Give 30 HIV+ people training to become leaders

We would first of all like to extend our heart felt thanks to all of the contributors and supporters during our December Global Giving fundraising challenge. Through your generous support we were able to reach our goal of $4000 and earn a permanent spot here on GlobalGiving!  Being a part of GlobalGiving has many advantages, we have already started to receive other donors who found us on the website.  One of our requirements from Global Giving is that we must provide our donors with quarterly reports on the project that you donated to, the Does HIV Look Like Me? Canada Campaign. If you wish to receive additional updates on what we are up to, please be sure to sign up for our newsletter here.

PROJECT UPDATE

As you know our campaign has a budget of $100,000, so our donations to date have not enabled us to hire staff and really kick off the project. That being said, it didn't stop us from beginning the work!  We really wanted to give our donors and funders a sample of the type of video content we hope to produce for our national campaign.  So, in the midst of trying to reach our goal on Global Giving in December, 2011 we also managed to produce an amazing short anti-stigma video, with no budget.  The video was shot and edited in house, by our Executive Director Brandy and Board Chair Natalie, and all the crew volunteered their time and skills—we are so grateful!  Read more, and view the video below. We would love to hear your thoughts, and please share the video via email or on your Facebook page. Stop the Stigma can be viewed here;  http://youtu.be/YOq1vGHyFjU and on our home page, www.doeshivlooklikeme.org.  

In the coming months we hope to begin securing community partners in the different provinces across Canada.  We will also be seeking sponsors and funders both locally and nationally. Our hope is to garner some support from a hotel chain, airline and media sponsor to help us offset some of the travel and accommodation costs for our Does HIV Look Like Me? Canada Ambassadors. 

We have not spent any of the donated funds received to date.  

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any further questions about the project.  Stay tuned for the next report which you will be provided by early summer. 

OUR STOP THE STIGMA VIDEO

The launch of their latest video, called “STOP THE STIGMA”, featuring six Canadians from Vancouver, comes from the recognition that HIV today has changed. In the last 10 years, with the advances in research, treatment has become more simple and accessible in countries like Canada. People are living longer and healthier lives, enjoying healthy relationships and having families. However, stigma is still a huge barrier to their health and well being.  

WHY WE NEED YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT

The overarching goal with the launch of this video is for DHLLMI to find appropriate sponsors and partners to support the development of a Does HIV Look Like Me? Canada campaign and eventually a larger international campaign. With the support of a national media sponsor and strong community partners, this campaign will have a long-term impact on the fight against stigma. The HIV-positive Ambassadors who we train and include in these campaigns will receive small grants, and support to begin their work in HIV leadership in the communities they come from.

"There is still much work to be done to undo the blame and shame directed at People Living With HIV everyday," says Dirceu Campos, Treasurer of the DHLLMI Board of Directors, long-time PLWH/A activist and one of the participants of the video.  “Everyday I am amazed by the way people think about HIV, and how the messages surrounding HIV continue to foster stigma,” says Executive Director Brandy Svendson, “There are a lot of stereotypes out there that I felt needed to be addressed and that is what motivated me to push for the creation of this video. My hope is that the people who see our video will get excited and want to get involved with the Does HIV Look Like Me? Canada campaign."

DID YOU KNOW?

•  1 in 4 Canadians living with HIV, do not know they have HIV (Public Health Agency of Canada).

• The idea of involving people living with HIV was formally adopted as a principle at the Paris AIDS Summit in 1994, where 42 countries declared the Greater Involvement of People Living with HIV and AIDS (GIPA) to be critical to ethical and effective national responses to the epidemic.

• It was less than three years ago that Brandy Svendson was working as the International Campaign Director for the American HIV organization producing the Does HIV Look Like Me? campaigns. Having recognized the opportunity within the success and impact of those campaigns - she envisioned a long term organization dedicated to showing the human face of HIV, and to developing the next generation of HIV leaders. In 2009, Brandy started Does HIV Look Like Me? International Society.