At Springwire we believe that isolation is a condition of living in poverty and that being cut off from communication and information perpetuates poverty.
This includes being cut off from access to crucial health information and awareness campaigns that can make a difference in people’s lives. It’s important to give everyone the opportunity to join the community of people recognizing World AIDS Day and we are sharing Facing AIDS with those we serve. Read more…
Tuesday, December 1 is World AIDS Day, an international day to reduce the stigma and raise awareness about HIV and AIDS around the globe. Working with AIDS.gov, Community Voice Mail will be participating this year, sending messages to our clients and agencies about HIV testing resources and other information. HIV is five times more prevalent in the homeless population than in the general population, so it impacts a lot of our clients. It’s important to know if you’re infected, and the only way to know is to get tested.
There are lots of ways you can participate in World AIDS Day, but one great way is to take a photo of yourself showing how you’re “Facing AIDS.” Just download a Facing AIDS sign, write on it why you’re participating, take a photo of you holding it, and submit it to the AIDS.gov Flickr pool. AIDS.gov will select a bunch of these photos and create a video “collage” that will be available on their site. Great campaign, and the photos already submitted are really touching and powerful. You can learn more by watching the video below, featuring AIDS.gov Director Miguel Gomez.
AIDS.gov just posted a really nice piece on their blog about our national efforts to reach 20,000 Community Voice Mail clients and 1,800 social service agencies last month with information about HIV testing. This is a follow-up to our previous post about this outreach effort.
The AIDS.gov post includes a voice response we received from one of our clients, who heard the message, pressed the “4″ key on her phone, and recorded a comment. We love having this level of communication with the people who use our service, and I think we’re only beginning to tap into the power of this network. It seems strange to say in these Internet-fueled days, but there is great power in hearing a human voice, and maintaining that rich connection to another human being. This is particularly true for people who are experiencing homelessness or other problems that make it difficult to stay connected to others.
It’s been great working with AIDS.gov on this, and we look forward to working with more partners to distribute information to our clients and the agencies that serve them. What other information should we send to help our clients build better lives? Leave us a note in the comments if you feel so inclined…
We definitely weren’t the only ones working to increase awareness about National HIV Testing Day. Hundreds of organizations and countless individuals organized around this, and we’re glad to have been included. Oh, and here’s one other notable participant…
At Springwire we believe that isolation is a condition of living in poverty and that being cut off from communication and information perpetuates poverty.