PreventionWorks! Harm Reduction in the Nation’s Capital

I worked for PreventionWorks as a temp for about a month or so when I first moved to DC from Australia. The mission of PreventionWorks is to curb the spread of HIV and other blood-borne diseases among injecting and other drug users, their sexual partners, and newborn children.

I was really impressed at the dedication of the staff and volunteers at PreventionWorks who spend their days in DC streets doing needle exchange and harm reduction, especially as for the past decade they had not been able to get any government funding and therefore relied solely on private donations.

PreventionWorks was founded in 1998 after the US Congress passed legislation forbidding both the District of Columbia from using its local funds to support needle exchange services and private organizations that receive any federal funds from operating a needle exchange program, even if funded with private donations. It was crazy to think of the amount of money that the US government was pouring into HIV globally yet there was a huge problem here on our doorstep and it was being denied.

However at the time I was working for Prevention Works in 2007 things were changing and becoming exciting. The change of power in Congress saw a lifting of the ban allowing publicly funded organizations to use private funds to contribute to needle exchange. At that time PreventionWorks had also secured government funding for other HIV related activities, such as a support program to promote ARV adherence.

Today PreventionWorks offers tools and information for leading healthier lives and provides access and referrals to drug treatment, medical, and social services. PreventionWorks is opening a neighborhood harm reduction center in the coming months transitioning into a full service HIV prevention and health advocacy group.

Refer to their website to read more about the exciting work they do. www.preventionworksdc.org

WAMU 88.5 American University Radio

NPR and WAMU are one of my favorite discoveries since coming to the US. In Australia we have a lot of public owned radio stations but this is the first radio station I had seen that is member supported. It is such a great source of information and I would hate for them to have to resort to advertising. wamu.org/

Central Vermont Council on Aging

The Vermont Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) are private nonprofit organizations dedicated to the planning, development and coordination of a comprehensive service system that supports elders in leading healthy, independent, meaningful and dignified lives in their homes and communities. AAAs serve adults 60 years of age and older, as well as family members and caregivers of elders, and some younger adults with disabilities for specific programs. With rising fuel prices this winter the AAAs are seeing greater demand for assistance from elders, yet shrinking resources to provide them support. These funds will be shared among all AAAs (administered through Central VT Council on Aging) to provide fuel assistance to the most needy Vermont elders. I believe that the Vermont spirit of independence is well captured in the AAAs’ efforts to support elders aging safely in their homes and in the communities in which they have thrived.

For the last thirty years, the AAAs have held to, with integrity, their very simple yet deeply felt mission to help people age with independence and dignity– something not easily accomplished in our society today. I witness this through the care taking decisions of friends and colleagues with aging family members. And, I witness the life of my 101 year old grandmother who continues to live at home with the help of her 85 and 86 year old daughters. This, I realize, is a remarkable accomplishment much like the work of the AAAs. Accomplishments are realized each additional day that the ability to age with independence and dignity is extended to countless Vermonters by the AAAs providing some very basic necessities like a warm home.

www.cvcoa.org

Food & Friends

Food and Friends delivers meals to people who are living with HIV, cancer, and other life-challenging diseases that make cooking and grocery shopping nearly impossible.
I love this organization because not only do they deliver meals, but they offer nutrition counseling—important for educating their clients and their families on how to care for a loved one. A well-balanced diet makes medication regimens that much more effective.

This cause is important to me because I grew up in a low-income area and I saw firsthand the difference that a well-balanced diet brought to those who could afford it; malnutrition is too easily preventable for me to not fight it. Food and Friends, which delivers to over 1,000 people at any given time in the DC area, needs this money now more than ever because of drastic cuts in Ryan White funding which has forced t hem to put new clients on a waiting list of up to six weeks. $100 provides one client with one month of groceries.

www.foodandfriends.org

Anne Murray Ladd Teaching Fellowship at Aim High

Anne Murray Ladd was a close friend who was killed at age 27 in a bike accident.  Anne was a warm, smart, and caring person who was dedicated to giving back to the community through teaching. In her spare time, Anne taught economics in a public high school in New York and also tutored in a middle school. Anne had accepted a spot in a Masters in Education program which was to begin two months after she died. Anne’s interest in teaching was inspired by Aim High in San Francisco.

Aim High’s mission is “to provide underserved urban youth with challenging, innovative and highly supportive educational programs,” and their goal is “to ensure that our students are well-prepared for success in school, have a deep appreciation for their community, and are aware of the issues – personal, local and environmental – that affect their lives.” Both Anne and I spent several summers while we were in college teaching health education at Aim High.

Aim High had a lasting impact on Anne and me, and on the hundreds of teachers, and thousands of students it has served over the years.  After Anne’s death, her family requested that people make donations to Aim High. The donations have resulted in the creation of the Anne Murray Ladd Teaching Fellowship, which is “awarded each year to a college student who is an Aim High teaching intern and embodies the generous and compassionate spirit of Anne.”

www.aimhigh.org

Maria Niwas Catholic Church

The Dhar District in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India has one of the lowest literacy rates in the country. The majority of its primarily rural population lives below the poverty line. The district is mainly inherited by Adivasis (casteless) native people of India, who live in remote village communities, living off self-supply farming. Maria Niwas Catholic Church works on various human development projects focusing on children, women, youth and those living below the poverty line. They provide opportunities in employment-oriented education, preventive and curative health care, social and cultural development, and leadership training.

I heard about the Church and their efforts to empower the Adivasi population of India through my Uncle and my parents. Then I read a letter that Father Edward Sarel, the priest at the church had sent my Dad where he had shared some of the stories about the children in the community and how the funds that my parents were sending him were making a difference in their lives. The sincerity and the gratitude he expressed in his letter touched me beyond words, and I was compelled to help them in some small way. As a person of Indian descent, being able to help the forgotten population of India is very important to me. Thanks to JSI, these funds will provide them with much needed resources to improve the health and education outcomes for the community members.

St. Thadeus Primary School

In 2006, my family visited Tanzania for two weeks on safari. During our stay we visited a school where the orphaned nephew of our driver attended. Since that visit, our extended family has been supporting the school with funds and donations of materials to improve facilities, educate faculty, and provide improved basic needs services to students. As a result of our efforts, the school has significantly expanded its capacity to serve orphaned and low income children and dramatically improved the programming available to the students.

We have been fortunate to return to the school after two years of assistance and confirmed that the school continues to make the most of all our contributions and help. With increasing costs, especially food, this contribution will be much appreciated and well used. The $500 that JSI sent to the St. Thadeus School in Tanzania was used to start a tailoring/seamstress program. Looks like the money was put to good use.