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The mission of the
Mental Health Center of Dane County,
Inc. is to provide individuals and families with high quality,
community based, recovery oriented, mental health, substance abuse,
and advocacy services that respect cultural differences and foster
hope, strength, and self determination. We will give priority to
individuals and families with high needs and low resources.
HIVictorious extends our
heartfelt thanks to Memorial High School's art teachers, Teri Ford
and Melissa Winker. Their students have created some awe-inspiring
AIDS awareness posters
for our contest. It was an honor to have them participate again this
year!
Embarrassment.
An Opportunistic Infection by Mwaganu wa Kaggia
I am embarrassed to talk about SEX
So I avoid talking to my children
I giggle and laugh nervously
Whenever the word SEX is mentioned
I am too embarrassed to look up
In the age of HIV/AIDS
My embarrassment continues
About SEX, AIDS and CONDOMS
I am even afraid to read about the disease
I am so embarrassed
Now, I am at a loss
My daughter, my son,
my husband and I have AIDS
We have never talked about SEX and AIDS
Even when we knew better
We were too embarrassed
Too embarrassed to protect ourselves
Too embarrassed to keep DEATH at bay
Now I am too embarrassed
To let anyone know about us
My FAMILY and AIDS
Then one day
My mother opened my eyes
She said, " Your family is not dying of AIDS
It is dying of embarrassment,
A deadly OPPORTUNISTIC INFECTION"
Today, we are no longer sick with embarrassment
We know better
That noone ever died of embarrassment
But DAILY, a loved one dies of AIDS.
22% of new HIV
cases were among young people ages 15-24
20% of new HIV
cases were among women
Race/ethnic
minorities comprise only 12% of the Wisconsin
population, but 54% of all HIV cases reported in
2008 were members of racial/ethnic minorities
In 2008, 68%
of all new HIV cases were among gay men
Experts estimate that 1 in 4 individuals living
with HIV are unaware of their status
HIV is a disease that affects people regardless
of age, gender, race, socioeconomic status and
sexual orientation
HIV infections have been reported in all 72
counties in Wisconsin, with concentration in
Milwaukee County
Nearly 40% of
HIV patients have no health care coverage
Over 50% of
HIV patients cannot afford their HIV medications
CDC estimates that there are approximately
19 million new cases of
STDs each year in the United
States, almost half of them among young people ages 15 to 24. Here
is a wonderful resource from MTV, Kaiser Family Foundation, and
others... Please share the site!
It's Your Sex Life (IYSL)
- Get Yourself Tested (GYT)
I believe AIDS is the most important
issue we face, because how we treat the poor is a
reflection of who we are as a people.
~
Alicia Keys
God is
in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play
house. God is in the silence of a mother who has
infected her child with a virus that will end both their
lives. God is in the cries heard under the rubble of
war. God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and
lives, and God is with us if we are with them.
~ Bono
National
HIV/AIDS Strategy
President Obama speaking on the
National HIV/AIDS Strategy
Released July 13,
2010
Click here to
view the National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States
Photo of the second AIDS
awareness billboard from our
youth
HIV/AIDS poster contest, "What
if it Were You?"
Located at South Park Street in Madison, Wisconsin
We must encourage
people to get educated, to get tested, to get involved in the fight
against AIDS.
It’s the one purchase
nobody can live without. It’s Life. When you buy life, you give life
to millions of people affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa and India by
providing the medicine, food and shelter needed to fight this awful
disease.
