay or bisexual men, or sexual behavior between men that may put them at risk for HIV transmission, there is a clear censorship of potentially life-saving information that could help a community still devastated by the AIDS epidemic and new infections. We call on the Administration to protect science from such dangerous politics. "Mr. President, your Administration has the responsibility to support sound public health and science-based HIV prevention models and programs that allow all Americans to benefit from research and public health policy without regard to the divisive politics of a few politicians. We call on you to halt the regressive policies of censorship and intimidation-both regulatory and informal-that put American lives at risk. "We ask for a timely response from your office regarding these concerns. "Sincerely, Adelante, Inc CEO (Interim Director): Karen Weber 520 Broadway Toledo, OH 43602 Advocates for Youth James Wagoner, President 1025 Vermont Avenue NW Suite 200 Washington, DC 20005 ACT UP Philadelphia PO Box 22439 Land Title Station Philadelphia, PA 19110 AIDS Action Baltimore Lynda Dee Executive Director 2105 N. Charles Street Baltimore, MD 21218 AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth & Families David C. Harvey, Executive Director 1600 K Street, NW #200 Washington, DC 20006 AIDS Alliance of Northwest Georgia Director Noel Twillbeck Lola Thomas, Executive Director 200 Leake Street, Suite 104 P. O. Box 2225 Cartersville, GA 30120 AIDS Community Residence Association, Inc. Janice S. Johnson Executive Director 115 Market Street, Suite 300 Durham, North Carolina 27701 The AIDS Community Resource Network (ACORN) 85 Mechanic St. Lebanon, NH 03766, Thomas Mock, Executive Director AIDS Consortium of Southeastern Michigan . Yvette Woodruff Interim Executive Director AIDS Foundation of Chicago Mark Ishaug Executive Director 411 S. Wells St., Ste. 300 Chicago, IL 60607 AIDS Housing Corporation Joe Carleo, Executive Director 29 Stanhope St. Boston, MA 02116 AIDS Outreach Center Gabriela Arias Director of Prevention Services 801 W. Cannon Ft. Worth, TX 76104 (817) 335-1994 x. 206 The AIDS Policy Project Katie Krauss 226 W. Rittenhouse Sq. #615A Philadelphia, PA 19103 AIDS Project Los Angeles Craig E. Thompson Executive Director 3550 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 300 Los Angeles, CA 90010 AIDS Project Rhode Island Christopher A. Butler Executive Director 232 West Exchange Street Providence, RI 02903 AIDS Services In Asian communities Ronald T. Sy 1201 Chestnut Street #501, Philadelphia, PA 19107. AIDS Services of Austin Lee Manford Executive Director P.O. Box 4874 Austin, TX 78765 AIDS Survival Project -- Providing Tools for Living with HIV Jeff Graham, Executive Director 139 Ralph McGill Blvd, Suite 201 Atlanta, Georgia 30308 AIDS Treatment Data Network Ken Fornataro, Executive Director 611 Broadway, Suite 613 New York, New York, 10012 AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition (AVAC) Chris Collins Executive Director 101 West 23rd St. #2227 New York, NY 10011 AIDSNET Ross P. Marcus, Executive Director 2200 Avenue A, Suite 102 Bethlehem, PA 18017 The Aliveness Project of NWI 5490 Broadway, Suite L-3 Merrillville, IN 46410 Executive Director, Tammy Morris The Greater Piney Grove Baptist Church, Donna Tate, Coordinator, 1879 Glenwood Ave., S.E., Atlanta, GA 30316 Arizona AIDS Policy Alliance Deborah Elliott, Co-chair Keith Thompson, Co-chair 2250 E. Broadway Blvd. Tucson, AZ 85719 Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum Dr. Ho Leung Tran, MD, MPH CEO and President 450 Sutter St., Suite 600 San Francisco, CA 94108 Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO) Jeffrey B. Caballero, MPH (Executive Director) 439 - 23rd Street / Oakland, CA 94612 Bailey House, Inc. Christine Campbell, MSOD Deputy Director, TAPE 275 Seventh Ave., 12th Floor New York, NY 10001 Black Community Developers, Inc Rev. William H. Robinson Jr. 4000 West 13th Street Little Rock, AR 72204 Boulder County AIDS Project Robin Bohannan Executive Director 2118 14th Street Boulder, CO 80302 Bronx AIDS Services SJ Avery, Executive Director 540 East Fordham Road Bronx, NY 10458 Brother-To-Brother, Seattle Derrick Myricks-Harris, Executive Director 308 22nd Avenue South #103 Seattle, WA 98144 CARI (Community Advancement And Research Initiatives),Dr.Ashek Ahmed Executive Director, 130/B Malibag First Lane, First Floor, Dhaka 1217, BANGLADESH Carl Vogel Center Ronnie M. Mealy, Executive Director 1012 Fourteenth Street, NW, Suite 700 Washington, DC 20005. Cascade AIDS Project Thomas Bruner, M.A. Executive Director 620 SW Fifth Avenue, Suite 300 Portland, Oregon 97204 Center for Women Policy Studies Brenda Romney Martin,Senior Policy Analyst 1211 Connecticut Ave, NW #312 Washington, DC 20036 CHAMP Julie Davids Executive Director 80A 4th Avenue Brooklyn NY 11217 Church of the Open Door Rev. Alma Faith Crawford Senior Pastor 5954 South Albany Chicago, IL 60629 Janet Grayson, Executive Director Cincinnati Coalition for a Healthy People 2010 P.O. Box 141036 Cincinnati, Ohio 45250-1036 Columbia CARES, Inc. Tim Jones, Executive Director 1167 Trotwood Avenue Columbia, TN 38401 Community Empowerment and Education Sondra Jones Anderson, Executive Director Post Office Box 352 Quincy, FL 32353 Community Fitness Today, Inc. 310 East 38th Street, Suite 215 Minneapolis, MN 55409 Community of Hope, UCC Rev. Leslie Penrose, Pastor 2545 S. Yale Tulsa, OK 74112 Community Health Coalition of Danville/Pitt.Co., VA, Lovelle Maxwell, President 4075 Tom Fork Road, Ringgold, VA 24586 Comprehensive Health Education, Inc, Carol J. Calvin, Executive Director 2821 N. 4th St. Milwaukee, WI 53212 Crenshaw West Adams Leimert Consortium. President Linda Lucks P.O. Box 62309 Los Angeles, CA 90062-0309 Delaware State Health Initiative Programs, INC Rev. Dr. Renaldo Octavius Epps Chief Executive Officer/ Medical Officer 423 South Franklin Street Wilmington DE 19805 Department of Psychology Loyola College Jonathan Mohr, Ph.D. Assistant Professor 4501 North Charles Street Baltimore, MD 21210-2699 Elkhart County Health Department., 315 South 2nd Street Elkhart, IN 46516 Empower U, Inc. Vanessa Mills, LPN, BSN Executive Director Empower "U", Inc. 8309 NW 22nd Ave Miami, FL 33147 Exponents Howard Josepher, CSW Executive Director 151 West 26th Street 3rd Floor New York, NY 10001 F.A.I.T.H (Faith-based African American Initiative To reduce HIV/AIDS) Coalition Loretta James Johnson -Chairperson 140 Dameron Avenue Knoxville, TN. 37917-6413 FBAN Georgia Foster President/CEO P.O. Box 17352 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33328 First Baptist Community Development 124 N.W 12th St Riviera Beach, FL 33404 Pastor Holmer Altidor - CEO Florida AIDS Action Dr. Gene Copello, Executive Director P.O. Box 16705 Tampa, FL 33687-6705 Florida Keys HIV Community Planning Partnership David Brakebill, Patient Care Co-chair Friends For Life Kim Moss, Executive Director 1384 Madison Avenue Memphis, TN 38104 Full Gospel Fellowship Ministries Inc. 4801 Broadway West Palm Beach, FL 33407 Pastor Lynn M. Allen - CEO Jason Schneider, M.D. Board of Directors Gay & Lesbian Medical Association 459 Fulton Street, Suite 107, San Francisco, CA 94102 Gay Men's Health Crisis Ana Oliveira Executive Director 119 West 24th Street New York, NY 10011 GIFF Louis Henry, ED 1972 Abshire Ln Dallas, Texas 75228 Greater Bethel AME Church, Rev. Dwayne K. Gaddis located at 245 N. W. 8th Street Miami, FL 33136 Greater Chicago Committee / Jelani Unified Men's Project Vaughn E. Taylor Chief Executive Officer 4549 West Washington Blvd. Chicago, Illinois 60624 GUAHAN Project Alexis Q. Silverio, President. P.O. Box 20640, Barrigada, Guam 96921 Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement, Inc. Lucille McEwen 2854 Frederick Douglass Blvd New York, New York 10039 Harm Reduction Coalition Allan Clear Executive Director 22 W 27th St, 5th Fl New York, NY 10001 HIV Advocacy Council of Oregon and SW Washington John J. Cox Coordinator 3026 SE 39th Avenue Portland OR 97202-1615 Kulia Na Mamo--HIV Prevention Services Ashliana Hawelu, Executive Director 1108 Fort Street Mall, Room 22 Honolulu, HI 96813 HIV/AIDS Volunteer Enrichment Network, Inc. (H.A.V.E.N.) Diane S. Goforth, Executive Director 1920 North Lawrence Avenue Arnold MD 21401 HIV Counseling, Testing, and Prevention 227 West Jefferson 9th South Bend, IN. 46601 Lydia P. Harris, Executive Director HIV/Hepatitis C in Prison Committee of California Prison Focus 2940 16th Street #307 San Francisco, CA 94103 House of David Center for Community Empowerment, Inc. Jacquelyn Wideman - CEO 747 Hendrix Street Brooklyn, New York 11239 The Human Rights Campaign Elizabeth Birch, Executive Director 1640 Rhode Island Ave., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036-3278 Hyacinth AIDS Foundation Executive Director, Riki E. Jacobs 78 New Street - New Brunswick, NJ 08901 IFARA Fred E. Schaich President/CEO International Foundation for Alternative Research in AIDS 222 SE 30th Place Portland, OR 97214-1917 IMANI Health Institute Allen Robinson, Executive Director P.O. Box 5003, Burlington, VT 05402. Jackie Clarke- Chief Executive Officer Indiantown Community Outreach, Inc. 14971 S.W. Indian Ave Indiantown, Florida 34956 Inside/Out Youth Services Tasha Hill, Executive Director 121 E. Pikes Peak Ave., #354 Colorado Springs, CO 80903 INTERSECT Sally Fisher, Founder/President 77 west 15th street, Suite 6L New York, New York 10011 Jersey City Connections, Inc Joanne L. Smith 34 Jones Street, Jersey City, NJ 07306 Jp Expression Ministries, Inc Chief Executive Officer Juanita Parker-Trice, Ph.D. 435 Clark Road Suite Jacksonville, FL 32218 L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center Lorri L. Jean, Chief Executive Officer 1625 N. Schrader Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90028 Lancaster County Syphilis Elimination Coalition 703 East Arch Street Lancaster SC 29720 Latino Action Center, Inc Norberto Otero, Executive Director 8315 Northern Blvd. Latino AIDS Prevention Project Jesse Torrence, Coordinator Latino Commission on AIDS Dennis DeLeon, President 24 West 25th St /9th Floor New York, NY 10010-2704 Las Vegas Fighting AIDS in our Community Today(LVFACT) 1760 Wheeler Peak Las Vegas, Nevada 89106 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center Executive Director is Richard Burns 208 West 13th Street NYC, NY 10011 Life and Liberty inc. C.E.O. REV. Kenneth G. Crumb 761 Merchant ST. P.O. Box 201 , Ambridge, PA. 15003 Lifelong AIDS Alliance Chuck Kuehn, Executive Director 1002 E. Seneca St. Seattle, WA 98122 Love Community Medical Research and Outreach Ministries Beverly Ray Love, President 3090 Rosa parks Ave. Montgomery, AL 36105 Maine AIDS Alliance Julia McDonald, Executive Director 1 Weston Court, Suite # 103 Augusta, Maine 04330 Maine Public Health Association. Saskia Bopp Executive Director 11 Parkwood Drive Augusta, Maine 04330 Marketing, Management & Health Care Consulting, LLC. Chiquita T. Tuttle, President & CEO 6732 Simson Street Oakland, California 94605 Mental Health Corporation of Denver Carl Clark, M.D. CEO 4141 E. Dickenson Place Denver, CO 80222 Midwest AIDS Prevention Project Craig Covey, CEO 429 Livernois Ferndale, MI 48220 Minnesota AIDS Project Bob Tracy, Director Community Affairs & Education 1400 Park Avenue Minneapolis, MN 55404 Mobile AIDS Support Services Michael Foy Mitchell Executive Director 2054 Dauphin Street Mobile, AL 36606 Montefiore Medical Center The Women's Center Anitra Pivnick, Ph.D. Director 3320 Rochambeau Avenue Bronx, New York 10467 Montrose Clinic Katy Caldwell Executive Director 215 Westheimer Houston, TX 77006 Mount Sinai Faith Hope and Love Ministries, Inc Pastor E. L. White, CEO 42 East Main Street Thomasville, NC 27360 Nashville CARES Joseph Interrante, Ph.D. Executive Director 209 Tenth Avenue South, Suite 160 Nashville, TN 37203 National AIDS Education & Services for Minorities, Inc. Rudolph H. Carn Executive Director/CEO 2001 Martin Luther King, Jr., Dr. Suite 602 Atlanta, Georgia 30310 National AIDS Housing Coalition Christine Campbell President 1518 K Street NW, Suite 206 Washington DC 2005 National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors Julie M. Scofield, Executive Director 444 N. Capitol Street, NW, Suite 339 Washington, DC 20001 National Association of People with AIDS Terje Anderson, Executive Director 1413 K St. NW , floor 7 Washington, DC 20005 National Center on Poverty Law John Bouman Advocacy Director 50 E. Washington, Suite 500 Chicago, IL National Coalition for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Health 1407 S Street, Eugenia Handler, Co-chair NW Washington, DC 20009 National Health Care for the Homeless Council John N. Lozier, MSSW, Executive Director P.O. Box 60427, Nashville, TN 37206-0427 National Minority AIDS Council Paul A. Kawata, Executive Director 1931 13th St NW Washington, DC 20009 National Network for Youth Sherry Allen, Executive Director 1319 F Street, NW Suite 401 Washington, DC 20004 National Youth Advocacy Coalition Craig A. Bowman - Executive Director 1638 R Street, NW, Suite 300 Washington, DC 20009 New York AIDS Coalition Executive Director: Joe Pressley 231 West 29th St. NY, NY 10001 New York City AIDS Housing Network, Inc. Jennifer Flynn, Co-Director Joseph Bostic, Co-Director 80A Fourth Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11217 NO/AIDS Task Force New Orlenas ,La. 70119 504-821-2601 Operation HOPE of Pinellas, Inc Lorenzo C. Robertson, Program Coordinator 861 Sixth Avenue South St. Petersburg, Florida 33701 Partnership Project / HIV Case Management Julia Lager-Mesulam, LCSW, Program Director 5525 SE Milwaukie Avenue Portland, OR 97214 The Perinatal Council Barbara Bunn McCullough, Ph.D. Executive Director 2648 International Boulevard, Suite 801 Oakland, CA 94601 Planned Parenthood of Northwest Ohio, Inc. Bren Blaine, Executive Director 1301 Jefferson Avenue Toledo, OH 43624 Positive Efforts, Inc. Barbara Joseph Executive Director P.O. Box 924171 Houston, Texas 77292-4171 Project F.A.C.E. [Faith in Action for Community Education] Donna M. Costa, Director P.O. Box 432 North Easton, MA 02356 Project Inform Anne Donnelly Director, Public Policy 205 13th Street, #2001 San Francisco, CA 94103 Project Mpower Outreach Coordinator Alexis Roth Bilingual Care Coordinator The Damien Center 1350 N. Pennsylvania Indianapolis, IN 46202 Provincetown AIDS Support Group AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod Mark W. Baker Executive Director 96-98 Bradford St./P.O. Box 1522 Provincetown, MA 02657 Puertorriqueños Asociados For Community Organizacion (P.A.C.O.) Eliu Rivera, Executive Director 180 4th street Jersey City NJ 07302 Quality Home Staffing, Inc. Franco and Beverly Mineo PO Box 490 Windsor, NC 27983 Resources Unlimited Foundation Jim Boushay, President 629 Garfield Street Oak Park, IL 60304 David Barnett, Ph.D. Rush Medical College 600 S. Paulina St. Chicago, IL 60612 Sage Associates, Inc. Deborah Scott, ED 4407 Rose Street Houston TX 77007 Sandra Miller HIV Disease Intervention Specialist Region 2 South Bend Indiana St. Joseph County Health Department Saint Michael's Medical Center Donald M. Daniels - CEO and Chairman 268 Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd, Newark NJ 07102 San Francisco AIDS Foundation Patricia Christen Executive Director 995 Market Street, Suite 200 San Francisco, CA 94103 San Francisco Community Clinic Consortium John Gressman, President & CEO 1388 Sutter Street, Ste. 607 San Francisco, CA 94109 Sickle Cell Disease Association of the Piedmont Gladys Ashe Robinson, M.Ed. Executive Director PO Box 20964 Greensboro, NC 27420-0964 Siouxland Community Health Center Darla Peterson, HIV Program Coordinator 1021 Nebraska, PO Box 5410 Sioux City, IA 51102 Sistah to Sistah Recovery House Inc. 505 20th Street, Suite A West Palm Bch, Fl. 33407 Angie Bates Hardnett Exec. Director Belle Reve New Orleans Vicki G. Weeks Executive Director P.O. Box 3305 New Orleans, LA 70177 Southern AZ AIDS Foundation Anne Maley 375 South Euclid Tucson, AZ 85719 South Cove Community Health Center Eugene Welch, Executive Director 145 South Street, 4th floor Boston, MA 02111 Southern Illinois Regional Effort for AIDS, Inc Wally Paynter, President & CEO 715 S. Washington Street Carbondale, IL 62901 South Texas Interfaith Council Sandi B. Santana, Executive Director of 3026 S. Staples St. Corpus Christi, TX 78404 Spiritia Foundation A National Network for People Living with HIV/AIDS Frika Chia Executive Officers Jl. Radio IV, no. 10 Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta Selatan 12130, Indonesia STOP AIDS Project Darlene Weide, Executive Director 2128 15th Street San Francisco, CA, 94114 The Title II Community AIDS National Network William E. Arnold, C.E.O. 1775 "T" Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009 The Tobias Project, Incorporated E. William Jones, Jr., Executive Director 844 East Main Street, Suite A, Columbus, Ohio 43205 Toya Management Services Rey A. Candelaria, President 2023 Port De Leau Ct. Suite 105 Highland, IN 46322 Treatment Action Group Mark Harrington, Executive Director 611 Broadway, Ste. 612 New York, NY 10012 Turning Point/Discipleship Raymond Figueroa, Executive Director 5220 4th Ave. Bklyn, NY 11220 Vermont People with AIDS Coalition Robert Larabee Consumer Advocate P.O. Box 11 Montpelier, VT 05601 Virginia HIV Community Planning Committee Mary Lauren Brown, MSW Member, Grants Manager AIDS Services Group PO Box 2322 Charlottesville, VA 22902 WestCAP 805 Main Street, Grand Junction, CO 81051 Westside Community Mental Health Center, Inc. Abner J. Boles, III, Ph.D., Executive Director 1153 Oak Street San Francisco, CA 94117 Whitman-Walker Clinic A. Cornelius Baker, Executive Director 1407 S Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20009 cc: Members of the President's Cabinet Members of Congress Democratic Candidates for President |
Washington, D.C.-HIV/AIDS programs are suffering nationwide and across the world as a result
of recent federal policy changes that appear to be "prioritize political ideology over sound science
and public health practices," according to 148 national, regional and local HIV/AIDS organizations who have sent the following appeal to George W. Bush: