AIDS Alabama 2018 Annual Report

AIDS Alabama Annual Report 2018 AIDS Alabama devotes its energy and resources statewide to helping people with HIV/AIDS live healthy, independent lives and works to prevent the spread of HIV.

Dear Friends and Patrons of AIDS Alabama, First and foremost, thank you for all of your generous support! As I describe some of the exciting activities happening at AIDS Alabama during 2018, please remember that we can’t do this work without you, our caring and supportive community.

A letter from our CEO, Kathie Hiers

2018 was truly a banner year, as AIDS Alabama created many new programs to meet the needs of the people we serve. In order to expand our mental health and substance use services, we purchased, renovated, and opened the new Living Well Outpatient Center, located beside our main office. Additionally, our Living Well MISSION program, which provides housing to persons receiving mental health services, expanded. Our housing partnership with the UAB 1917 Clinic grew substantially to meet the housing needs of the UAB patients. The result has provided these patients with better medical outcomes and lower viral loads. This collaboration was so successful that UAB decided to partner with us on a new food program, Peace Meal, for some of our residents at our Campus. The implementation will begin in 2019.

AIDS Alabama had opened a new housing program in 2017 for Birmingham’s transgender population. The slots all filled so quickly that the local Continuum of Care for housing providers doubled our contract, and it filled up again. We were thrilled this year to receive a call from the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham to refer a donor to us. He gifted two homes to the agency that are now up and running in our portfolio. Finally, as we work with many local partners to try and develop a youth shelter in the Birmingham area, we opened a fledgling, six-bed housing program aimed at vulnerable youth, particularly in the LGBTQ community.

On a sad note, AIDS Alabama’s Navigator program that helps to sign up uninsured folks into the Affordable Care Act, Children’s Health Insurance Programs, etc. was slashed from about $800,000 to $200,000. We are trying to maintain the statewide program with the resources we have and with volunteers, but this loss hurt. Alabama’s Insurance Marketplace had been very successful, allowing almost 4% of the state’s population to get health insurance, most for the first time. But we will continue with this outreach as best we can!

On the advocacy front, the Alabama Latinx AIDS Coalition continues to grow.

AIDS Alabama now proudly employs five bilingual staffers who do amazing outreach to this underserved group. Our Back to School event provided almost 1,000 backpacks to kids headed to school. In the Alabama Legislative Session, we maintained our education funding and actually got a small increase of about $80,000 for the state’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program. Our mighty, little team also engaged over 1,700 Alabamians through phone banking and door-to-door canvassing, and they registered more than 100 new voters, as well as providing over 100 free rides to the polls.

In our prevention work, the AIDS Alabama team started the first ever Black Pride event, which was an unequivocal success. We also started a new grant, Living Out Loud, to help HIV-positive kids who age out of services at Children’s Hospital and transition to adult services. The result was amazing! Viral suppression went from 67% to 85% for the participants. And our staff is always thinking outside the box. They came up with the idea of in-home testing as a way to remove fear of disclosure. This idea fits perfectly with the AIDS Alabama attitude: we want to help you in whatever way we can that works best for you!

Thanks to all of you who make our work possible! And thank you to the best staff a CEO could ever hope for…they make the magic happen.

Sincerely, Kathie

AIDS Alabama 2018 Board of Directors Anil Mujumdar, President Zarzaur, Mujumdar & deBrosse LaToya Melton, Vice President VA Hospital

Joan Stelling, Treasurer HYGIA Health Services

Elaine Huckleberry, Secretary Community Advocate

Mike Baswell Self-employed Consultant

Robyn Burnett Daniel Payne College Village Foundation

Jennifer Collins University of Alabama

Nicolette Harvey Bay Pointe Hospital Jeff Nixon Sidewalk Film Festival Marsha Sturdevant, M.D. Children's of Alabama, University of Alabama Birmingham

Mary Lou Kevorkian Community Advocate

Gil Mobley Self-employed Architect

Jerry Powell Cadence Bank

Cynthia Rodgers University of Alabama Birmingham

Jamie Whitehurst Episcopal Place

Ellen Williams The Birmingham News

AIDS Alabama 2018 Executive and Management Team Kathie M. Hiers Chief Executive Officer Mitch Tarver, LICSW-PIP Executive Director

David Garrett Executive Assistant

Kevin Finney Chief Financial Officer

Dave Bark Director of Corporate Compliance

LaTangela Foster Director of Housing Matt Pagnotti Director of Advocacy and Policy

Caroline Bundy Director of Development Carmen McKinney Director of Clinical Programs

Lanita Kharel AIDS Alabama South, Executive Director Nathan Salter, LMSW, MPA Director of Administrative Programs Tony Christon-Walker Director of Prevention and Community Partnerships

AIDS Alabama 2018 Budget Revenue Stream

AIDS Alabama 2018 Budget Expense Stream

AIDS Alabama 2018 Community Based Organizations Payments

AIDS Service Organization Network of Alabama (ASONA) AIDS Alabama is a member of the AIDS Service Organization Network of Alabama (ASONA). Through ASONA residents of every county in the state have an AIDS Service Organization (ASO) they may visit for HIVrelated services. AIDS Alabama is the only statewide funder in the nine-member network and the only agency that focuses primarily on housing for those living with or at risk for HIV, as well as their families.

AIDS Alabama also serves as the fiduciary agent for several federally-funded grant programs such as Housing Opportunities for Persons With HIV/AIDS (HOPWA) and Alabama Legislative dollars. The manner in which some of these funds are distributed may be seen on the previous page.

National Policy and Advocacy AIDS Alabama CEO with current and former Directors of Policy and Advocacy in D.C., working together to serve people living with HIV in the South.

AIDS Alabama staff and colleagues at AIDS Watch in Washington, D.C.

AIDS Alabama staff work tirelessly in our nation's capital to make sure that the Deep South and Alabama in particular are represented and heard in policy-making decisions that affect those living with HIV.

The overarching goal of the Advocacy and Policy Department is to create grassroots-level policy change by empowering those in our community to lend their voices to policymakers.

On March 6, 2018, during Alabama AIDS Watch, there were 22 people in Montgomery for our legislative visit day. The vast majority (80%) were people living with HIV. On March 7, 2018, during our Annual Alabama HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, there were 270 attendees!

Local Policy and Advocacy

Civic Engagement

Voter Engagement is critical! Every vote counts and everyone has a voice with their vote. AIDS Alabama collaborates with other local community-based organizations to engage voters and increase access to the ballot box. We register new voters, phone bank to remind others to vote, knock on doors, and give rides to the polls. Staff in 2018 engaged 1,700 Alabama voters through non-partisan canvassing and phone-banking efforts, registered over 100 new voters, and gave over 100 rides to the polls. Join us if you want to make a difference!

Recognition for AIDS Alabama Staff On March 7, 2018, the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) Advocacy Association announced that it had filled two vacancies on its Board of Directors for 2018. One of the newly seated board members included Lisa Johnson-Lett of AIDS Alabama!

Lisa is a trusted Peer Support Specialist for our Living Well Outpatient Clinic. She invests her passion and time into Positive Leadership Council and Alabama + Action projects promoting HIV/AIDS policy and advocacy. She also partners with AIDS UNITED and the Positive Women’s Network to raise HIV awareness and to encourage MIPA: Meaningful Involvement of People living with HIV/AIDS.

Enroll Alabama, a program of AIDS Alabama, has been a federally-funded Navigator grantee since the inaugural class of recipients in 2013. Staff and volunteers are charged with helping enroll Alabamians in the Insurance Marketplace and other types of insurance, and educating our community about the Affordable Care Act. The current administration slashed the program's funding by 75% and drastically shortened the annual enrollment period, which forced our agency to lay off several dedicated team members.

In spite of all of these obstacles, Enroll staff were able to assist 1,912 Alabamians with their healthcare needs.

The Alabama Latinx AIDS Coalition (ALAC) is lead by AIDS Alabama's Latinx Coordinator, Jean Hernandez. ALAC staff are passionate about engaging the Spanishspeaking community through support groups, health fairs, immigration resources, healthcare options, and advocacy efforts.

In 2018 ALAC staff provided 268 hours of interpretation to our consumers and $9,585 in immigration legal assistance. We also grew our ALAC team to include our first bilingual social worker and a Latinx Peer Specialist for mental health services.

The annual Back to School Fair provides resources to parents as they prepare their children for a successful school year. In 2018 over 1,000 people participated and over 800 backpacks with school supplies were given out.

Prevention and Community Partnerships The mission of the Prevention and Community Partnerships Department of AIDS Alabama is to help reduce new infections of HIV/STIs through free, confidential testing; sexual health and prevention education; linkage to care; and the reduction of stigma around HIV in our community.

AIDS Alabama Prevention and Community Partnerships staff performed over 2,000 HIV/STI tests in 2018 at our main office, the Hub, and through outreach events with our Mobile Testing Unit. During National HIV Testing Day on June 27th, 67 tests were administered on that day alone.

During the Magic City Classic, dubbed "No Sleep Weekend," Prevention staff reached over 400 individuals through conversation and distribution of educational packets that included community resources, safe sex kits, and popular swag items. Most notably, 334 HIV tests were performed!

Gamechanger and B-CHIP, two Centers for Disease Control-funded programs, address gaps in our local HIV treatment cascade, especially in populations at highest risk for HIV infections. Targeted outreach to young, African-American Men who have Sex with Men (MSM), AfricanAmerican women, and transgender individuals plays a large role in preventing new cases of HIV.

The first annual Bham Black Pride Weekend was many years in the making!

The weekend included an awards banquet honoring advocates of the black LGBTQ community, an empowerment seminar, a black gay pride party at Saturn, an interfaith service, and a closing community picnic at Bessie Estell Park, complete with a kid zone and two DJs playing house music.

Bham Black Pride was created to celebrate, uplift, and support black LGBTQ individuals, a community that is often caught in the crossfire of racism and homophobia.

Established in June 2016 in the building across the parking lot from AIDS Alabama's main office, the Living Well Outpatient Center (LWOC) has grown in number of clients served each year. In order to continue to grow and add more group therapy sessions, in 2018 AIDS Alabama purchased and began renovations on a neighboring building better suited to house all LWOC programs.

A caring staff of therapists, counselors, nurses, and peer support specialists provide an array of services including: psychiatric evaluations/mental health services, substance abuse treatment services, skilled nursing services, medication management and adherence, HIV/STI testing, group, individual, and family counseling, transportation by agency vans, resume' building, treatment monitoring, peer social support, employment coaching, problem solving skills, and housing placement.

Inreach and Outreach Staff from the Living Well Outpatient Center know how to meet people where they are. LWOC staff served 211 clients and facilitated 102 group therapy sessions in 2018.

There were also 50 skill-building and educational groups provided to our clients related to jobs, housingreadiness, and life skills.

LWOC staff also provides information at community events to individuals that might not otherwise know of LWOC. Staff are pictured here at Juneteenth at Kelly Ingram Park and at an HIV testing event at Maude L. Whatley Health Center in Tuscaloosa.

Housing and Housing Assistance AIDS Alabama provides a variety of housing programs to best serve the needs of our clients. Programs include emergency and supportive housing, homeless and rapid re-housing, permanent housing, permanent housing with enriched services, and long- and short-term rent, mortgage, and utility assistance. In 2018 AIDS Alabama provided 86,267 nights of housing in all of our programs.

JASPER House provides 14 beds to individuals who have a dual diagnosis of HIV and a severe mental illness. This group home is certified by the Alabama Department of Mental Health.

At Mustard Seed, Agape House, and Agape II lease agreements are offered to clients who fall into HUD-defined very low-income limits. Supportive services are an option.

The Rectory is a 12-bed program for HIVpositive individuals experiencing homelessness and substance abuse issues.

Clients must participate in LIBCAP, an Intensive Outpatient Program for substance abuse.

Supportive Services

Without transportation, many of our consumers would not be able to attend much-needed social service and medical appointments. AIDS Alabama van drivers provided 33,522 trips in 2018 for our consumers, getting them one step closer to independence and good health.

Vans run multiple times a day between campus and our main office and the Living Well Outpatient Center, as well as to the UAB 1917 Clinic.

Staff (above) at our campus housing programs oversee daily logistics and care for our consumers at the Langley Center, the Rectory, Agape House, Agape II, JASPER House, and Mustard Seed. Our consumers become like family to our staff.

Rapid Re-housing and Housing Assistance The Ascension Project uses a "housing first" model, utilizing scattered-site homes and apartments. This program targets homeless, self-identified LGBTQ youth ages 19 to 24, but Ascension is open to all homeless youth. This program offers developmentally and culturally appropriate supportive services and short- to medium-term financial housing assistance.

UAB Rapid Re-housing is a partnership with the University of Alabama (UAB) 1917 Clinic to house homeless, HIV-positive clients of the 1917 Clinic. This program also utilizes scattered-site homes and apartments.

Transclusive targets homeless, transgender clients, specifically. In 2018 this program doubled in size, providing stable homes to ten clients and totaling 1,825 nights.

Housing assistance vouchers are available through Housing Opportunities for Persons With HIV/AIDS (HOPWA) grant funds. These vouchers may be used for Short-Term Rent, Mortgage, and Utility (STRMU) assistance and Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (TBRA).

The Way Station

Help Stop Youth Homelessness!

On July 2, 2018, AIDS Alabama purchased four adjacent parcels of land on the corner of 3rd Avenue and 7th Street North to be the home for the Way Station. In order to best serve this often unseen and vulnerable population, the Way Station will offer an emergency, overnight shelter for homeless, runaway, and at-risk youth. Additionally, a transitional living program for older youth will provide a longer-term stay of up to two years as these youth receive a high school diploma or GED, life and job skills, and love as they navigate their way to successful adulthood.

To make a donation to our Capital Campaign, please email Caroline Bundy at caroline.bundy@aidsalabama.org.

2018 was a busy year from a fundraising standpoint. For the very first time we hosted a unique storytelling event at Terrific New Theater called "Breaking Through."

We had seven talented, local storytellers, including our CEO, Kathie Hiers, telling their stories of triumph.

Dining Out For LifeÂŽ 2018 was a wonderful success in our ninth year hosting this event. This year 30 of Birmingham's tastiest restaurants participated, donating between 25% and 50% of proceeds from a select meal service to AIDS Alabama. This year's event raised over $28,000.

We and our guests had so much fun at our first storytelling event, we decided to host another! Once again at Terrific New Theater we gathered to hear inspiring stories of "Tribute," this time adding two additional AIDS Alabama staff, Debra Richardson and Lisa Johnson-Lett.

In its second year, our Funky Food Truck Festival moved to Cahaba Brewing Company. Six generous food trucks and Cahaba donated a portion of the day's sales back to AIDS Alabama to support our programs. Our partnership with Greater Birmingham Humane Society grew, and several pups found their furever home!

Art Alive again attracted art lovers and supporters of AIDS Alabama as we watched seven very talented and generous local artists create unique works of art throughout the evening. Guests were able to bid silently to take these creations home with them at the end of the evening. Gallery sales were brisk as artists also displayed for sale several previously created pieces of art. Delicious food from Roots and Revelry, complimentary beer and wine, and the music of the Stephen McCullough Band added to the festivities!

The holidays are a festive time around AIDS Alabama! Through Holiday Wish we make sure that every child of families in our housing programs receive gifts to make their holidays as joyous as possible. Generous donors make donations of gifts or ask us to do their shopping for them.

Ask how you may help!

Every year a benefit concert put on by the Steel City Men's Chorus delights residents of our housing programs. The holidays would not be the same without them!

AIDS Alabama devotes its energy and resources statewide to helping people with HIV/AIDS live healthy, independent lives and works to prevent the spread of HIV.

3529 7th Avenue South Birmingham, Al 35222 205-324-9822 www.aidsalabama.org

> Housing > Policy & Advocacy > Supportive Services > HIV/STI Prevention Education > Free & Confidential HIV/STI Testing > Outpatient Mental Health Services > Substance Abuse Treatment > Retention in Care Services > Insurance Enrollment