Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Tranformation Tides Rising

Afterhours Networking Launches


The Board of Directors of The Living Affected Corporation has announced the launch of a "Afterhours Networking" event to begin August 1 from 6 to 9 pm at the organizations offices, 401 Maple Street, Suite A (First Presbyterian Church of North Little Rock). The event is designed to invite allies, supporters and sponsors to further understand LA Corp's vision and mission of "transforming communities through holistic health by providing education and advocacy." Chief Operating Officer, C. Mabin stated, " It very important that we share our organizational story which is ripe with lessons learned." He continued, " Our goal is to make a connection with our allies and supporters that will allow us to bring others into wanting to help us effectively impact our clients with holistic outcomes." Currently the organization has been in a re-tooling phase which included creating this event to scale up its strategic planning initiatives such as future board development, assessing funding streams, donor acquisition and retention plus further defining its position as a statewide organization that is informed and connected to changing the social construct of the community served by providing basic human rights. As a Arkansas Department of Health sub-grantee, The Living Affected Corporation has been the premiere organization addressing HIV /AIDS in the Black MSM community through its impending D-Up intervention diffusion, individual free HIV testing, serving as a community service outlet for those in the judicial system and offering technical assistance throughout the city. The event is free. For more information contact: 501.379.8203 or 877.902.7HIV
 
 
The Equality Clucking Continues
 
I've just been amazed at the "clucking and hen pecking" that's been swirling since the Chick Fil-A President Dan Cathy expressed his views on gay marriage and ther dastardly matters. Of course and surely all these folks led by LGBTQ Ally Micha Walls do believe that he does have his constitutional right to have his say just as those who have donned white sheets have slugged through the streets with their protest. Let's not forget that this company is solely family owned and if their culture or company philosophy ascribes to the holy scrolls, then so be it. Its unfathomable that entities would be supportive of hate groups or regimes, yet we learn everyday that Koch brother types abound all over the place marauding with their "Billions" in wild abandon.  After all, here in the good ole U.S.A. the "culture wars" are not over by any means, therefore those determined souls who will bear the summer heat to share their outrage, disgust, or whatever  manner of protest that they think will make a difference can fulfill their right to peacefully assemble at the Markham street location tomorrow around 7 AM. I assume that there will be the usual signs, probably taunts and outburst, horns honking, media folks searching for individuals to share their voices and onlookers who be wondering "WTF." Although I appreciate these type of citizen actions, I'm always a bit concerned about such reactive measures that have very limited outcomes. I ponder the thought, "where will all these folks be next Wednesday and what social justice work will they be doing?" I know where I will be, still in the fight to address health disparities due to our lack of connecting social determinants in the care continuum. And then, the next Wednesday I'll still be searching for funding streams and opportunities to access donors who will support my mission. And the next Wednesday, I most likely will not hear much about Cathy, Chick Fil-A and most of the protesters will have moved on into the normalcy of their everyday lives leaving me waiting for the next Wednesday when I'm still trying to change the world from my vantage point. In conclusion, I say go for it, make your issues known and do what you can in this moment to demonstrate the rights that we all share despite those who don't share them with us. I'm sure there's plenty who will share their thought with this fourm and as usual we always welcome your two cents.
 
 
Comprehensive HIV Prevention Plan (CHPP) 2012 Completes


The Living Affected Corporation's CEO, Diedra Levi, has been spearheading the research and culmination of the states Comprehensive HIV Prevention Plan which will be the overlay of the jurisdictional plan as mandated by the Center's for Disease Control. Each state is required to developed a plan that will provide a jurisdiction-wide document that should address all HIV prevention activities and inform decisions about how all HIV prevention funds are to be used, including federal, state, local, and, when possible, private resources. If a jurisdiction implements more than one CPG, the comprehensive plan should summarize any multiple or regional plans into one document. The plan, whether designed to be a one- or multi-year document, must be updated annually. As the health department's federal funding for HIV prevention is on a five-year cycle, the CPG's final plan for the 2004-2008 project period should guide the development of the next five-year funding cycle (January 2009-December 2013). According to Levi, (pictured) there has been an underwhelming and lackluster involvement with producing the plan including information delays and other obstacles that have been unfortunate. "We are going forward despite some setbacks," she said. "There will be a plan in place by the deadline come mid-August. Too much time has elapsed and this is our priority for 2012." she concluded. In order to maximize access to the planning meetings, LA Corp secured the use of the AnyMeeting platform which allow users to participate via both video and teleconference from their remote locations or individuals are invited to the organizations offices. (401 North Maple, Suite A, North Little Rock inside the Argenta Church complex.) The video portion of the meetings completed this week with the plan being prepared for submission by Aug 10. 2012.
The objective of the plan is to guide how HIV prevention programs in the jurisdiction should respond to the HIV epidemic in implementing HIV prevention community planning, partner counseling and referral services (PCRS), health education/risk reduction (HE/RR), capacity building, evaluation, and other health department activities conducted under Program Announcement #04012 (2004-2008), HIV Prevention Projects, Notice of Availability of Funds. The plan must consider all HIV prevention activities regardless of funding. Thus, it is important for the CPG(s) to know and understand the extent and array of prevention funds that will be allocated as a result of both the health department's and other funders' implementation of the CPG's target population priorities and set of prevention activities/intervention, as described in the Comprehensive HIV Prevention Plan. (source: www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/cba )






 

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