Pathways Summer 2012

pathways VOLUME 16 ISSUE 2

Pathways is Published by Evergreen Health Services __________________________________________________________

PRESIDENT & CEO/Ronald T. Silverio EDITOR/ART DIRECTOR/John Carocci COPY EDITOR/Kate Gallivan CONTRIBUTING WRITERS John Carocci, Kate Gallivan Kimberly Harding, Andrew Kiener CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS John Carocci __________________________________________________________

EDITORIAL & ADVERTISING/716-847-0315 FACSIMILE/716-847-0418 E-MAIL/publications@evergreenhs.org ON THE WEB/www.evergreenhs.org __________________________________________________________ Copyright 2012 by Pathways, all rights reserved. Published by Evergreen Health Services, 206 South Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, New York 14201.

Views expressed herein are not necessarily the views of the publisher.

Publication of any person or organization in articles, advertising or listings in

FROM THE EDITOR

Pathways is not to be construed as any indication of the sexual orientation or HIV status of such person or members of such organizations. Pathways cannot acknowledge or return unsolicited manuscripts unless they are accompanied by a self-addressed stamped envelope. Pathways’ mailing list is never shared. Pathways urges readers to consult their medical practitioners about any therapies or treatment strategies in this publication. .

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inside this issue From the Editor / 1 AIDS Walk 2012 Recap / 2 The Wellness Center Vegetable Garden / 3 Evergreen Health Services Takes Root / 4 EHS Debuts New Testing Services / 6 Pride 2012 Recap / 7 ON THE COVER

Walking the Walk at AIDS Walk!

The Great Outdoors SUMMER

has only just arrived and my computer is already bursting with photos and videos from agency events. AIDS Walk was a smash, with sun and fun and great people. This year’s Pride celebration didn’t get much in the way of sunshine, but it was successful nonetheless. See recaps of these events on the next few pages, and click on camera icons for photo galleries or video. You’ll also find a reprint of an article from the March 2012 issue describing some of the changes happening at Evergreen Health Services, the agency formerly known as AIDS Community Services. Also, the next print issue of Pathways arrives in mailboxes in September. To join our subscription list, e-mail jcarocci@evergreenhs.org with your name and complete mailing address! — John Carocci

P

utting together a big outdoor event like AIDS Walk takes months of work. There are permits to secure, sponsors to recruit, insurance to purchase, and logistics to plan. There are walkers and teams to register, a website to create and maintain, posters and t-shirts to design, volunteers to manage and food donations to solicit. Tents, grills, tables, chairs, porta-potties... the list goes on and on. But somehow everything gets done, and the only item left on the “to do” list is to cross your fingers and hope the weather cooperates. And did it ever! This year’s AIDS Walk was the sunniest in recent memory, and hundreds of Western New Yorkers came together on a gorgeous spring day to share support,

rememberance and love. The traditional Flower Launch got things started, and after the Walk everyone enjoyed a delicious picnic style lunch. The competition was friendly but fierce between perennial powerhouse teams Walkers’ Walkers, Buffalo Gay Men’s Chorus, Team HSBC and newcomers The Queen City Experience, and when the dust settled more than $40,000 had been raised to support the programs and services of Evergreen Health Services!

Special thanks go to 2012 Walk Chair Christopher Reybrouck, along with our sponsors, volunteers and walkers who helped make the day such a success.

Click the camera icons to the left to see the complete photo gallery and video footage from AIDS Walk

Staff and clients of the agency’s Wellness Center are once again raising fresh vegetables in a small plot behind the Evergreen Center. Crisp, delicious lettuce is already being harvested, and soon there will be peas, cucumbers, tomato and even eggplant. The vegetable garden is a great way for the Nutrition Services Program to teach Wellness Center clients how to grow, harvest and cook with fresh vegetables, and it turns out we have a green thumb or two in our midst! Stay tuned for updates from the garden!

Evergreen Health Services Takes Root Editor’s Note: This story first appeared in the March, 2012 print issue of Pathways. It was written by Kate Gallivan, Kimberly Harding and Andrew Kiener.

AIDS Community Services of Western New York is now Evergreen Health Services! In the ever changing worlds of health care and human services, AIDS Community Services again finds itself on the crest of a new wave of innovation that has resulted in the decision to change our name. Those who have been in our circle of friends since our early days know that this is our fourth name change. Founded as the Buffalo AIDS Task Force in 1983, this pioneering volunteer army soon changed its name to Western New York AIDS Program to reflect its role as the regional AIDS service provider. In 1990 we adopted our new name, AIDS Community Services of Western New York, Inc., and our logo, the evergreen tree. Our name change to AIDS Community Services (ACS) was part of a new strategic plan with the goal of solidifying our role as the lead AIDS service organization in the region. Back then, effective treatments were on the horizon but we were still losing many of our family, friends and colleagues because of AIDS. ACS grew and diversified its prevention and support services and by the mid-1990’s opened a satellite office in Jamestown. In 1995 — just as combination therapies or “cocktails” became available — the agency added a new primary care facility, Evergreen Health Services. Our world was forever changed as people with HIV survived and thrived. Our caseloads increased and we saw more and more people for whom HIV was just one of many challenges they faced.

At the same time, because there were more people living with HIV, there was more HIV in the

community. As is still true today, many people didn’t know they were HIV positive and thus, HIV continued to spread in spite of cutting edge, targeted prevention campaigns. In 2003, rapid HIV testing became available. The two week wait for results narrowed to 20 minutes and we immediately changed our approach to prevention education by conducting rapid tests with 200 people each month. Not far from us in downtown Buffalo, Project Reach was effectively serving more than 5,000 people in its syringe exchange program (in 2007, Project Reach joined ACS). These programs provided opportunities to offer personalized risk reduction education to those at highest risk for HIV. By offering these services we met literally thousands of new people challenged by other chronic diseases, as well as discrimination, addiction and poverty.

Nearing its third decade of service, AIDS Community Services has grown to more than 100 staff and is now part of a family of agencies that includes Alianza Latina and The Pride Center of Western New York under the umbrella organization, the Evergreen Association. Working side by side, these agencies comprise one of the most comprehensive service organizations in the nation that includes housing, nutrition care, a Wellness Center, and a pharmacy.

Each of these milestones in the HIV/AIDS epidemic and in our history has led to our decision to change the name of AIDS Community Services to Evergreen Health Services.

It is no coincidence that our name change is happening against the backdrop of New York State and the country’s health care reform movement to streamline care for people with chronic medical conditions. While the need for affordable health care has grown, the funding for HIV/AIDS–specific care has diminished. Fortunately, we have developed a

management model that allows us to effectively treat people with chronic medical conditions as well as serve those affected by HIV/AIDS. Our name change to Evergreen Health Services reflects the expansion of our mission to offer care to even more people in our community while continuing our specialty in HIV/AIDS care.

We've known for many years that our work involves much more than HIV or AIDS. As HIV and other sexually-related infections have responded successfully to effective treatments, Evergreen Health Services has developed a wide range of life-enhancing programs to support people in leading healthy, secure and satisfying lives as members of our Western New York community. This year our prevention and harm reduction programs are expanding to include screening for sexually transmitted infections and Hepatitis C. For the people who currently access our medical services, syringe exchange program, pharmacy, Wellness Center and food pantry services, our name change reflects our commitment to serving anyone in our community regardless of their HIV status.

In 1990 the decision to use the evergreen tree as our logo was inspired by the words of author Gilbert Maxwell who wrote, “There are trees that seem to die at the end of winter; then there are the evergreens.”

The image and symbolism of the evergreen – strong and hearty in the face of adversity – continues to reflect our vision today: to remain resilient amidst the challenges of a constantly changing health and human services environment.

Although these are challenging times, AIDS Community Services – now Evergreen Health Services – is poised to join the other leading organizations in the nation to take the next steps toward quality, accessible and affordable health care for all.

Evergreen Health Services Expands TesƟng Program to Include STI Screenings

testing 1-2-3 Testing has always been one of the most important weapons in the fight against HIV and AIDS. The sooner a person finds out they are HIV positive, the sooner they can begin treatment, increasing their chances of staying healthy longer. Knowing one’s HIV status is also a critical part of slowing the spread of HIV to others.

In the early days of the AIDS pandemic, testing was an incredibly slow, stressful process. People had to wait weeks for their results, and for many the wait was simply too much; they never returned to find out if they were positive or not.

The testing process has advanced considerably since then. Today, Evergreen Health Services offers free, confidential rapid testing for HIV, and it only takes about 10 minutes to get the results. Because we know how important testing is, we’ve done everything we can to remove whatever barriers might be preventing someone from being tested.

As AIDS Community Services becomes Evergreen

Health Services, and expands our reach to other chronic illnesses besides HIV/AIDS, our testing program is growing as well. We now offer free, confidential screening for sexually transmitted infections (STI) five days a week. Heather Kollatz, RN is working in Evergreen Health Services’ Center for Behavioral Health conducting screening for Chlamydia, Syphilis and Gonorrhea on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. STI screening on Tuesdays is provided by a nurse from the Erie County Health Department.

Just like HIV testing, STI screening is conducted on the 1st floor of the Evergreen Center in our HIV testing center. Testing is free and confidential. No appointment is needed. Our new hours for STI screening, HIV testing (and coming soon, Hepatitis C screening) are: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday & Friday: 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. (last patient taken at 3:30); Tuesday: 1:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. (last patient taken at 6:30). Patients who test positive for any of

Come on. This is Bualo. You didn’t think a li le bit of wind or rain was going to stop us from having a great Pride Parade and Fes val, did you?