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globalheroes.com
January • 2023 ADVERTORIAL
The power of positive, solution-based journalism.
From a Puppy With a Purpose to a Life Without Boundaries For more than 75 years, The Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind has trained and placed guide dogs and service dogs to provide increased independence and enhanced mobility to individuals who are blind, have low vision, or have other disabilities. The Guide Dog Foundation pairs each student with the dog that is right for them—and the power of their bond makes ordinary moments extraordinary. Crossing the street independently becomes a moment of liberation. Traveling alone becomes a welcome adventure. Embracing new experiences becomes an everyday occurrence. After his first walk with his new guide dog, a recent Foundation student expressed his feelings in one powerful word when asked what it felt like: “Freedom.” The Guide Dog Foundation was founded after World War II to provide guide dogs and training at no cost to veterans returning from the battlefields of Europe and the Pacific. With the aging of America’s veterans CONT. PREVIOUS PAGE
Through its campaigns, like World Environment Day, Beat Pollution, and Clean Seas, UNEP raises awareness and advocates for effective environmental action. One of UNEP’s priority areas is to reduce single-use, unnecessary, and harmful plastics while accelerating design and waste management solutions that keep plastics out of the environment and in the economy, a mission that Momoa himself is working to achieve. According to the World Meteorological Organization, four key measures of climate change—ocean acidification, greenhouse gas concentration, sea level rise, and ocean temperature—were all higher in 2021 than ever before. An estimated 11 million metric tons of plastic flowed into our aquatic ecosystems, and 80 percent of wastewater was untreated, largely flowing to our water bodies. The continuous growth in the amount of solid waste thrown away, the lack of recycling worldwide (approximately only eight percent), and the prolonged rate of degradation of most items are leading
and as service members return home from current conflicts, the Foundation recognized there would be a greater need for guide dogs and specialized service dogs to help these disabled veterans live again in dignity and independence. America’s VetDogs was created by the Guide Dog Foundation in 2003 to provide assistance dogs to America’s wounded veterans to help them return to a life without boundaries. In 2006, it became a separate 501(c)(3) corporation; the two sister organizations continue to share staff and other resources to ensure people with disabilities receive the best services possible. The service dog programs of America’s VetDogs were created to provide enhanced mobility and renewed independence to United States veterans, active-duty service members, and first responders with disabilities, allowing them to live with pride and self-reliance. America’s VetDogs trains and places service dogs for those with physical disabilities; guide dogs for individuals who
are blind or have low vision; service dogs to mitigate the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder; hearing dogs; and facility dogs as part of the rehabilitation process in military and VA hospitals. To inspire volunteerism and help educate the public about guide and service dogs, the organization’s Puppy with a Purpose ® program offers a powerful opportunity for the business community to support its mission. Partners volunteer to help co-raise an eight to ten-week-old future guide or service dog puppy, teach them good house manners and basic obedience as well as socialize them out in the public, until the puppy is between 14 and 16 months old. The puppy then returns to Guide Dog Foundation and America’s VetDogs to continue formal training as an assistance dog.
to an increase in marine litter found at sea, on the seafloor, and on coastal shores. It is an economic, environmental, human health, and aesthetic problem posing a complex and multi-dimensional challenge. "The world is on fire,” Momoa said somberly. “Huge rivers across the globe are drying up, droughts are lasting decades, and icebergs are melting. The climate, biodiversity and pollution emergency is happening before our eyes, and it’s on us to create change. The time to act is now.”
“I will encourage those companies to shift to business models that are more sustainable, understanding change doesn’t happen overnight, but I believe and hope we can agree to do better. I want to put my energy into big-picture change, strategically working with companies willing to listen, learn, and, ultimately, fundamentally change their businesses to help save the planet. I understand the immediate solutions won’t be perfect, but we must commit to doing the right thing—no more excuses.” Hosted by UNEP, the Global Partnership on Marine Litter (GPML) is a multi-stakeholder partnership that brings together all actors working to prevent marine litter and plastic pollution. By providing a unique global platform to share knowledge and experience, partners can work together to create and advance solutions to this pressing global issue. The GPML provides a platform to share science and case studies, advance research, reduce the leakage of plastics into the ocean through improved design, advance the application of the ‘3Rs’ principle (reduce, reuse, recycle), encourage ‘closed-loop’ systems
REAL-LIFE HEROICS
As ocean literacy improves and awareness increases, we have both the scientific knowledge and the know-how to take action and make a change—but we can only succeed if leaders pay attention, and that will happen when people pay attention. The good news is that Momoa, with his on and off-camera charisma and unmistakable booming voice, is perfectly poised to bring awareness where it needs to be. “Several companies dominate the beverage and packaging industries, and to create the change we want, we need those companies to lead,” he explained.
Learn more, including how to apply, volunteer, partner, or donate, at GuideDog.org and VetDogs.org.
© COURTESY OF GUIDE DOG FOUNDATION FOR THE BLIND AND AMERICA'S VETDOGS
and more circular production cycles, and maximize resource efficiency and minimization of waste generation. “I have my work cut out for me,” Momoa said, “but who better to hold companies and industries accountable than Aquaman?” Who indeed? Between his on and off-screen activism, Momoa has inspired moviegoers and environmental activists of all ages across the globe to be vocal about their passion for climate action—and he’s only getting started. “We need to evaluate our own choices, including the products we purchase and the companies we support,” he shared. “Wonderful businesses are making beautiful products not wrapped in plastic. I’m all about cutting out single-use plastic from our lives and getting businesses to work towards circularity and renewable product life cycles. I have the great honor and responsibility to reach many people who want to learn more about environmental issues and how they can help. If everyone makes little changes in their lives, it creates one massive wave of change. We must be kind to Mother Earth. Mahalo to everyone who is making waves!”
© MAINEI KINIMAKA
ADVERTORIAL
Alliance for Positive Health: United in the Fight Against AIDS World AIDS Day, observed each year on December 1, is a reminder for us all to unite in the fight against HIV, show support for people living with HIV, and remember those who have died from an HIV-related illness. There is still no vaccine, and there is still no cure for HIV. Those who have unprotected sex and share unsafe needles remain at risk. Accurate, non-judgmental health education, rapid testing, early and sustained treatment, and supportive care to ensure that people have stable, healthy living conditions—these things remain our guardrails against an expansion of the epidemic and another public health crisis. For almost 40 years, the Alliance for Positive Health has been delivering these education and supportive care services in partnership with healthcare providers to reach those most at risk and help them overcome barriers to the support they need. We have been part of New York State’s successful approach to reducing new HIV infections and engaging more of those living with HIV in ongoing care. Yet, the
TESTING TEAM IN EARLY 2020 © IMAGES COURTESY OF AFPH
PROGRAM MANAGER ESTHER TALKING ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF PREP
PRE-TESTING CONSULT IN THE ALBANY OFFICE LOCATION
COVID-19 epidemic has taught us that the work is not done. Testing levels fell, and the percentage of those living with HIV but not in care increased. The two most effective ways to reduce HIV transmission in any community are: 1. To identify persons with HIV who remain undiagnosed through testing and link them to health care, and 2. Engage those diagnosed with HIV in care to maximize virus suppression to remain healthy and prevent further transmission. If someone living with HIV has undetectable levels of the
virus because they are on regular treatment and still engaging in behaviors that could put others at risk, they will not transmit the virus to others. HIV care is also HIV prevention. The Alliance of Positive Health services are designed to support these two priorities. Our education and testing are targeted at those having high-risk, unprotected sex, and sharing unsafe needles. Our housing, care coordination, nutrition, and insurance assistance programs link persons living with HIV to necessary health care and other services that support them in
living an improved, healthy lifestyle. We also work with special populations, such as those incarcerated and at risk for HIV (and Hepatitis C) or living with HIV (and/or Hepatitis C), to ensure they can stay healthy through difficult circumstances. Our success in working with hard-to-reach, marginalized groups that often experience stigma and distrust has given us the responsibility to educate and test for other sexually transmitted diseases, such as syphilis, which is increasing at alarming rates, and Hepatitis C. It has given us the responsibility to educate
about MPV (monkeypox) and link people to vaccination and care. It has led us to work closely in coordinating care for many with mental health and substance use conditions, regardless of whether they are living with HIV. It has also brought us face-to-face with the opioid epidemic fueled by the use of illegal substances. The Alliance for Positive Health brings a harm reduction approach to all our work. We do not judge anyone, and we work with people wherever they are at the time, helping them move forward in their lives at their own speed and in their own way. The goal is to reduce the harm caused by any one behavior, improving safety for an individual and the community. This approach has been essential for our work with substance users as we have expanded from syringe exchange for HIV prevention to Narcan training and supply for opioid overdose prevention to harm reduction counseling. The Alliance for Positive Health is the community leader linking at-risk residents to lifesaving care in 17 Northeastern New York counties.
THE ALLIANCE FOR POSITIVE HEALTH Committed to ending the epidemic. HIV care is HIV prevention. Connect to www.allianceforpositivehealth.org to learn more and donate.
