A letter from the Executive Director
To all those who make Cascade AIDS Project's work possible, we say thank you!
For over twenty-five years CAP has been at the forefront of the fight against HIV/AIDS throughout Oregon and SW Washington. We have borne witness to the loss of countless friends and family as a result of this epidemic. We have offered education, HIV screening and counseling for those at risk; support for those infected; and advocacy so that someday CAP may no longer be needed.
This past year has been one of headlines for the United States and the AIDS pandemic. In July of 2010, for the first time in our nation's history, the federal government published the "National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States." Under President Obama's leadership, all federal agencies involved in the fight have aligned vision and effort to expedite an end to the epidemic.
In September of 2010, Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), included HIV/AIDS as one of six winnable battles. The following year, in May of 2011, the National Institutes of Health released research findings that showed access to early treatment could reduce the likelihood of HIV-positive people infecting their sexual partners by 96%. That's huge! It means if we could get all people in the U.S. to know their HIV status, and get those infected linked to early treatment, we could reduce the more than 40,000 cases of sexually transmitted HIV infections that occur annually in the U.S. to less than a few thousand.
While so many headlines brought hope and promise, we saw others that couldn't help but remind us of so much lost. On June 5, 2011, the world marked the 30th year since the CDC reported the first case of AIDS in the U.S. Since then, we have seen over 33 million infected around the globe, with 25 million lost. Here in the U.S., with 1.2 million Americans today living with HIV and 600,000 dead so far, it is clear the epidemic is far from over.
Yet when you put it all together, one cannot help but be hopeful for where we are headed. I've lived HIV positive for almost 20 years now—almost half my life—and for the first time I feel we've passed the halfway mark of this epidemic. I truly believe it is possible that I will see the end of this epidemic rather than the other way around.
At CAP, we're doing everything we can to move as quickly as possible toward a world with no new HIV infections, and where those who were previously infected with HIV find the support and care they need to live happy and healthy lives.
For the third year in a row we have substantially expanded our HIV testing and counseling (this year by 40%, reaching over 3,000 individuals); we've expanded direct client support by more than 6%, providing more than $871,000 in direct client assistance; we continue to educate and raise awareness among more people in the general population through our Speakers Bureau; we've reached more gay and bisexual men through our programs at Pivot; and we work with more kids at risk of infection thanks to our CHATpdx program and our partnerships with Americorps and Portland-area high schools.
At the same time that we've expanded our efforts, we also lowered the amount spent on admin and development and ended the year in the black. At Cascade AIDS Project, we remain committed to our mission to prevent HIV infections, support and empower people affected and infected by HIV/AIDS, and eliminate HIV/AIDS-related stigma. To all those who help us in this fight – be they clients sharing their stories, volunteers who donate time, donors giving money, partners who collaborate, or so many others who make our work possible – we say, THANK YOU.
