Thanks for caring so deeply, and for taking a minute to read these quick items below. We appreciate your seeking out ways to prevent HIV and to support people with HIV to live well. Because of you, we are an awesome community of people who care. You surround people with love and support, and that makes a great difference – just ask George! Thank you for what you make possible.
Scott Blades
Executive Director
Quick Links to This Month’s Articles
- Volunteer Spotlight: George Vissichelli Shares As a Board Member and Person Living with HIV
- Join Us to Make the Season Brighter
- Red Concert Benefit Succeeds in Supporting HIV Programs in Tucson and Kenya!
- A Big Thank you to All of our Quarterly Newsletter Volunteers!
- Thanking Major Donors So Far in 2021
- Pose Star Billy Porter Breaks a 14-Year Silence: “This Is What HIV-Positive Looks Like Now”
- TIHAN Office Closed to Honor our Veterans on November 11
Volunteer Spotlight: George Vissichelli Shares As a Board Member and Person Living with HIV
You could hear the surprise in George’s voice as he said it out loud. “Wow. It really has been 30 years since I tested positive for HIV.” September 27, 1991, was a date etched in his memory. “It’s hard to believe it’s been three decades.” He got the news after being sick for a month—the test came back positive. He could never have imagined he would become such a strong advocate for self-empowerment, and a leader in the HIV community.
George and his partner John first got involved in TIHAN by offering their photography services to TIHAN for events. Eventually John joined TIHAN’s board of directors for a while. Several years later, John passed away after suffering a massive heart attack. “John’s HIV was under control, and he was very healthy, so it was absolutely shocking and devastating.” TIHAN, George shared, helped him get through that time.
Join Us to Make the Season Brighter
Due to COVID, TIHAN’s CarePartners living with HIV are missing out on the usual holiday party at the December Poz Café – including the holiday dinner, DJ and dance floor, and camaraderie of 200 CarePartners and volunteers coming together to celebrate the holiday season. With your help, we hope to still be able to offer a holiday gift and a gift card to CarePartners this year. Many have told us that it brightens their holiday to know that someone was thinking about them and that Tucson cares about our HIV/AIDS community.
We are seeking donations of gifts for adults, at a value of $15-$25, as well as $25 gift cards to stores like Target, Walmart, and Fry’s. Gifts should be new and un-used, and should be delivered to us unwrapped. Donations can be brought to the TIHAN office on weekdays from 8:30am to 4:30pm. Please plan to bring all donations in by Monday, November 29. When shopping, you can keep in mind that gifts that are appropriate for adult males are always the greatest need. Thank you for helping us to boost spirits at the end of another difficult year!
Red Concert Benefit Succeeds in Supporting HIV Programs in Tucson and Kenya!
It was so nice to be able to gather with vaccinated friends outdoors and enjoy each other’s company on Sunday, October 3 at Monterey Court for the 2021 RED Concert benefit for HIV/AIDS efforts locally and in Kenya. With your support via ticket sales, 50/50 raffle, donations, sponsorships, and a portion of your food/beverage purchases, almost $19,000 was raised, to be split evenly between TIHAN and the Center for Health and Hope for lifesaving programs.
These funds support TIHAN’s programs for CarePartners in Tucson, as well as the Center for Health and Hope’s programs for children orphaned by AIDS in Kenya. Thank you to event co-chairs Pat Fox and Jess Losoya, our planning team, Monterey Court and the band Good Trouble, and all of our event sponsors and attendees. We appreciate you and the difference you make!
A Big Thank you to All of our Quarterly Newsletter Volunteers!
Every quarter, TIHAN produces our own in-house newsletter which we send to over 4,000 supporters via mail and email. It only happens because of the generous help of our folding and labeling volunteers.
TIHAN would like to acknowledge volunteers who donated their time and help to get the newsletter our mailed out, including Allen, Joe, Amadou, John, Barbie, Katie, Catrina, Marissa, David, Nancy, Fran, Ruben, Jenny, Scott H, Jessica, Teresa, and our friends at Amity Foundation.
Thank you!
Thanking Major Donors So Far in 2021
We are so grateful to more than 650 individuals, families, businesses, and foundations who have donated to support our programs and services so far in 2021! We are especially grateful for major gifts from these generous donors:
Estate of Lloyd Engle, Edna Gray and Dave Johnson, Ralph L Smith Foundation, Roberta “Bobbie” VandeGriff, Millwood Foundation, Arizona Complete Health, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Desert Diamond Casinos, Tom and Cheryl Muller, Leslie Kahn and Susan Heinrich, Estate of Paul A DeLair, Petroni Family Trust, Kenneth Cohen and Barbara Kaller-Cohen, Jim Yancey and Jack Durham, Raymond M Chavez and Rupert L Keesler Jr Fund at the San Diego Foundation, Cat Hospital of Tucson, Southwest Gas Corporation, Ruth Cherrick and Tim Wunz, Linda Girard, The Zarling Family, Tina MacBeth, Dr. Seth Dubry and Mr. Todd Colwell, Dr. Randy and Susan Friese, Colette Barajas and Kristen Birner, Morris A Hazan Family Foundation, John Consedine, Stuart Meinke, St. Mark’s United Methodist Church, Barbie Adler and John Nemo, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Amity Foundation, SiCharro, Arizona Lotus Corp, and many more donors, including many who wish to remain anonymous.
Regardless of the dollar amount you give, we are grateful for your support, and your impact is major! If you have not yet given, please consider adding your name to the list of people providing support of TIHAN’s programs and services in 2021!
Pose Star Billy Porter Breaks a 14-Year Silence: “This Is What HIV-Positive Looks Like Now”
If you have watched Netflix’ hit show Pose, you’ve been moved by its powerful retelling of the early days HIV in the 1980s and 90s: fear, death, testing, ACT- P, caring for our friends, treatment developments, and more. It brings back not only the trauma that we experienced, but also the sense of empowerment, activism, and empowerment — for those of us lucky enough to survive.
Pose star Billy Porter recently shared that he is living with HIV. From the story in the Hollywood Report, “For the first time since being diagnosed more than a decade ago, the ‘Pose’ star opens up about the shame that compelled him to hide his condition from his castmates, collaborators and even his mother, and the responsibility that now has him speaking out: ‘The truth is the healing.’”
TIHAN Office Closed to Honor our Veterans on November 11
Please note that the TIHAN office will be closed on Thursday, November 11th, 2021 in observance of Veterans Day. We thank our veterans for your service to our country.
