By Desi Rubio, Oct. 23, 2014.
Planning, outreach and fundraising efforts converge on the streets of downtown Phoenix Oct. 26 as part of seventh annual AIDS Walk Arizona and 5K Run.
While Phoenix’s first AIDS walk in took place in the 1980s, and was managed by AIDS Project Arizona in the two decades that followed, the event went dormant in 2001 due to lack of funding.
In 2008, Aunt Rita’s Foundation, an organization that raises and distributes funds to Central Arizona programs that prevent HIV/AIDS or assist those living with HIV/AIDS, presented its first walk. In the years since, the event has raised millions of dollars — and immeasurable awareness — for the cause.
“We are hoping for the biggest year yet,” said CJ Minott, Aunt Rita’s Foundation events director. “We are planning to raise more money and exceed last year’s turnout.”
This year, Minott expects to meet their fundraising goal of $500,000 and to see an estimated 6,000 participants.
Money raised will then be equally distributed among 17 partner agencies that provide supportive services to individuals living with HIV/AIDS throughout the Valley.
According to auntritas.org, HIV affects or infects more than 15,000 people in the state of Arizona, and 40 percent of Arizonans have never had an HIV test.
“About 40 percent of people have never had an HIV test and this can lead to more infections,” Minott explained. “The AIDS walk is a general outreach to the public to be aware and seek services.”
According to the Center for Disease Control, there are approximately 50,000 new infections each year.
“If someone knows they are HIV positive, it is important that they get care and stay in care because then they are 95 percent less likely to pass it on,” Minott said, “We can definitely put a stop to the increase.”
Aunt Rita’s Foundation and the Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS are two examples of the agencies that people living with HIV/AIDS can turn to for resources and support. And, according to Minott, these agencies provide people the tools and resources they need when seeking for information on testing or where to get medical care.
“It is our team goal to bring awareness and give back to the community members who are experiencing difficulties,” said Diane Russell, co-captain of Barbra Seville’s Wonderful 100, a team that’s raised more than $80,000 in five years. “We should make sure people are feeling safe and cared for.”
Event registration fees are $30 to walk and $35 to run the 5K (an additional $5 because it is a chip-timed race). Participants can sign up as individuals, as teams or as sponsors for another walker or runner. And, for $10, participants can register their four-legged companions to take part in the event’s Paws for the Cause.
Because the need for awareness and assistance is so great within our community, Minott said the event is the ideal place to reach out to local agencies, get information and meet supporters as well.
AIDS Walk Arizona and 5K Run
Oct. 26
Third Avenue and Washington Street,
7 a.m. Venue and Vendors Open
7:15 a.m. Interfaith Service
8 a.m. Entertainment Begins
9 a.m. 5K Run Start
9:10 a.m. Walk Start
A Reason to Walk (and Talk)
Community member shares his story of living with HIV
By Desi Rubio, Oct. 23, 2014.
Paul Guilbeault will always remember the moment in 2006 when his doctor told him he was HIV positive.
Although shocked and terrified, HIV was not unfamiliar to him. His older brother in California had been HIV positive since 1996, so Guilbeault was well aware of what this news meant.
“The minute I became diagnosed I educated myself very quickly,” he explained. “I read many books on how to live with it and even how to explain it to my son Jesse.”
Fast-forward nine years, to this day, Guilbeault maintains an optimistic outlook and healthy life. His son, who is now 18 and starting college in the spring, remains updated and involved in his father’s medical treatment.
During a recent doctor appointment, both Guilbeault and his son were told that Guilbeault’s viral load (the amount of HIV in the blood) is currently undetectable and his white blood cell count is at 1,600 — which would make him healthier than the average person not infected with HIV.
“My healthy life is controlled through my medications and my doctor’s ability to really listen to my needs,” he said,
Additionally, Guilbeault believes education and self-disclosure are the factors that have helped him develop safe and lasting intimate relationships and added that over the past decade none of his partners have been infected with HIV.
“There are many proactive ways HIV patients can keep their partners safe,” he said. “Using condoms should be a no-brainer but there are also new medications that can prevent transmission.”
CJ Minott, Aunt Rita’s Foundation events director, encourages people to reach out to such agencies as Aunt Rita’s Foundation and the Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS to find ways to fund their HIV treatment, find doctors, get tested and access other resources.
According to Guilbeault, being HIV positive should not carry the “death sentence” stigma attached to it any longer. And through education and consistent treatment, he believes HIV patients can live longer, more fulfilling lives — for themselves and their loved ones.
The first step, he explained, is getting tested and educated.
