November 30th, 2011 at 9:19 am » Comments (0)

The desperation experienced by some immigrant community members can take its toll. This last week, a young 18 year old immigrant took his life- feeling that his options were non existent, his dream of a chance in this country a nightmare. United We Dream is a positive movement of immigrant youth, uniting to stay positive and focused. Their goal, as young people brought her by immigrant parents, youth who have grown up in this country, is to win the right to a pathway for status. Please see their message below- a note of solidarity, hope and inspiration.

This past Friday, we all suffered a tragic loss, a loss that within our DREAM movement was a painstaking reminder of why we have spent the past 10 years fighting. We fight, not for a legislation, but for the LIVES of millions of undocumented youth throughout this country. Joaquin Luna was only 18 years-old, a senior in high school and a loving son, who we tragically lost. We will forever have Joaquin engraved in our movement, a movement that stands for justice and education for all.

Today as the United We Dream Network mourns side by side with Joaquin’s family, love ones, and friends we are reminded of an issue we face at one time or another; suicide. The sense of hopelessness within our undocumented youth can lead individuals to depression. While depression is something real that every person experiences, we must remind ourselves that our lives have worth.

As a national network, we have discovered the endless talents and skills that DREAMers throughout the Nation bring to this country, and to their own communities. While we are working on developing programs that can bring emotional relief to our youth, we encourage individuals and organizations to keep reaching out to those DREAMers in your communities who have not yet discovered that there are educational opportunities out there, and that with no doubt, they are more than capable of accomplishing their dreams. Let’s keep educating, organizing and empowering our immigrant youth!

November 29th, 2011 at 5:21 pm » Comments (0)

Duke AIDS Legal Project Launches Southern Initiative Gainesville Organization takes on Steering Committee Role

Durham, N.C. –The Southeastern United States is experiencing the highest rate of new HIV/AIDS infections, according to the executive summary released Tuesday by The Southern HIV/AIDS Strategy Initiative (SASI).

The newly released summary, commissioned by SASI and compiled by the Duke Center for Health Policy and Inequalities Research, states that 35% of new HIV infections in 2009 were in the South, an area representing only 22% of the U.S. population. Florida is one of eight southeastern states with the highest rates of new HIV diagnoses in the U.S. The South also has the highest rates of new AIDS diagnoses.

Nine of the 10 states with the highest rates of death due to HIV in the country are in the South, according to the report. All nine states targeted in the report are among the 15 states with the highest HIV death rates. Florida is one of these states.

The data also indicates that 99.5% of people on waiting lists for the AIDS Drug Assistance Programs live in the South. Florida leads the nation in the number of people on the ADAP waiting list.

“With the highest rates of both new HIV diagnoses and HIV-­‐related deaths in the country, as well as poor social determinants of health and high poverty rates, the South faces an urgent need for resources to fight the epidemic now,” said Carolyn McAllaster, director both the Duke AIDS Legal Project and SASI. “We cannot afford to be complacent.”

SASI was launched earlier this year by the Duke AIDS Legal Project to advocate for increased federal resources to stop the spread of HIV in the South.

Gainesville based, Rural Women’s Health Project (RWHP), a member of the SASI steering committee believes this strong coalition will address the urgent HIV/AIDS issues affecting the rural South. The RWHP has worked with Hispanic populations on HIV and underlying risk factors for HIV transmission for 20 years.

“To reduce the incidence of HIV, we need additional federal resources to address the issues, evident in rural areas, that are greatly impacted by this epidemic,” stated Fran Ricardo, Director of Development for the RWHP. “In reading this Summary it is clear that there is more prevention and testing work to be done. It will take federal, state and local initiatives to respond to the emerging number of HIV cases, the demand for prevention programming and the need to expand testing.”

With support from the Ford Foundation, SASI is developing research-­‐based policy and strategy recommendations to call attention to the HIV/AIDS crisis faced by Southern states and to advocate for increased federal resources. SASI and the Duke Center will make the full report available in December.

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See http://www.aidslegalproject.org and http://www.southernaidsstrategy.org.

November 29th, 2011 at 1:26 pm » Comments (0)

The National Latino AIDS Action Network (NLAAN), in partnership with the National Council of La Raza (NCLR)/California State University Long Beach Center for Latino Community Health, invites you to take part in the upcoming webinar – “¿A Dónde Vamos? – New Direction for Culturally Relevant Latino Community Involvement in HIV/AIDS Research.”

The webinar will focus on a newly released report that combines a review of existing literature, an overview of findings from numerous community-based organizations, and data collected by government agencies to provide a state-of-the-art analysis of the growing HIV/AIDS crisis among Latinos/Latinas in the U.S.

Co-authors Dr. Britt Rios-Ellis and Dr. Kurt Organista will provide an overview of the major findings and implications for prevention and treatment of HIV and AIDS through contextualized community-based research and service provision.

Date:  Friday, December 2nd
Time:  9am PT/ 12pm ET

https://cc.readytalk.com/cc/s/showReg?udc=wwwwj41gcxi

November 29th, 2011 at 12:50 pm » Comments (0)

As the VIA Initiative strives to share voices of the immigrant community, we felt you might find a recent photo/statement slideshow from the New York Times of interest.  In light of the enactment of the Alabama anti-immigrant law HB 56, the immigrant community speaks out about the challenges that they face.

November 23rd, 2011 at 2:21 pm » Comments (0)