STAP's POZ Focus Newsletter, March 2010

To honor and recognize over two decades of Dr. Chaffee’s valued ser-vice to our community, STAP is proud to support the formation of The Bar-bara H. Chaffee, MD, MPH Educational Fund – To Nurture & Support Health Care Professionals Caring for People with HIV/AIDS.

The fund’s mission is to enable dedi-cated HIV care professionals who cur-rently reside in the Greater Bingham-ton Area to continue their education in the field of HIV/AIDS and follow in Dr. Chaffee’s footsteps well into the 21st century.

Annual grant recipients will not only include the employees of and resi-dent physicians & medical students in training at United Health Services, the Clinical Campus of the Upstate Medi-

cal Center at Binghamton and the Broome County

Health Department, but also employees

of the Southern Tier AIDS Pro-gram!

Our agency’s financial sup-port to a “forev-

er” endowment

of this type in our community will help insure that our clients will have noth-ing less than the best HIV care for de-cades to come.

The fund is the brainchild of Bing-hamton Internal Medicine HIV Team nurses Kate Dodge and Michele Rad-er, who then in tandem with the HIV clinic’s Consumer Advisory Board, contacted Diane Brown, Executive Di-rector of The Community Foundation for South Central New York, to take this wonderful idea and turn it into a reality.

The fund’s planning board is work-ing to raise $50,000 this year through community donations so that it can be-gin making grant distributions in 2011. Support at all levels is appreciated. A Founders’ Circle has been established as incentive to make a $1000 mini-mum donation, which can be pledged in installment payments for up to two years.

For more information on how you can easily contribute, please call The Community Foundation at 607-772-6773. You can also find the Fund on Facebook.

positive focusServing Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Cortland, Delaware, Otsego, Tioga & Tompkins Counties

Spring 2010 www.stapinc.org

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STAP’s 2008 Legacy Award recipient, Dr. Barbara Chaffee, retired from full time practice at

Binghamton Internal Medicine on January 1, 2010.

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This year’s Cause for Celebration was a smashing success with 185 people filling the Binghamton Club’s ballroom to join us in honoring our 2009 Com-munity Partners. These individuals and corporations have contributed time and resources to move the mission of the Southern Tier AIDS Program for-ward, to raise awareness of HIV in our community and to assure that quality services for persons living with HIV are available. Please feel free to patronize and thank generously our community partners for their commitment.

Corner Store CateringJohn Wells has donated to the AIDS Ride for Life since the first ride in 1999.

His equipment rental business, Corner Store Catering, has donated thousands of dollars of equipment and he has consistently shown his dedication in work-ing hard for the Ride and people living with AIDS before and after the event. Riders consistently tell us that one of the reasons they love our ride is the amount of support they receive during the ride. This support simply would not be possible without the unflagging support of John Wells. He has been one of the unsung heroes of the Ride for 11 years because of his amazing generosity and heart of gold.

Excellus Blue Cross Blue ShieldExcellus BCBS has played a major role in

supporting all of the events that STAP holds. Excellus BCBS invests tens of millions of dollars to support local organizations and initiatives that improve the quality of life in our community. They contribute to organi-zations that are dedicated to overcoming racism, bias and discrimination, such as STAP. Melissa Klinko, Excellus’s Regional Communications and Media Relations Man-ager has been an incredible resource and mentor for STAP’s Development Depart-ment. Grant Best, Excellus’s Southern Tier Regional Director is a member of our Board of Directors and a huge supporter of our agency.

2010 Gala Community Partners

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from the director...


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Frito-Lay, Inc.With the AIDS Walk

approaching I sent a request to Frito-Lay for a donation of prod-uct. Our walkers (and everyone else) love their snacks! What I received was a phone call that Frito Lay would donate prod-uct and be a part of the walk with a team. The Frito-Lay team was very successful, raising thousands of dollars for people liv-ing with AIDS in the Southern Tier! Joe Bambara became my contact at Frito-Lay and he shared with us that Frito-Lay mea-sures their success not only in terms of their financial achievement, but also their social and environmental performance. Frito-Lay man-agement takes a Straight for Equality pledge. Straight for Equality is a national outreach and education project cre-ated by Parents and Friends of Lesbians And Gays National to empower al-lies in support-ing and advo-cating for Gay, Lesbian, Bisex-ual and Trans-gender commu-nity. Frito-Lay continues to support STAP, attending the Doggone Fun on the Run and donating prod-uct to Identity, our GLBT youth center in down-town Bingham-ton.

Mayor Matthew Ryan

Mayor Ryan has been generous to STAP as an organi-zation and has tru-ly partnered with us in recognizing the promise and potential of the communities we serve and which he respects. The annual raising of the pride flag over city hall and the friend of the city award given to the Identity LGBT youth center are just two of the ac-

tions that Mayor Ryan has taken to prove that he will do the right thing, because it is the right thing do. We are proud to call him a friend and to honor him as a community partner. Please make a point of thanking Mayor Ryan for his courage

and vision in making our commun i t y more inclu-sive of all of its members.




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Adopt a Family

HIV/AIDS has evolved into a disease of families with chil-dren. Because stress impacts the physical body’s capability of fighting the deadly HIV/AIDS virus, psychosocial support is imperative to survival.

Imagine having a life threatening illness and not having enough money to celebrate your child’s birthday with a cake and candles, or celebrating Christmas with no apparent visit from Santa Claus. For many families living with HIV/AIDS, such simple pleasures are too expensive. Ordinary fun – a birthday cake, a summer picnic, a family evening at the mov-ies – is one of the first casualties of poverty. STAP’s Adopt-A-Family program provides families opportunities to spend quality time together, giving them a chance to rebuild the family bond the virus has torn apart by the continuous worry of finances, medications and medical bills. It also provides empowering financial assistance for parents that may be struggling to provide simple pleasures for their children due to the constant struggles of surviving with HIV/AIDS.

Over the past several years, STAP has expanded it’s Adopt-A-Family Program by working with area organizations such as Levene, Gouldin & Thompson (LGT) and Hinman, How-ard & Kattell (HH&K) to connect families in extreme circum-stances with groups of volunteers, also known as “Elves”, committed to making a difference. These two community partners have adopted a STAP family every year for more than five years. This year was no exception. One of the fami-lies adopted in 2009 included a sight-impaired, single moth-er with several children. Thanks to LGT the family enjoyed a wonderful holiday together receiving such gifts as new

bedding, warm coats, hats, and gloves, kitchen utensils and equipment and a Wii video game system. HH&K went ga-ga with excitement when they were connected to a strug-gling, young, single HIV+ woman expecting her first child. The law group pitched in and provided her with a warm coat big enough to fit around her growing tummy, baby clothes for a year, a crib, highchair, and even a washer and dryer! The generosity of our Adopt-A-Family partners was met by all with amazement, appreciation and tears of joy! A special thank you goes out to LGT & HH&K for their continual sup-port and thoughtfulness.

Adopt-A-Family makes it affordable for individuals or

groups to help an entire family improve their quality of life. Due to HIV/AIDS confidentiality laws, it is not possible for ALL donors to meet the families that participate in the Adopt-A-Family program. Adopt-A-Family is an affordable way for almost anyone to make a huge difference in the lives of families in their own community. There are two ways you can contribute. A one time monetary donation of any amount will gladly be accepted. Or, with your employer’s consent and cooperation, you may choose to contribute as little as $1 or $2 per week through a weekly payroll deduc-tion. Not only is your contribution tax deductible (to the ex-tent allowable by law,) but you’ll be glad to know that 100% of your donation will benefit families in your community. It doesn’t take a lot of money to change the impact of pov-erty on a family! If you are interested in donating to this life-enhancing program please send your donation to STAP, C/o Adopt-A-Family, 122 Baldwin Street, Johnson City, NY 13790 or call Gayle Pado at 1.800.333.0892.

by Mary Kaminsky

“PLISOAs (Persons Living In Spite of AIDS) are PERSONS first and foremost: persons who have families and loved ones, persons who have dreams and hopes and fears, persons who laugh and cry, persons who deserve the same respect and love as you and I.”

— a feisty long-term survivor


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ADMINISTRATIONJohn Barry, Executive DirectorJulie Kerr, Director of FinanceMary Kaminsky, Director of DevelopmentJoseph Caminiti, Dir. of Information SystemsKim Conrad, Special Events CoordinatorCandace Phelan, Volunteer CoordinatorAnne Baron, Fiscal AssistantKristina Hagen, IS and CS AssistantGinny Miller, Program AssistantNancy Bosworth, Executive AssistantJackie Centerwall, Administrative Assistant

CLIENT SERVICES Gayle Pado, Director of Client ServicesWendy Hitchcock, Assistant DirectorMichelle McElroy, Assistant DirectorRobin Carroll, Medical AdvocateJessica Krohn, Housing CoordinatorJoanne Carlyle, Housing Referral Placement Spec.Shannon Sprague, Case ManagerTodd Latzko, Community Follow-up WorkerJames Elrod, Medical AdvocateJennifer McKenzie, Case ManagerJean Wilson, Case ManagerGry Bente Johansen, Case ManagerJessica Sample, Case ManagerTeresa Wage, Case ManagerStacie Kuettel, Case ManagerTerri Shields, Case ManagerJuan Rios, Case Management TechnicianJim Jelliff, Case Management Technician

PREVENTION SERVICESJeffrey Wynnyk, Director of Prevention SvcsJoe Barnett, Asst Director & Senior EducatorLillian Fan, Harm Redcution TechnicianEthan Lewis,MPowerment CoordinatorSteven Hanakovic, Harm Reduction EducatorLawrence Parham, Asst Dir, Project VIIBES, Coord.Chalanda Graham, Project VIIBES EducatorVanessa Davis, LGBT Youth EducatorErin Gotthardt, Asst Director, LGBT Youth Program

REGIONAL TRAINING CENTERGreta Immerman, Regional Training Director

BOARD OF DIRECTORSPaul Rushanski, PresidentTina Ruocco Dolan, Vice PresidentGrant Best, TreasurerMichelle Duffy, SecretaryJennifer BojdakKelly BulkeleyNancy McGowanPamela MischenJamie CornellJoshua B LudzkiErik vonHausenAngelo Fiori

As the Volunteer Coordinator, I am often asked what do I have to do to volunteer for STAP? I realized that my answer is usually a list of requirements that are dictated by policy and procedure. What that translates into is we are looking for people that believe in our mission to focus on the health and well being of HIV+ persons. We are looking for people that will offer their time and energy and expertise to support our staff in doing the great work that STAP offers. We are look-ing for people who want to work hard, have fun and make a difference in someone’s life. Sound like you? Want to join a wonderful team of volunteers? Great, contact me by e-mail [email protected] or by calling 607-798-1706 ext. 225.

Upcoming events looking for volunteers:AIDS WALK /RUN April 17, 2010 Recreation Park – Binghamton NYRegister with Candace at [email protected] AIDS RIDE For LIFE September 11, 2010Ithaca NY Riders and volunteers register at www.aidsrideforlife.org

volunteer update


training calendar / local resources

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Register Now!Go to: www.stapinc.org

• Call: (607) 798-1706 • Fax: (607) 798-1977 or send mail: STAP, 122 Baldwin St,

Johnson City, NY 13760

INFORMATION HOTLINES

National 800-342-AIDS

Spanish 800-342-SIDA

Hearing Impaired 800-AIDS-TTY

Teen Hot Line 800-440-TEEN

New York State 800-541-AIDS

STAP 800-333-0892

HIV TESTING SITES

Broome CountyHealth Department 607-778-2839

Chemung CountyHealth Department 607-737-2028

Southern Tier AIDS Program(STAP) 800-333-0892

Chenango Memorial Hospital607-335-4111

Jacobus Center-Cortland607-753-5027

Planned Parenthood Binghamton607-723-8306

Planned Parenthood Oneonta607-432-2250

Planned Parenthood Sidney607-563-4363

Planned Parenthood Walton607-865-6579

Oneonta Health Center607-433-0042

Tioga County Health Department 607-687-8600

Tioga Opportunities, Inc.607-687-5333

Tompkins County Health Department 800-562-9423

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April:4/8/2010(9-4:30) Building Bridges to Cultural Competency @ STAP 122 Baldwin Street, Johnson City, NY

4/20/2010 (9-4:30)Introduction to Case Management @ Child Advocacy Center19 Church St., Cortland, NY 4/22/2010 (9-4:30) Domestic Violence in GLBT Communities @ Owego United Methodist Church, Barton Education Wing261 Main Street, Owego, NY. (Please use rear building entrance)

4/27/2010 (9-12) HIV/AIDS Confidentiality Law (1-4:30) & Overview of HIV/AIDS STAP 122 Baldwin St., Johnson City, NY May:5/20 & 5/21/2010 (9-4:30) Sex, Gender & HIV/STDs @ STAP 122 Baldwin Street, Johnson City, NY

June:6/8/2010 (9-4:30)HIV & STDs full day @ STAP 122 Baldwin Street, Johnson City, NY 6/17 & 6/18/2010 (9-4:30)Group Facilitation Skills @ STAP 122 Baldwin Street, Johnson City, NY


The 2nd annual Rock Star Ce-lebrity Bartending Bash was held on March 13th at Tranquil Bar & Bistro. Nine bartenders and two divas equal a wild night of phenomenal fun and entertain-ment. All were competing for the grand prize: drink-naming rights. Would Mary’s Thousand Dollar Cosmo and the Brunel-litini be replaced? We have a steadfast rule that “What hap-pens at Tranquil, Stays at Tran-quil” but we will share just a bit of the evening’s events with you.

Round 1: John Brunelli (An-thony Brunelli Fine Arts) v. Naima Kradjian (Goodwill Theatre) v. Steven Nanni (Tenor, Wash-ington National Opera, Teatro dell’opera of Rome, Chelsea Op-era). John was last year’s winner and was determined to keep the Brunellitini on Tranquil’s menu. He hadn’t planned for Naima and Steven to bring out the big guns. When Steven’s tip jar was looking a little low he belted out a rendition of New York, New York that got the crowd quickly emptying their pockets. Round 1 ended with Steven in the lead.

Round 2: Lori (Star 105.7) v. Trent Patterson (The Biggest Loser) v. Greg Catlin (WBNG) v. Mick Dwyer (Fox 40). There was no time for lessons; the crowd was huge and very thirsty. This left Lori and Greg with a definite advantage having bar-tended last year. It seemed like Round 2 had just begun when it was over. Greg was in the lead and to Lori’s surprise Mick was in 2nd place. Lori quickly picked up her cell phone and began calling friends for more donations.

Round 3: Michael Libous (Mi-chael Libous Salon) v. Grant Best (Excellu BCBS) v. Mayor Matt Ryan (City of Binghamton). Mi-chael Libous came to the event in-tent on winning; he even brought his own cheering crowd. Tony Fiala called in from the Caribbean to add $100 to Michael’s tip jar! Michael was convinced he had it in the bag. Mayor Ryan was pull-ing out all of the stops and quietly, but oh so boldly, Grant Best was filling up his tip jar too.

Round 3 ended and the crowd was anxiously awaiting which bar-tender would win. Then it occurred to all of the celebrity bartenders that the real coup was done by the fabulously famous Katrina & DeDe Kupps, the beautiful di-vas who had been serving drinks and performing throughout the night. Would a bartender even win the coveted drink-naming rights or would the divas steal the show?

To quote our Master of Cere-monies Joshua B “I won’t get into the dirty details here—I’ll just say that you should have been there if you wanted to know exactly how far people are willing to go in pursuit of a good cause (and a cocktail title)”.

So much happened that Loren Couch & Sean Massey of Tranquil decided, in order to keep the peace, the top three competi-

tors would win drink-naming rights. The winners are Mi-chael Libous, raising an amazing total of $1,397.50, Mayor Matt Ryan ($521.50) and Steven Nanni ($405.50).

The grand total raised 4,624.10

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2nd annual

Rock Star Celebrity Bartending Bash


Want to put a little spring in your step? There is no better way than by signing up today to participate in the 2010 AIDS Walk/Run taking place on April 17th. Join with hundreds of others in caring enough to make a difference.

Bring the entire family with you. Our youngest walkers are sure to enjoy the Kids Who Care tent, sponsored by M&T Bank. Last year the Kids Who Care tent included, the safe child ID program, face painting, popcorn, ice cream, magician, juggler, balloon artist, and even a snake, courte-sy of the zoo-mobile. You are probably wondering how we can top that. Oh we will. But the best thing of all is you will have taught your child that giving can be fun, that caring for others isn’t necessarily work. Last year Team Kids Who Care raised over $2,000, placing 4th in fundraising efforts.

There are many levels of incentives but why not aim high.

Raise $500 or more and you will receive a crown. As befits your status, we will serve you first, no need to wait in line. What’s that? You want to be the top team? Well the YMCA says thank you for that. The YMCA will award the top three teams with one (1) year family membership. You decide how to use this, you can raffle it among your team, award it

to the person that raises the most or award it to your team captain, it was, after all the captains idea! Please note this is for new memberships only!

We would also like to invite you to share a cherished memory by placing a memory marker along Memory Lane path. There is no charge to place a memory marker, just call Mary at (607) 798-1706 to arrange for your memory/honor marker.

We have some wonderful surprises planned for you. It is sure to be a fantastic experience for all participants. So work on creating your team and get ready to Walk and t enjoy the great community spirit and the food and bever-ages from Outback Steakhouse, Pronto Cucina, Frito-Lay and Starbucks.

The 2010 AIDS Walk is presented by:

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2010 aids walk/run

Put a Little spring in Your Step!

www.firstgiving.com/stap


Pre-RegistrationRest up – no need to arrive early, unless you just want to gloat that you have already registered

which will be clearly evident by the fact you are wearing your fabulous 2010 AIDS Walk/Run t-shirt.

When: Thursday, April 15th: 4 PM – 7 PM

Friday, April 16th: 10 AM – 1 PM

Where: STAP, 122 Baldwin Street, Johnson City, NY 13790

AIDS Walk/RunApril 17th 2010

Recreation Park, Beethoven St. Binghamton, NY

Registration: 10:30 – 12 NoonWalk Begins: 12:30 PM

Followed by a fabulous post-party

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Last Fall, STAP announced it’s partnership with the Jifa-hamu Kenya Foundation (JKF). JKF is a non-governmental organization operating in Nairobi and it’s surrounding ru-ral areas and has a mission similar to STAP’s. This year for World AIDS Day, STAP hosted a fundraiser for Jifahamu at the University Downtown Center that raised $3,000.

We recently checked- in with Enos Opati Ongute the Executive Director of JKF to see how they were putting those funds to work. Enos reports that the money has been put to good use. Some was given to women living with HIV in the form of micro-loans to support their small businesses. These loans enable wom-en living with HIV to pay for medica-tion and feed their families. In fact, similar loans enabled the women to make the beautiful hand-beaded jew-

elry that was for sale at our World AIDS Day event. Caring for Kenya’s estimated 1 million AIDS orphans con-

tinues to be a challenge. Enos and the staff of JKF used the rest of the fund-raised money to provide food and school uniforms to the six orphanages JKF supports. In all, 1,200 children were helped by our efforts!

Like STAP, the majority of funds raised go to provide direct service and not to administra-

tive over-head. We are proud to support the work of JKF, our global partner in the fight

against AIDS!

To learn more about the work that the Jifahamu Kenya Foundation does join the Facebook group “Jifahamu Kenya Foun-dation” or visit their new website at www.jifahamu.bbnow.org.

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jifahamu

What’s New with Jifahamu: Dispatches From our Sister- Agency in Kenya


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news bits

Long time supporter, singer, songwriter, Lukus Wells released his highly anticipated debut album “Diagonal” on Sunday, February 21st at Tranquil Bar & Bistro. The doors opened at 4:00 PM for a cocktail hour, attendees were treated to Brendan Ratchford’s exquisite talent as he played the violin for the first hour of the show. Then Lukus and his band Driftwood took the stage and put on a fabulous show. Everyone was on their feet clap-ping and dancing along. All the proceeds from the par-ty were donated to STAP. Missed the show? You can hear Lukus at this year’s AIDS Walk/Run on April 17th.

Photo by: Suzan Wisniski

The AIDS Ride for Life is looking forward to making its 12th year bigger and better than ever. The 2010 AIDS Ride for Life will take place on Saturday, September 11th. Won’t you join us or donate to help us make a difference? Registration opens in March! Visit us online at www.aidsrideforlife.org to register. Ride 50, 90 or 100 miles around

Cayuga Lake to benefit AIDS services and education through the Southern Tier AIDS Program. Since our first year in 1999 we’ve raised almost $1.5 million dollars for the Southern Tier AIDS Program. We are excited to announce that returning riders now have a fundraising minimum of only $300! We hope to see you on September 11th!


AIDS Walk 2009



122 Baldwin StreetJohnson City, NY 13790

NON-PROFIT ORG.

U.S. POSTAGE

PAIDAlbany, NY

PERMIT #58

ZIP CODE 12202

Spring 2010

friends who care

STAP is serving more men, women, and children than ever in our 25 years of providing services. Say “I care” by sending your gift today. Your generosity makes a difference!

Yes! I can help the Southern Tier AIDS Program continue to provide services for people living with HIV/AIDS and provide prevention services to help reduce the rate of HIV infection in the Southern Tier. Enclosed is my tax-deductible donation of:

❑ $25 ❑ $50 ❑ $100 ❑ $250 ❑ Other: $_________

Checks should be made payable to:STAP, 122 Baldwin St., Johnson City, NY 13790

Please charge my donation to my: ❑ Visa ❑ Mastercard

Name:________________________ _____________

Address:________________________ ___________

________________________ __________________

CC#: ________________________ _____________

Exp. Date: ________________________ _________

Signature:________________________ _________


Documents

STAP's POZ Focus Newsletter, March 2010