Around ASF Blog Volume 2 / Entry 2 February 7, 2013 Hello friends, I just read an interesting article that confirms what I have been advocating at the agency for a few years. Social media can be a powerful tool in educating the public about HIV/AIDS. And it can serve as a gateway to prevention [...]Read more

Around ASF Blog Volume 2 / Entry 1 January 3, 2013 Hello friends, Following is a short list of things for all of us to think about during the year to come. Not only will they you, they will help the community. We are still working toward an AIDS-free generation in 2015. Keep these resolutions [...]Read more

Around ASF Blog Volume 1 / Entry 30 December 20, 2012 Hello friends, Last week I introduced you to our first-ever guest blogger, Ariel Vapor. If you missed the first part of his story, you can access it via the link at left. I am proud today to present part two of Ariel’s story. In [...]Read more

Around ASF Blog Volume 1 / Entry 29 December 13, 2012 Hello friends, This week’s entry marks something new for this blog. We have a guest blogger! It was not my intention that I, solely, would write the entries here. But up until now, I had no other offers to contribute. I’m very happy this [...]Read more

Around ASF Blog Volume 1 / Entry 28 December 6, 2012 Hello friends, It’s been quite a while since I’ve added to this blog because we’ve been quite busy at the agency. Most recently, we commemorated the 27th annual World AIDS Day on Saturday, December 1. In addition to the events ASF held on the [...]Read more

Around ASF Blog Volume 1 / Entry 27 November 1, 2012 Hello friends, For the entire 4+ years that I’ve worked at AIDS Services Foundation, there has been an unstoppable presence associated with the agency. She led a group of volunteers that worked super-human miracles in fund raising and outreach for the agency. They are [...]Read more

Around ASF Blog Volume 1 / Entry 26 October 18, 2012 Hello friends, AIDS is a treatable disease. Elton John uttered these words earlier this week at the 11th annual “An Enduring Vision” benefit for his eponymous AIDS Foundation. I couldn’t agree more. However, AIDS is only treatable if you know you are infected with [...]Read more

Around ASF Blog Volume 1 / Entry 25 October 4, 2012 Hello friends, I can’t believe that I am writing about this, again. There has been yet another incident of misinformation or lack of information regarding people living with HIV. This time it happened in Detroit and involved someone charged with protecting the rights of [...]Read more

Around ASF Blog Volume 1 / Entry 24 September 13, 2012 Hello friends, I can’t believe that in 2012 I am writing about this. The fact that people are still so misinformed about the realities of living with HIV/AIDS is unbelievable to me. And now, because of one man’s lack of knowledge and the continued [...]Read more

Around ASF Blog Volume 1 / Entry 23 September 6, 2012 Hello friends, The annual National Latino AIDS Awareness Day (NLAAD) is Saturday, October 13. As it has done for many years, ASF will celebrate NLAAD with the presentation of a health fair aimed at the Latino population of Orange County. The fair will be [...]Read more

Around ASF Blog Volume 1 / Entry 22 August 30, 2012 Hello friends, Well, once again I’ve been on hiatus from writing my weekly blog for several weeks. It got quite busy for me around ASF and this is unfortunately one of the things that had to be put on the back burner. So, let’s [...]Read more

Around ASF Blog Volume 1 / Entry 21 August 2, 2012 Hello friends, Last week, Executive Director Philip Yaeger and I visited with Jeff Trujillo, the Managing Producer of The Pulse Media and the new Pulse Channel on YouTube. We met Jeff in Anaheim where his mobile studio was located for the day. We got [...]Read more

Around ASF Blog Volume 1 / Entry 20 July 26, 2012 Hello friends, As you may know, the 19th International AIDS Conference (IAC) is currently being held in Washington, D.C. I thought I would highlight some of the interesting news coming out of the conference this week. Timothy Ray Brown, the “Berlin Patient” I talked [...]Read more

Around ASF Blog Volume 1 / Entry 18 July 19, 2012 Hello friends, Those doing research in the HIV field never used to talk about, or even think about using, the word “cure” in conjunction with their work. For the last 30 years, it was considered something unattainable, non-pursuable and therefore unmentionable. But in a [...]Read more

Around ASF Blog Volume 1 / Entry 18 July 12, 2012 Hello friends, Hopefully all of you have heard of the AIDS Memorial Quilt. A description from The NAMES Project Foundation website states, “Today, The AIDS Memorial Quilt is an epic, 54-ton tapestry that includes more than 48,000 panels dedicated to more than 94,000 individuals. [...]Read more

Around ASF Blog Volume 1 / Entry 17 July 5, 2012 Hello friends, The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first over-the-counter, rapid HIV test to be sold for in-home, consumer use. The OraQuick testing kit, developed by OraSure, is exactly like the kits we use for our free, rapid HIV testing at [...]Read more

Around ASF Blog Volume 1 / Entry 16 June 28, 2012 Hello friends, Let me start this blog by saying once again that the views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of ASF, its board of directors, staff, clients, volunteers, etc. They are strictly my own and based on information I have obtained [...]Read more

Around ASF Blog Volume 1 / Entry 15 June 21, 2012 Hello friends, It’s been over a month since my last blog posting. I hope no one missed me. That’s not true. I hope lots of people missed reading this blog. It’s fun to hope. The last month has been very busy for me at [...]Read more

Around ASF Blog Volume 1 / Entry 14 May 17, 2012 Hello friends, Well, it’s happened again. Since the beginning of April, as part of our messaging for AIDS Walk Orange County, we have been calling this period in the agency’s history “The Beginning of the End of AIDS in Orange County.” We are refocusing [...]Read more

Around ASF Blog Volume 1 / Entry 13 May 2, 2012 Hello friends, We’ve all heard the iconic message that precedes an irritating buzz/beep on our televisions and radios. “This is a test. This is only a test.” The beep/buzz sounds for about as long as you think you can stand it and then it [...]Read more

Around ASF Blog Volume 1 / Entry 12 April 26, 2012 Hello friends, Thanks to groups like ACT UP, we have long known that Silence, in regard to HIV/AIDS, Equals Death. A few weeks ago in this blog, I updated that slogan to Silence Equals Stigma. The fact that we don’t talk about HIV/AIDS regularly, [...]Read more

Around ASF Blog Volume 1 / Entry 11 April 20, 2012 Hello friends, Please excuse me this week as I highlight something that is as near and dear to my heart as is HIV and AIDS. It’s musical theater! This particular piece of musical theater, however, combines both. Jonathan Larson’s RENT is currently being presented [...]Read more

Around ASF Blog Volume 1 / Entry 10 April 12, 2012 Hello friends, When I was interviewing for my position at ASF as Director of Communications and Public Relations, I forced myself to think outside the box. I wanted to think of big ideas that might catch the attention of the Director of Development and [...]Read more

Around ASF Blog Volume 1 / Entry 9 April 6, 2012 Hello friends, This month marks the 25th anniversary of then-President Ronald Reagan’s acceptance and announcement that AIDS was public health enemy number 1 in the US. By that time, literally thousands of people in the country, mostly men who had sex with men or [...]Read more

Around ASF Blog Volume 1 / Entry 8 March 29, 2012 Hello friends, ASF has just begun collaboration with the Mexican Consulate in Santa Ana. ASF health educators will be at the consulate once a month to provide HIV testing, free of charge, to anyone who desires to know their status. This is extremely important [...]Read more

Around ASF Blog Volume 1 / Entry 7 March 22, 2012 Hello friends, I’ve been thinking a lot about AIDS Walk Orange County this week. No doubt that’s because our week here at ASF has been filled with walk events and meetings. Monday evening we were hosted by the House of Blues – Anaheim for [...]Read more

Around ASF Blog Volume 1 / Entry 6 March 8, 2012 Hello friends, In considering what to write about for this week’s blog posting, all I can think about is the seminar I attended at OneOC this morning. It was entitled “Breakthrough Nonprofit Branding.” Now, I won’t consume your valuable time with what may be [...]Read more

Around ASF Blog Volume 1 / Entry 5 March 1, 2012 Hello friends, An interesting, new, HIV/AIDS-related book is being released today. I first heard about it during a February 27 interview with one of the authors on NPR’s Fresh Air. The book is Tinderbox: How the West Sparked the AIDS Epidemic and How the [...]Read more

Around ASF Blog Volume 1 / Entry 4 February 23, 2012 Hello friends, ASF recently garnered some press for the collaboration between our Family Programs’ Kid’s Club and the Segerstrom Center for the Arts Education Department. The Center donated 6 weeks of fantastic puppetry workshops to our Kid’s Club participants. They made several different kinds [...]Read more

Around ASF Blog Volume 1 / Entry 3 February 16, 2012 Hello friends, The word “volunteer” has been in use in the English language since about the year 1600. It is derived from the obsolete French word “voluntaire” which in turn had its origins in the Latin “voluntarius.” The Latin word has been shown to [...]Read more

Around ASF Blog Volume 1 / Entry 2 February 9, 2012 Hello friends, With AIDS Walk Orange County just around the corner, we are looking forward to lots of other events and venues to help promote it to the greater community. Coming up on March 3rd is one such opportunity. It’s the 46th annual Laguna [...]Read more

Around ASF Blog Volume 1 / Entry 1 February 1, 2012 Hello friends, On this the first day of February, most year-end lists have gone by the wayside. We know who the best and worst dressed starlets were. We got to see which housewives had the biggest tantrums. And we’ve even heard the state of [...]Read more

Dear friends, We are excited to announce that a new weekly blog will be added to the website begining the first week of February. The blog, titled “Around ASF,” will eventually feature both text and video and will highlight some of the exciting things happening at the agency…from new staff member and volunteer introductions to [...]Read more