Letter from the Executive Director

The 2011 Art Auction is almost SOLD OUT!

Program Updates

• Working Choices
• Positive Force NW
• All About Relationships at Pivot
• Services Navigation/Medical Case Management
• +alk Proven Effective at Reducing HIV Risk Behaviors

Focus on Partners: Cascadia

Across the Country and Around the World

• Research Shows Women with HIV Experience Worse Outcomes
• Health Information Popular on Internet
• U.K.’s ‘Do It Yourself’ Sexual Health Care

Thank You Donors!

The 2011 Art Auction is almost SOLD OUT!

 

That’s right, the CAP Annual Art Auction — the biggest ever — Patron Dinner is 75% sold out!   What you may not know is that we’re honoring 25 years of service and have moved the auction to the Memorial Coliseum so that many more can attend — you aren’t too late! 

Twenty-five years is a long time so we are “doing it up right” with the sultry seductions of Storm Large, the swinging spank of Thomas M. Lauderdale, and the hallowed sound of 130 members of the Portland Gay Men’s Chorus!

The event takes place on April 30, 2011 and begins with cocktails at 6PM, followed by a 3-course meal and 15-piece live auction.  Immediately after, Patrons are invited to merge their party with the Grand Event and silent auction on the concourse of the Coliseum. 

In all, 290 pieces of art will be up for bid to the an estimated 1,500 attendees.  You won’t want to miss this exciting opportunity to support CAP in the fight against HIV and AIDS, to buy some spectacular art offered by many local artists, and network with new and old friends.

To buy your tickets, go to www.capartauction.org and click on the “Purchase Tickets” button. Don’t miss this “must do” event of the year!

Program Updates

Working Choices

Job Club at CAP

 

Working Choices is back in action!  This employment program offers assistance to anyone living with HIV/AIDS who is unemployed or has a gross household income at or below 80% of the area media income.  You do not have to be a current CAP client to participate in Working Choices. Support provided includes individual appointments, group networking, resume building, job search assistance, workshops and an email list connecting participants with the latest leads, trends and opportunities. This great opportunity was made possible by funding from the City of Portland and HUD via the Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS (HOPWA) grant. 

We also hold a weekly Job Club, which offers an opportunity for peer networking, information on the latest job leads and opportunities, and a chance to learn new skills and techniques while enjoying brunch.  Job Club aims to work through issues and challenges with job search in a friendly, respectful setting.  We will also occasionally feature guest speakers.  Job Club occurs at Cascade AIDS Project’s office (208 SW 5th Avenue, Suite 800) every Wednesday from 10 AM to 11:30 AM.

If you would like more information about Working Choices, please contact Heather Salek at (503) 278-3812.

Positive Force NW

David Duncan

 

Positive Force NW is a force to be reckoned with! They are moving and shaking and will be bringing up a house this year. That’s right — Positive Force will work with Habitat for Humanity to build a house for someone in need.

David Duncan, CAP’s new Positive Force Coordinator, is organizing fun activities like bowling and bike riding, as well as a few incredible volunteer opportunities. If you are HIV+ and interested in meeting new people and getting involved, please contact David at 503-278-3848 or join us on Facebook.

All About Relationships at Pivot

 

Boyfriend Lessons
Relationships take work, and we’ve all got room to grow. Pivot is partnering with Bradley Angle to now offer Boyfriend Lessons twice a month. These drop-in sessions (come to one, or come to all and be the best BF ever!) are available to all gay/bi/trans men – single, in a relationship, poly or exploring. Lessons range from identifying and communicating personal values, boundaries and negotiations, handling conflict, accountability, strengthening community networks, and more. The next Boyfriend Lesson will be Thursday, April 14th at 7pm.

Eroticize
There’s an art to a safer, more satisfying sex life. What’s the one lament we hear in testing sessions most often? “I know I should use a condom, but I forget in the heat of the moment.” The second most frequent lament? “I hate using condoms, but I thought that was the only way to protect myself.”  Pivot offers a chance to eliminate the barriers to a safer, more satisfying sex life. The next Eroticize workshop will be held Saturday, April 23rd at 7pm.

Services Navigation/Medical Case Management

Maurice Evans

 

We are very pleased to share that CAP has recently expanded its Services Navigation/Medical Case Management Services to include services targeted for the African American community in the Portland metro area!  And, we’re very excited to welcome Maurice Evans into the position of Services Navigator with this program.  Maurice has been with Cascade AIDS Project for a year as an HIV Prevention Specialist focused on serving communities of color; in this position, Maurice has built valuable connections with community partners such as community-based organizations, religious leaders and policy-makers.  These relationships, along with Maurice’s background in social services, provide a strong foundation for his work supporting African American people living with HIV — as well as his continued work as an HIV Prevention Specialist.

For three years, CAP has provided Services Navigation/Medical Case Management for the Latino community and is thrilled to be able to expand this successful program.  Service Navigators provide a broad array of services, targeted to meet the needs of individual clients; these can include accompanying clients to medical appointments, assisting them in accessing drug and alcohol treatment, and strategizing about how to stay adherent with medications, among many others. For more information about these programs, please contact Maurice Evans at 503-278-3869 or Pedro Ortega, Latino Medical Case Manager at 503-278-3826.

+alk Proven Effective at Reducing HIV Risk Behaviors

 

CAP’s +alk program has served over two hundred men and women living with HIV since its debut in 2006. +alk is a Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-approved HIV prevention intervention for HIV+ individuals focused on reducing stress around disclosure of HIV status to friends, family members and sex partners and teaching skills around risk reduction and negotiation of safer sex.

In 2006 CAP was selected as one of seven organizations across the country to participate in the CDC’s first-ever Community-based Organization Behavioral Outcomes Project (CBOP). Between 2006 and 2008, 105 people living with HIV who participated in +alk were also enrolled in CBOP.  CBOP collected information regarding an individual’s medical status and sex and drug risk behaviors to assess whether +alk was effective in reducing high risk behaviors and the potential for HIV transmission. Data regarding risk behaviors was collected from program participants prior to first participating in +alk, then again at 90 days and 180 days following the conclusion of +alk. 

Recently released results from CBOP showed that participant risk behavior (such as instances of unprotected sex, sex while intoxicated or high on drugs, and total number of sex partners) declined following the intervention at 90-day and 180-day follow-ups. Nationally, other CBOs reported similar declines, although CAP’s was particularly noteworthy because our participants as a group showed a higher decline in high risk behaviors.

Based on its initial success with CBOP, CAP was pleased to be selected as one of four sites nationwide for a follow-up outcome monitoring project with the new HIV prevention program, Axis (based on the evidence-based intervention, RESPECT). The Community-based Organization Monitoring & Evaluation Project (CMEP) will seek to enroll 400 individuals participating in Axis over the next five years to track the effectiveness of this intervention and allow us to make even further enhancements to the quality of HIV prevention services we provide. Outcome monitoring projects such as this prove useful in assessing the overall effectiveness of our HIV prevention programming, ensuring that limited resources are targeted effectively and reach those at highest risk.

For more information on the results of the +alk CBOP, contact Josh. To learn more about the current CMEP with Axis, contact Mary.

Focus on Partners: Cascadia

Cascade AIDS Project has entered into another partnership with Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare to bring more access to housing for people living with HIV.  Cascadia manages several housing complexes and now offers CAP clients a preference on the waitlist for a selection of their fair market rate apartments.  These apartments do not come with rental subsidies, but all are priced at an affordable rate.  Any CAP clients interested in applying for these units should contact their CAP housing case manager.  We, along with Cascadia’s Vice-President of Housing, Jim Hlava, are excited about this new partnership. 

“I am very pleased to be part of another collaborative venture between Cascadia and Cascade AIDS Project.  Our two organizations have many common interests, and we have worked successfully together on many other projects over years.  Our new partnership focuses on supportive housing where clients sponsored by CAP will have access to safe and affordable housing through Cascadia.  We have a common purpose in working together on this, and I expect that we will see very positive outcomes of more people having success living independently as a result of our partnership.” – Jim Hlava, Vice-President of Housing, Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare.

Across the Country and Around the World

Research Shows Women with HIV Experience Worse Outcomes

The results of a 10-year, primarily North American comprehensive study called Acute Infection and Early Disease Research Program found that women with HIV developed worse outcomes than men with HIV, even though both groups had comparable clinical parameters when they enrolled in the study.  The findings of the study revealed unsettling figures:  nonwhite men and women were less likely to initiate antiretroviral therapy (ART) at any time than white men; patients living in the U.S. South were less likely to initiate ART than those living in other regions of the country; and women were more likely to experience at least one HIV/AIDS-related illness, with nonwhite women the most likely compared to men.  These findings caused the researchers to conclude that in order to improve the health outcome of HIV-infected individuals, socioeconomic factors must be considered and changed.  The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases says, “Paramount among these is the influence of socioeconomic factors that often determine access to health care as well as contribute in a negative way to a lifestyle detrimental to optimal health outcomes in the acquisition and treatment of a number of diseases, including HIV infection.”

Health Information Popular on Internet

A recent study conducted by the Pew Internet Project on Internet usage found that online searches on health information were the third most common activity of U.S. Internet users.  The two most common online activities were exchanging emails and using search engines.  According to the study, eight out of ten users reported that they went online for health information.  The study found that many people conduct health information searches before and after seeking care from medical personnel.  Yahoo reported that ‘pregnancy,’ ‘herpes’ and ‘STD’ (sexually transmitted disease) were among the top five most commonly searched terms on the mobile version of their site.  Although it seems that many more people are using the Internet for health information, the study found that, “fewer than half of adults in the following groups use the Internet for health care information: African Americans, Latinos, people age 65 and older, disabled persons, and those living in households with an annual income below $30,000.”  This discrepancy may be explained by a lack of access to the Internet or to mobile devices with online capabilities; the study mentioned this might change with more African Americans and Latinos accessing information from their smart phones.

U.K.’s ‘Do It Yourself’ Sexual Health Care

Imagine a clinic that offered free condoms, gonorrhea and chlamydia tests, and take-home pregnancy kits – would you go to this clinic and use the services?  A group of researchers in the United Kingdom set out to test this question over a period of a year.  They chose a busy walk-in sexual health clinic and installed a vending machine full of free condoms, gonorrhea and chlamydia tests, and take-home pregnancy kits.  Anyone who wanted to use the vending machine had to self-register, and then they were free to take what they needed from the machine.  The researchers found that clinic visitors welcomed the option to self-manage, “because of the reduced waiting times, autonomy, and privacy that such a service offers.”  Although most clinic visitors appreciated the self-management option, some users indicated that having a clinical consultation in conjunction with the self-management option would be optimal.

Thank You Donors!

Our work at Cascade AIDS Project is only possible thanks to the generous support of thousands of contributors.  While we can’t list all of them here, we’re grateful for every donation of any size.  Below, we highlight those gifts of over $1,000 received from January 6, 2011 to March 16, 2011:

Anonymous
Buchanan Angeli Altschul & Sullivan, LLP (BAAS)
Community Health Charities of Oregon
Eva Kripalani and Ken Warren Household
Fred Meyer
Gail Harrower Household
Glen Ulmer Household
Heather and Tod Killough Household
Idaho AIDS Foundation
Joan and Thomas Ryan Household
Kaiser Permanente
Kalberer Company
LANpro Solutions LLC
Macy’s Foundation
Maria Rojo De Steffey and J. Daniel Steffey Household
Mark Clift and Jeffrey Knapp Household
McDonald Jacobs PC
Meyer Memorial Trust
Mike Burt
Nancy L. Haigwood and Andy McNiece Household
NIKE Inc.
Nordstrom (National)
Northwest Reiki Association
PacificSource Health Plans
Philip Tyler Silver Household
Portland Housing Bureau
Richard & Mary Rosenberg Charitable Foundation
Scandals Lounge & Restaurant, Inc.
The Vancouver Clinic
Tibotec Therapeutics
Vibrant Table Catering