Dear GayCalgary,

This is what came out of the mouth of one of my co-workers who put in a great deal of time and effort volunteering for the AIDS Walk this year. But this year I realized not all things are as they seem. The following are two paragraphs clipped from AIDS Calgary’s own website:

“All proceeds from the 2005 Calgary AIDS Walk for Life will go directly to support, prevention and education programs for those affected and infected by HIV/AIDS in Calgary.”

“AIDS Calgary provides support services for people infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS, and provides HIV prevention and education for the entire community.”

“Support, prevention and education”? Why doesn’t “support” include funding of medical supplies for people who need to buy their AIDS medication on low income, or for children that are born with the disease? What happened to all that research to find a cure for HIV/AIDS? The Canadian Heart and Stroke foundation funds heart and stroke research. The Canadian Cancer Society and Terry Fox Run fund cancer research. The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation funds breast cancer research. The Canadian Diabetes Association funds diabetes research. The Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation funds cystic fibrosis research. So it’s a natural assumption to think that AIDS Calgary, among other services, would fund AIDS research…but I guess it’s my own fault for jumping to that conclusion. I wonder how many people participated in the AIDS Walk this year with the same erroneous impression. I can name several. Give me a survey and I’ll name several hundred.

Now, before I start sounding too harsh here, I must say that I can still appreciate the value of prevention and education. Given that HIV/AIDS is a preventable disease, it makes sense to try heading it off at the pass - an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, as they say. I understand that AIDS Calgary provides education and prevention seminars if you go and visit them, but what about the rest of us who aren’t yet directly “affected or infected” by HIV/AIDS? What about that “HIV prevention and education for the entire community”? I’m surprised that I’ve seen almost nothing from AIDS Calgary that’s visible to the general public. I’ve seen the “Sucking good time” poster up in the Backlot…wasn’t that a campaign from over two years ago? They must have had one lying around from 2 years ago, and put it up on their own accord. I’ve seen the “How do you know what you know” campaign up in Goliath’s more recently, which I found out was actually provided by AIDS Vancouver. VANCOUVER?? It sounded ridiculous to me at first, but if it weren’t for those posters, there would be nothing recent from AIDS Calgary to take their place. AIDS Vancouver has enough to worry about in Vancouver – we have our own chapter right here, yet they are sitting on their hands! And not that I visit the straight bars too often, but I doubt I’d see HIV/AIDS posters glaring in my face there either.

I suppose I’m forgetting about Ellipse Newsletter. Perhaps it doesn’t ring a bell? You’ll probably recognize it as the little white, blue, and purple pamphlet that’s left on the floor after people pick up a copy of FFWD or Outlooks. I’ve never read one myself…maybe it’s filled with all kinds of vast knowledge about AIDS prevention and education. Knowing how little visual impact the publication has, I’ll probably never know – and I’d be a lot more compelled to read it than the average person!

My bottom line is, why does it feel like the ~$75,000 is not making enough of a difference? Maybe I don’t see it because I’m on the outside of the organization, but still, shouldn’t there be some externally visible signs? Sure, Ellipse costs money, but not THAT much. It seems to me like AIDS Calgary has decided to keep to themselves on an issue that affects everyone –especially the gay community (not to stereotype). $75,000 would buy TV commercials, billboards, even airplane banners. Why is it that any condoms handed out at the doors of our bars and clubs are paid for out of their own pockets? Why was $75,000 not even able to fund HIV/AIDS awareness posters or advertising for the last 2 years? If AIDS Calgary, whose mandate is support, prevention and education, can’t even seem to bring themselves to talk about HIV/AIDS to the gay community and the general public then…well, I don’t even want to think about it. With nobody forcing the facts on us anymore, we’d all just go back to pretending HIV/AIDS doesn’t exist, like smokers would with lung cancer – it’s too unpleasant to think about it, therefore I won’t.

My comments are not meant to criticize or put down AIDS Calgary, though it scares me a little that so many people have this preconceived idea of what their money will be used for there. I remember how mortified I was when I realized my own error – the image of funding medical supplies for those in need, funding research to find a cure, and helping children that are born with the disease, all vanished from my head. Sure, it’s still theoretically going to a good cause with AIDS Calgary, but the point is that I gave up my hard-earned money to them for the wrong reasons. There are organizations out there that do exactly what I wanted: CANFAR, SHARP Foundation, and HIV Peer Support Group to name a few. Unfortunately I hadn’t heard of them until I realized I needed to look beyond AIDS Calgary.

(The writer of this letter requested that their identity remain confidential.)

GayCalgary.com asked Executive Director of AIDS Calgary, Sue Cress, to respond to this letter on AIDS Calgary’s behalf.

Dear GayCalgary,

Every person, without exception, is affected by HIV and AIDS. You don’t have to know someone who is infected or be infected yourself – everyone is living in a society that is touched by HIV and AIDS.

AIDS Calgary exists because of the need for understanding of HIV/AIDS, what it is like to live with it, and how to have a safe and healthy life. We focus much of our effort on a local level, empowering those living with HIV/AIDS, while providing the Calgary community with the tools to prevent further HIV transmission, through the use of advocacy, education and prevention.

There is no doubt that a larger fight to find the cure for HIV and AIDS is being fought. AIDS Calgary supports this work and participates in the provincial and federal advocacy initiatives that address access to care and treatment, and human rights. While we don’t have the capacity to directly fund research, we partner with other AIDS service and research organizations.

As with all small not-for-profit organizations, AIDS Calgary strives to do what we can with what we have. The support of the Calgary community is fundamental to our existence. The money raised through events such as the Calgary AIDS Walk for Life helps us greatly, but we endeavor to have a bigger impact and wider reach – a goal that is reliant upon the funds we are able to garner.

With our resource base, we have chosen to focus much of our work at the local level. Our mission is not to eradicate HIV and AIDS, a fight that is much greater than AIDS Calgary’s reach, but to reduce the harm associated with HIV and AIDS. The surest way to stopping the spread is to empower people to make informed choices.

We do this in as many ways as possible, most frequently getting hands-on through our outreach activities and programs. For example, our Choices program is targeted at men who have sex with men. Recent epidemiological data clearly indicates rising infection rates within the gay community. While the Choices program has been around for some time, we recognize the urgent need for this program to be as far-reaching and effective as possible. Choices currently focuses on providing information and resources on practicing safer sex and avoiding behaviors/situations that could put you at risk. We want to make sure that these crucial messages reach as many men as possible.

On a more broad-reaching basis, we see the need to educate today’s youth. Our Speakers Network program goes into schools, businesses and other organizations, providing factual information on safer sex and first-hand accounts on living with HIV and AIDS. Our goal is to reach people when they’re young, sharing lessons that will last a lifetime and contribute to the long-term decline of infection rates.

Another large part of our work is to support and assist those living with HIV and AIDS, and to battle misunderstandings and prejudices of HIV issues. We have programs in place that provide financial support to those living with HIV and AIDS, as well as crisis counseling, advocacy and nutritional programs.

AIDS Calgary firmly believes in the need for medical research and breakthroughs. In fact, we dream of a day when we work ourselves out of a job – when a cure or vaccine is found and the spread of HIV and AIDS no longer exists. Until that time, AIDS Calgary is dedicated to reducing the harm associated with HIV and AIDS, and empowering lives in a compassionate society.

Regards,

Terry Mackenzie
Chair of the Board
AIDS Calgary Awareness Association

Susan Cress
Executive Director
AIDS Calgary Awareness Association