PHOENIX (May 10, 2018) —Thanks to a $750,000 donation from The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation, the Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS will now offer a “Test & Treat” program that will be the first of its kind in Arizona. The gift will enhance the agency’s already strong testing capabilities and provide additional resources for immediate treatment. The approach is aligned with the World Health Organization’s policy aimed at cutting HIV transmission by suppressing the virus in those carrying it, and in turn, decreasing their likelihood of passing it on to others. Since 2012, the Foundation has awarded more than $11 million to the Southwest Center through multiple grants, including the creation of The Parsons Center for Health and Wellness.

“Placing those who test positive for HIV on treatment early in their diagnosis, providing immediate access to both medications and behavioral healthcare, will help ensure that the virus is suppressed, undetectable and less likely to spread. This is an essential part of the fight against this disease. We sincerely appreciate the continued generosity and commitment from The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation to help end the HIV epidemic in Arizona,” says Kristin Kalla, executive director for the Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS.

The program builds on the Southwest Center’s existing services since the agency provides more HIV tests, and identifies more HIV positive individuals, than any other community-based organization in Arizona. The HIV Test & Treat program will increase the Center’s capacity to scale-up in-house medical care, including same-day medication prescriptions to those individuals who test positive. These services will be integrated into existing linkages to care, medical case management, behavioral health, pre-exposure and post-exposure prophylaxis, AHCCCS insurance navigation, nutrition services and targeted community outreach initiatives.

“People are typically met with compassion when serious illness strikes.  That’s not always the case for those impacted by HIV/AIDS,” said Bob Parsons. “Southwest Center provides compassionate, culturally-competent and immediate care at a time when those diagnosed with HIV/AIDS are most vulnerable, both physically and emotionally.”

The Southwest Center has signed and is committed to the United Nations’ UNAIDS 90-90-90 initiative with the goal of achieving the following targets by 2020: 90% of people living with HIV diagnosed; 90% of diagnosed people on antiretroviral treatment; and 90% of people in treatment have full viral suppression.

“The Southwest Center continues to build on the breadth of services they offer to clients here in Arizona,” said Renee Parsons. “Bob and I are dedicated to increasing access to medical care to those who are underserved, including those living with HIV/AIDS.”

Having HIV testing and care under one roof helps reduce the barriers to immediate care that those who are newly diagnosed with HIV often experience. It will be a critical contribution to the success of the City of Phoenix’s 90-90-90 Fast Track Cities Initiative aimed at ending AIDS as a public health threat in our community by 2020. Phoenix is the 10th city in the United States to sign on to the 90-90-90 initiative, and agency Executive Director Kristin Kalla is on the mayor’s ad hoc committee helping create action plans to achieve each of the initiative’s components.

“HIV/AIDS is a public health crisis that our community can and will eradicate,” said Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton. “The City of Phoenix is committed to the health of our residents, so that every person can live a full life, uninhibited by illness. The community is grateful for this generous donation from Bob and Renee Parsons to work toward the mission of eradicating HIV/AIDS.”

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About The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation

The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation offers support to nonprofit organizations successfully working to empower, educate, nurture and nourish people during what is often the darkest times of their lives. Founded in 2012 by the philanthropists and business leaders Bob and Renee Parsons to provide hope and life-changing assistance to the country’s most vulnerable populations, The Bob and Renee Parsons Foundation offers critical funding at critical times to those in need. The Foundation’s giving is driven by the core belief that all people—regardless of race, roots, or economic status—deserve access to quality healthcare, education, and a safe place to call home. Follow @WeDealInHope on social media or visit TBRPF.org, to learn more about partner organizations and the important work being done in the community.

About Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS

Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS (www.swhiv.org) is located in downtown Phoenix at the Parsons Center for Health and Wellness, alongside Avella, an HIV specialty pharmacy, and the McDowell Medical and Dental Clinic, which provide care services to HIV-positive individuals. The Center provides prevention, testing, education, medical case management, linkages to care and navigational services, community outreach, family support services, behavioral health services, and health & wellness programs including, alternative therapies, primary medical care, nutrition services and an on-site vitamin shop.

Dan Savage
Photo: Rachel Robinson

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona — Author, social and political activist, and syndicated sex advice columnist Dan Savage will be the guest of the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) for a moderated conversation on Thursday, April 5, at 7 p.m.

Savage, editorial director of Seattle’s weekly alternative newspaper, The Stranger, is known for his take-no-prisoners attitude in his political and social commentary, as well as his honest approach to sex, love and relationships.  He tells it like it is. “I tell people to communicate,” he says. “Put your needs out there, and if they reject you, then you know you’re not compatible.”

His appearance is part of Out@SMoCA, the museum’s ongoing, original series that champions diversity in Scottsdale and Arizona by featuring public conversations with nationally recognized personalities who demonstrate the positive role that thoughtful and committed individuals play in our society. This is the sixth event in the series designed to encourage laughter, as well as frank dialogue. Previous speakers include punk legend and anti-bullying activist Henry Rollins and U.S. Women’s Soccer superstar Megan Rapinoe. Signed copies of one of Savage’s books will be raffled to benefit ONE Community, a member-based coalition of socially responsible businesses, organizations and individuals that support and promote diversity, inclusion and equality for all Arizonans.

Savage’s sex advice column, “Savage Love,” is syndicated in newspapers and websites in the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia. His writing has appeared in numerous publications, including The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, GQ, Rolling Stone and The Onion, as well as on Salon.com. He also has been a guest on CNN, MSNBC and The Colbert Report, as well NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross, HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher and ABC’s 20/20. He is a frequent and popular speaker on college campuses across the United States and Canada.

His books include Savage Love; The Kid: What Happened When My Boyfriend and I Decided to Get Pregnant (PEN West Award for Creative Nonfiction, Lambda Literary Award for Nonfiction); Skipping Towards Gomorrah: The Seven Deadly Sins and the Pursuit of Happiness in America; and The Commitment: Love, Sex, Marriage and My Family. In his most recent book, American Savage: Insights, Slights, and Fights on Faith, Sex, Love, and Politics, published in 2013, he shares his thoughts on such topics as marriage, parenting and the gay agenda, the Catholic Church and sex education. Commenting on the book, Publisher’s Weekly wrote that Savage is, “America’s most in-your-face sex columnist and gay rights activist.”

In 2010, Dan Savage and his husband, Terry Miller, founded the Its Gets Better Project to provide hope, encouragement and support to LGBTQ youth. It began as a social media campaign with a YouTube video and has evolved into a multi-media platform capable of reaching millions of young people every year through inspiring media programming, a growing network of international affiliates and access to an arsenal of community-based service providers.

Tickets:
$35 / (M $30)
This moderated discussion will take place in the Virginia G. Piper Theater at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts.

Out@SMoCA is presented in partnership with the City of Scottsdale Office of Diversity, Scottsdale Human Relations Committee and media partner Echo Magazine.

SCOTTSDALE  ARTS
Through its partnership with the City of Scottsdale, the nonprofit Scottsdale Arts (formerly known as Scottsdale Cultural Council) creates diverse, inspired arts experiences and educational opportunities that foster active, lifelong community engagement with the arts. Since its founding in 1987, Scottsdale Arts has grown into a regionally and nationally significant, multi-disciplinary arts organization offering an exceptional variety of programs through three acclaimed divisions – Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) and Scottsdale Public Art – serving more than 400,000 participants annually.

ABOUT SMoCA
Founded in 1999, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) explores the best of contemporary art, architecture and design. Global in its focus, the Museum is a unique and vital cultural resource for the Southwest, serving local audiences as well as visitors from the United States and abroad. Designed by award-winning architect Will Bruder, SMoCA’s minimalist building (an ingenious renovation of a former movie theater) has four galleries for showcasing changing exhibitions and works from the Museum’s collection, along with SMoCA Lounge, a living, functional art installation and space for community engagement. The Museum presents a wide variety of educational programs and special events for adults and families, including lectures, readings, performances, docent-led tours, workshops and classes. SMoCA also features an outdoor sculpture garden housing James Turrell’s Knight Rise, one of the renowned artist’s public skyspaces, and Scrim Wall, a monumental curtain of translucent glass panels by James Carpenter Design Associates. The Museum’s retail store, Shop@SMoCA, offers classic design objects and furnishings, contemporary jewelry, art and architecture books, and imaginative gifts for all occasions.

VISITOR INFORMATION
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
7374 E. Second St., Scottsdale, AZ 85251
www.SMoCA.org
480-874-4666
SMoCA@ScottsdaleArts.org

HOURS AND ADMISSION
Tuesday – Wednesday, noon – 5 p.m.
Thursday – Saturday, noon – 9 p.m.
Sunday, noon – 5 p.m.
Closed Mondays and major holidays
Admission: $10 adults, $7 students, free for members and children under 15
Free on Thursdays and after 5 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays

The crosswalk at 7th and Glenrosa Avenues will be painted
rainbow if approved by the City Council. Photo Credit: Brian Mori

A rainbow crosswalk in Miami Beach. Photo Credit: Phoenix Pride

Metro Phoenix L.G.B.T.Q. activists want to honor the Melrose District’s legacy of leadership by painting the existing crosswalk at 7th and Glenrosa Avenues all the colors of the rainbow.

“Melrose has always been the place to go sit down and have dinner with your (same-sex) partner, and not worry about holding their hand,” said Mark Leeper, President of Phoenix Pride’s Board of Directors. “This is a great way to increase the visibility of the community and it’s also going to be good for tourism.”

Crosswalk in Melrose to be painted, if approved. Photo Credit: Phoenix Pride.

Leeper, 31, leads the organization that hosts Phoenix Pride week in April. Glenrosa is one of two crosswalks Pride wants to paint right now, the other is in the arts district at Central Avenue and Roosevelt. Eventually, Pride wants to paint several existing crosswalks in both neighborhoods.

“Even Tucson now has done this,” Leeper said. “The feedback we’re getting is ‘why hasn’t Phoenix?”

He also said it’s not as easy as just grabbing some volunteers and paintbrushes. Pride is still reviewing traffic studies, and meeting with neighborhood associations to make sure this is something they really want.

Next, Pride will ask the City Council to approve the idea. Only then can a public plan be released which will detail the cost of the work, probably perfomed by City crews.

Pride estimates $6k-7k for the initial painting of the Melrose sidewalk, but much less for maintenance. “We’re basing (price) off of other cities,” he said. “The (heat) here is brutal, so the materials are different.”

Leeper said the funds are being raised from donors and other organizations. “We’ll accept a donation from anybody,” he said. “But we’re not asking for City money.”

Leeper said he expects a relatively quick turnaround once approved by the Council. Pride is aiming for March (Pride Week) for both crosswalks. Those who wish to support the idea should contact Phoenix Pride, their neighborhood and City representatives.

Story by Brian Mori

Source: thismelroselife.com

FIVE-YEAR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OWEN ACCEPTS NEW POSITION

PHOENIX – The board of directors of Phoenix Pride has announced that the organization’s executive director of nearly five years, Justin Owen, will be departing his professional role at the agency on December 31st. Mr. Owen has accepted the position of executive director of the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy in Scottsdale, beginning on January 1, 2018.

Concurrently, the board is pleased to reveal that Phoenix Pride has hired veteran business owner, Pride board member and community leader Michael Fornelli to serve as interim executive director upon Mr. Owen’s departure.

Under Mr. Owen’s nearly five years of leadership at Phoenix Pride, the organization has undergone tremendous growth, and 2017 will stand as one of the most successful years in the agency’s history, with record attendance and revenue at the Phoenix Pride Festival and Parade, as well as phenomenal turnout at last month’s Rainbows Festival and an incredibly successful local Unity Rally for Equality and Pride held in June. In addition, the agency awarded more than $80,000 in community grants and scholarships during the 9th Annual Community Spirit Awards held over the summer.

“While we are certainly sad to see Justin depart the organization which he has so successfully led for us on the professional level over the past four-and-a-half years, we are extremely excited to see him pursuing this new and exciting opportunity in his career,” Phoenix Pride President of the Board Mark Leeper said. “Under Justin’s leadership, we have experienced tremendous growth in multiple areas, and he is leaving us in a position of strength and stability, with significant leaps in our presence, reach and credibility in the community. We are also very happy to announce that Justin will remain involved in Phoenix Pride on a volunteer basis, and we are thrilled that he will continue to share his skills, contacts and experience with our organization and our community.

“At the same time, we are excited to announce the appointment of Michael Fornelli as our interim executive director, effective upon Justin’s departure,” Leeper added. “Mike’s long presence in our community as a business owner, community leader and local icon for LGBTQ rights, provides a phenomenal platform from which to continue the momentum Phoenix Pride has built as an agency, and we look forward to writing the next chapter in our history with Mike at the organization’s professional helm.”

“For more than 20 years, the Pride Movement has been a home and an extended family for me, and serving as the executive director of Phoenix Pride over the past four- and-a-half years has been the greatest honor and privilege of my career to date,” Justin Owen added. “I fully intend to remain connected to Pride in a volunteer capacity, and to stay active in pursuing equity and parity for Arizona’s entire LGBTQ community, even as I move into my new role beginning in January.”

“I am truly honored and humbled to be entrusted with the professional leadership of Phoenix Pride, an organization that I have loved, admired and supported for many, many years, and I am especially excited to continue working with Mark and the entire Phoenix Pride Board through this critical next phase of the organization’s existence,” Michael Fornelli stated. “We are facing an era of challenge and change for the LGBTQ community, with uncertainty surrounding policy at the federal and state level, and increased incidents of anti-LGBTQ bias and violence. However, our community is at its strongest when we come together and stand boldly, and Phoenix Pride will continue to be the touchstone for that unity, by providing the two largest public LGBTQ community events in the State of Arizona and continuing to lend our voice to advocating for equity for our community, including the push for anti-discrimination protections at the Arizona Legislature.”

Mr. Fornelli, has been the Owner and President of popular Scottsdale LGBTQ bar/nightclub BS West, since 1992. His experience includes extensive background in financial management, staff leadership, community engagement and event production. He has served as a festival entertainment manager and pageant director for Phoenix Pride since 2013, and joined the Phoenix Pride Board of Directors earlier this year. In addition, he serves as board director and chief of staff for USofA Pageantry, and he previously held a three-year term on the board of directors of local LGBTQ youth support organization one•n•ten.

Phoenix, AZ October 3, 2017 – Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS has named public health leader Kristin Kalla, MA MPH, as its new Executive Director. Kalla’s appointment follows a national search conducted by a committee comprised of the Center’s Board of Directors and key representatives from the Phoenix business, philanthropic and public health communities. Kalla holds Master’s degrees in Public Health (MPH) and Medical Anthropology (MA) from UCLA, in addition to a BA from the University of California, San Diego. In 2014, she was inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. She is also an ordained minister, certified in Ayurvedic nutrition, and a Reiki Master practitioner.

“We are very excited about having Ms. Kalla at the helm of the Southwest Center,” said Mike Sparaco, Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS Board Chair. “Kristin is a mindful, mission-driven nonprofit executive who has diverse experience steering strategic change, scaling-up, and mobilizing funding for community-based initiatives focused on public and women’s health, HIV/AIDS, gender equality and diversity both in the U.S. and abroad.”

Over the course of a 25-plus-year career, Kalla has been a senior manager and technical advisor on public health and gender justice issues to the U.S. Government, USAID, CDC, foreign government ministries, UNICEF, CARE International, among others. She has led the development of protocols and standards in the fields of public health and social justice, including an international protocol for HIV/AIDS voluntary counseling and testing; youth programming and advocacy; prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission; and guidelines for ensuring the meaningful involvement of people living with HIV and AIDS.

“Arizona is now ranked 15^th in the United States for the number of newly diagnosed HIV cases. I’m so inspired by the local survivors, LGBTQ community, advocates, city officials, donors, partners and Center staff who have committed their efforts to work on behalf of communities in the Phoenix area affected by HIV/AIDS. The City of Phoenix recently became the 11^th U.S. Fast Track City to be part of the United Nations initiative to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2020 and I’m looking forward to leveraging my international experience and networks to lead Southwest Center in support of this important goal. It is a great honor and privilege to work with such a committed community to place those affected and living positively at the center of everything that we do in order to address their unique needs,” says Kalla.

The announcement comes just three months after Southwest Center announced it was one of 30 grantees nationwide to receive a 5-year, 1.7 million dollar grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to enhance HIV prevention and outreach services in Arizona.

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About Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS

Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS, a medical and support center based in Phoenix, Arizona, for people living with or at risk for contracting HIV/AIDS. Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS is the largest clinical, education, behavioral health, prevention and nutrition support center dedicated to fighting HIV and AIDS in the Southwestern United States. The Center provides prevention, testing, education, community outreach, family support services, behavioral health services, and health & wellness programs including, naturopathic medicine, primary medical care, nutrition services and an on-site vitamin shop through the Kirk Baxter Wellness Center.

San Diego, CA: Nearly 2,000 Christians from around the world had signed on to Christians United: A Statement In Support of LGBT+ Inclusion in the Church on Thursday morning, including more than 300 denominational leaders, theologians, and Christian influencers.

Christians United is an international theological statement bringing together thousands of LGBT+ affirming Christians to declare with one voice that the Church of Jesus Christ must be a place where LGBT+ people are celebrated and embraced. Christians United came as a direct response to The Nashville Statement, a document composed and signed by 150 major evangelical leaders in August 2017, which reaffirmed toxic, non-affirming theological commitments that have caused verifiable harm to countless LGBT+ people of faith around the world.

The statement was originally drafted by LGBT+ Christian activist and Nomad Partnerships Executive Director, Brandan Robertson and was edited by a distinguished editorial board including Dr. J. R. Daniel Kirk, Bishop Joseph Tolton, Rev. Steve Chalke, and Dr. Paula Williams.

Article 1 of the statement begins by declaring:

“WE AFFIRM that every human being is created in the image and likeness of God and that the great diversity expressed in humanity through our wide spectrum of unique sexualities and gender identities is a perfect reflection of the magnitude of God’s creative work.”

In the first twenty-four hours of it’s release, Christians United was signed on to by over 1,000 Christians from around the world, including top theologians and the leaders of some of the worlds most influential Christian denominations.

Christians United stands as a faithful witness that a new day is dawning in Christianity, a day in which the Church of Jesus Christ repents of its sin of exclusion, and swings open it’s doors to welcome all of God’s diverse children.

To see the full text of the statement, visit www.ChristiansUnitedStatement.org.

PRESS RELEASE

June 16, 2017 (PHOENIX): Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS is pleased to announce it is one of 30 grantees in the United States to receive a 5-year, 1.7 million dollar grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to enhance HIV prevention and outreach services in Arizona. In 2016, Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS performed over 5,000 free Rapid HIV and 3,000 STI tests for the Phoenix community. Thanks to the generous $1.7 million federal grant funding, Southwest Center will now be able to increase the accessibility of their free and low-cost HIV and STI tests to an even larger population of Arizonans whose lives have been touched by HIV. 

“Over 17,000 men and women are living with diagnosed HIV in Arizona. Many more live without knowledge of the disease,” says Gary Egan, Interim CEO of the Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS. “This grant will be instrumental in helping us and our community partners improve the lives of those 17,000 individuals and others who are at risk for HIV.”

Through a collaborative partnership between one-n-ten and Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation, the grant funds will be used to provide comprehensive, high-impact HIV prevention services to young, Hispanic men who have sex with men between the ages of 13 and 29. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Hispanic/Latino community is disproportionately affected by HIV. In 2014 alone, Hispanics/Latinos accounted for nearly a quarter of new HIV diagnoses in the United States, despite representing only 17% of the total U.S. population.

Not only will the funding be used to increase accessibility to HIV and STD testing among those at highest risk for infection, it will aim to re-engage previously diagnosed individuals who are now out-of-care, connect and retain diagnosed individuals to critical medical care and support services, and ensure that individuals who are at high risk for infection have access to critical prevention and support, including Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP). Additionally, project materials and services are being developed to meet the needs of Spanish-speaking individuals.

Founded in 1990, Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS is located inside the Parsons Center for Health and Wellness, conveniently located just off the light rail, and provides prevention, education and outreach services to 30,000 Maricopa County citizens each year living with HIV/AIDS or at-risk for becoming infected.

The impact of the generous CDC funding will be felt throughout the Phoenix community as it supports Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS reduce the spread of new infections, increase access to care, and promote overall health equity.

To learn more check out SWHIV.org!

About Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS

Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS, a medical and support center based in Phoenix, Arizona, for people living with or at risk for contracting HIV/AIDS. Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS is the largest clinical, education, behavioral health, prevention and nutrition support center dedicated to fighting HIV and AIDS in the Southwestern United States. A 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization, Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS (formerly Body Positive) was founded in 1990 by Kirk Baxter. The Center’s vision, “leading the fight against HIV and AIDS” is carried out through our mission of reducing infection, improving quality of life and contributing to worldwide research. Today, hundreds of thousands of people around the world are taking HIV and AIDS-fighting drugs that earned Federal Drug Administration approval, thanks in part to the Center’s clinical trials and biomedical research program.