Verywell Health Promotes Captain Condom

Alliance is proud to continue its collaborative professional relationship with Verywell Health, a top 5 health publisher, according to ComScore, and award-winning online resource for reliable, understandable, and up-to-date health information on the relevant health topics. In November, Alliance and Verywell Health connected to create the “Health Divide: HIV” series to share facts, social impact and socio-economic analyses of HIV, featuring intimate profile stories of Eugene Eppes, Ismael Ruiz, Lillian Anglada (for whom our Luis and Lillian Outreach Center is named) and Nicky Bravo.

Since May, Verywell Health has provided pro-bono advertising to Alliance’s safer sex mascot Captain Condom in their effort to reach more New Yorkers to promote a city of safer sex. Alliance thanks Verywell Health for their ongoing support!

Alliance Statement on Uvalde, Texas School Shooting

Alliance for Positive Change mourns the horrific murders in Uvalde, Texas. This tragedy marks the 27th school shooting so far this year. This senseless violence is preventable. We need meaningful gun safety reforms, such as universal background checks and mandatory waiting periods for gun applications. We cannot imagine the unbearable pain that the victims’ families, and the community of Uvalde, are experiencing. We fervently hope that the tears of a nation, and future gun safety reforms in memory of the victims, can bring them some measure of comfort in a time of so much pain.

Team Alliance Out in Full Force for AIDS Walk 2022

The first inperson AIDS Walk held since 2019 was a blast for the thousands of walkers and runners assembled in Central Park on Sunday, May 15. Alliance for Positive Change donors, staff, volunteers, and Peers came out in full force to show support for the cause of HIV advocacy and community celebration. Over 50 people walked with Team Alliance (check out photos HERE.)

Walkers were served coffee and snacks at the Alliance table, which had literature about many Alliance programs and services. Alliance’s safer sex mascot Captain Condom (@CaptainCondomNY on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) was on hand to distribute condoms and safer sex supplies.

Walkers received thank you bags filled with Alliance-branded swag, fans, pens, condoms, first aid kits, water bottles, sunglasses, Alliance shirts, and stress balls.

As part of the AIDS Walk tradition, Alliance staff and team members raise funds from friends, family, and community - and have already raised over $5,900 for Alliance programs and services.

Top Alliance fundraisers were staff members Dr. Erin McKinney-Prupis and Dr. Ebony L. Ross and Peer Luis Viera. Thank you, Erin, Ebony, and Luis.

It's not too late to give. To make a contribution, please visit https://ny.aidswalk.net/allianceforpositivechange today.

Alliance's Creative Writing Workshop: a Gateway to Positive Change

April is National Poetry Month, a month dear to Alliance since 1999, the year we launched our Creative Writing Workshop. Since then, this weekly gathering has been a safe, inspiring community where participants find their creative spark and share in Alliance’s comprehensive services and supports for people living with HIV and other chronic health conditions. 

“What started as an experiment with just four or five participants grew into an extremely popular group with as many as 25 or 30 participants at a time,” said Gerry Gomez Pearlberg, a poet and writer who facilitated the workshop from the beginning through its 16th year. “We wrote everything from sonnets and haiku to rap songs and love poems.”

One long-time member, Rosa Velez, first attended the group in 2008 looking for an avenue to process her grief over losing her partner, after someone suggested she release her emotions via creative writing. “A lot of those early poems were really angry, and dark,” Rosa said, noting that letting out heavy emotions can feel renewing. “Time passed and all of a sudden, my senses were awake, I could see everything in the world, and I realized that the people in the room with me had gone through so much more than I had. Something just clicked, they woke me up, and gave me so much perspective.”

Rosa has published poems such as “A Bird Cries Out” and “The Morning Sun” in Situations, Alliance’s annual collection of poetry by members of the group.

Like Rosa, Harriet McNeill joined the writing group looking for a way to express intense emotions, in 2015. “I never used to like writing, but it pulled some things that I needed to learn to understand who I am and who I’m meant to be. A lot of times, I was dealing through stuff, and I’d go to the group and write, write, write. It has inspired my life so much.” Harriet is the author of “Crossed Surroundings of a Precious Life” and more than a dozen other poems.

Today, Rosa and Harriet co-facilitate the group, which returned to in-person gatherings in September 2021. The Zoom format was challenging for the facilitators and participants, Rosa explained, because so much of the group’s power came from being physically surrounded by other people creating and imagining together. The group had drawn energy and inspiration from their weekly interactions in the Zwickler Family Poetry Room—Alliance’s sunny and inviting space in our Midtown Central site. This spacious room is named for Phil Zwickler, a renowned documentary filmmaker and AIDS activist who died of the disease in 1991—as well as Phil’s father Seymour, and brother-in-law, Michael Levine. Phil died young—at 36—at a time when effective treatments for HIV were few and far between. This beautiful space sponsored by the generosity of the Zwickler family—who have strongly supported the Creative Writing Workshop over many years—contributes to the group’s experience.

“It’s important to have lots of sunlight, lots of natural sounds for inspiration,” observed long-time group member and workshop leader Azeem Khan.

From Left to Right: Azeem Khan, Velia Hernandez, and Rosa Velez. Photo: David Nager/Alliance

To sustain that group connection despite the challenges of the pandemic, members of the Creative Writing Workshop met in the back garden of Alliance’s Keith Haring Center almost every month, wearing masks and social distancing. “We talked a lot about our fears and our lives,” Rosa explained.

Alliance’s Creating Writing Workshop has become an institution and tradition, with annual (pre-pandemic) readings at Barnes & Noble Union Square and yearly editions of Situations showcasing the participants’ talents and generously sponsored by the Phil Zwickler Charitable and Memorial Foundation Trust.

“Alliance keeps us close to Philip’s heart and a place he would have been proud to be involved with,” said Caren Levine, Phil’s surviving sister and Trustee of the Phil Zwickler Charitable and Memorial Trust. “We’ve loved going to the group’s meetings and the readings at Barnes & Noble. My brother Phil loved the arts and he believed in supporting organizations like Alliance that specifically support people in need.”

Some of Phil’s poems can be read on the foundation’s website.

The late Diane Dawson, Creative Writing Workshop member, at Barnes & Noble reading in 2011. Photo: David Nager/Alliance

Left to Right: Caren Levine, Sharen Duke, Bill Toler, Allen Zwickler, and “E” (a.k.a. EROBOS). Photo: David Nager/Alliance

Karlene Forbs has attended the Creative Writing Workshop, as well as Alliance’s Food and Nutrition and Women’s Services groups, for almost two decades. She says what’s great about the group is that “you don’t have to be an experienced writer to write—just use whatever comes to mind and inspires you.” 

Azeem told Metro that the group allowed him to “have a conversation” with his past instead of an argument. “When you suffer trauma, it plays in your head, and it’s like you start to argue in your own mind. With poetry, I got to put it on paper, see these words, understand these words, and connect with other people in the group. I think that’s very important.”

After 16 years of leading the group, Gerry moved away from New York City, and Alliance arranged for longtime members Rosa and Azeem to take the helm as the group’s facilitators. A special Poetry Leader training had already been offered for years, enabling other participants to run the group in Gerry’s absence, in keeping with Alliance’s commitment to building peer-based leadership capacity among our participants.

When Gerry left, Rosa and Azeem were more than ready to take on full responsibility for all the group’s logistics, including curating poems for Situations. “When Gerry worked with us, she was so knowledgeable and I would just soak it up like a sponge,” said Rosa. “When I took over, I had to really learn about poets, and metaphors, and different rhythms to coach people up like she did.”

“Alliance’s Executive Director and CEO Sharen Duke was well aware of how art and creativity connect to healing and well-being,” said Gerry, “Sharen was strongly committed to offering creative programming as part of Alliance’s comprehensive, whole-person approach, and really made it possible for this amazing, long-term creative phenomenon to happen.”

Twenty-three years later, the Creative Writing Workshop is an enduring testimony to the power of poetry and creative expression as a tool for healing and growth. It is a sustained community with an enormous body of literary work behind it—including one former participant, Iris Elizabeth Sankey-Lewis, who has written more than 5,000 haiku, a short-form Japanese style of poetic expression she learned about and fell in love with during her many years in the group.

“I am always so inspired by the poets in the Creative Writing group. The act of writing and expressing your emotions takes courage,” said Ramona Cummings, Alliance’s Chief Program Officer and Liaison to the Creative Writing Workshop. “Each poem is testament to their commitment to healing and overcoming life’s situations. I’m so grateful to be part of an organization that understands that healing, recovering, and overcoming can be accomplished through platforms such as creative writing.”

The group has yielded some unexpected benefits as well. Some poets have told us that the group helped them improve their English language and reading skills, develop presentation skills that supported their efforts to gain employment, and increase their confidence with public speaking.

“Creative writing was a safe place for me when I was dealing with homelessness, domestic violence, and later, with my HIV diagnosis,” said Ashley Johnson, an Alliance staff member who joined the workshop in 2007. “Seeing my poems published and reading them in Barnes & Noble, I felt accomplished. It boosted my self-esteem and started the process of me wanting to change my situation—the change I deserved.”

Ashley Johnson at the Creative Writing Workshop, 2009. Photo: David Nager/Alliance

The group has seen plenty of loss. Rufino Colón, Jr.—a longtime group member from day one, and one of the first Poetry Leaders to fill in when Gerry was away, passed away in March 2022. Rufino was a brilliant poet who facilitated groups comfortably and made participants feel at ease, according to several longtime members. He kept in contact with the group frequently for years after he was no longer a weekly participant, and he and Gerry maintained a correspondence until the end of his life.

Rufino Colon Jr. Photo Credit David Nager/Alliance

Rufino Colon Jr. Photo: David Nager/Alliance

Darryl Wells is yet another person who attests the group’s deep impact. “I came to the Creative Writing Workshop grieving the loss of my mother, who was only 15 years older than me—so she was like my mother as well as my sister, my cousin, my aunt. The act of being able to write really saved my life,” said Darryl. “Rosa wrote me a poem, that, when I was going through grief, I’d carry with me everywhere I went. When I couldn’t live for myself and was suicidal, I’d carry that poem with me.”

Previous issues of Situations can be read online here.

Alliance CEO Sharen Duke to Albany Times Union: NYS Must Cancel Cuomo Carve-Out

A pre-pandemic Cuomo-era initiative to “carve-out” New York State’s Medicaid prescription drug benefit from a managed-care program to a fee-for-service program would gut community-based health care and other services for vulnerable New Yorkers at the worst possible time.

Alliance provides quality care management for New York’s most vulnerable residents, providing life-saving access to medication and holistic care to support the whole person. The pharmacy carve-out would be disastrous for nonprofits like Alliance and the thousands of New Yorkers we serve.

Executive Director and CEO Sharen Duke published an op-ed in the Times Union explaining the issue, calling on Governor Kathy Hochul to reverse course immediately.

After reading, please take one minute to sign our petition calling on the Governor to stop the Medicaid pharmacy carve-out. Thank you for your advocacy!

Alliance for Positive Change Statement on Historic Senate Confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson

Alliance for Positive Change has issued the following statement on the historic Senate confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson:

We applaud the United States Senate’s confirmation and approval of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve as the 116th Justice of the Supreme Court. She is supremely qualified for the role, academically and professionally, and will be a voice of justice, equity and empowerment for decades to come.

While Justice Brown Jackson has remarkable and numerous qualifications, sadly, she was met with aggressive and at times hostile questioning by some members of the Senate. We are in awe of Justice Brown Jackson and her ability to maintain calm, dignity and composure throughout the public hearings.

Alliance celebrates the important milestone that Justice Brown Jackson’s appointment represents, and looks forward to the day when appointments of women, people of color, and non-binary people serving on the court is a common occurrence. 

Alliance Selected as Jersey City Stop & Shop's Community Bag Program Partner

Reusable Bags for Positive Change: Leading Nonprofit Alliance for Positive Change Selected by Jersey City Stop & Shop as its Community Bag Program April 2022 Partner

For every $2.50 reusable bag sold at the Central Avenue Stop & Shop in April, the supermarket will donate $1.00 to Alliance’s programs for New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS and other chronic health conditions

 
JERSEY CITY, NJ – This April, Jersey City residents can shop greener while supporting leading Tri-state area nonprofit Alliance for Positive Change (Alliance). Alliance has provided low-income New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS and other chronic conditions with access to quality health care, housing, harm reduction, coaching, and job training for over 30 years.

Alliance opened at the height of the HIV crisis as a welcoming community of transformation and opportunity. Now, it is receiving support from Stop & Shop’s Community Bag Program after being anonymously nominated as a Stop & Shop’s partner. Throughout the month of April, every purchase of a Stop & Shop reusable community bag at the Jersey City store on 232 Central Avenue will raise $1.00 for Alliance.

“Alliance is proud to deliver on the promise of positive change with health care, housing, harm reduction, coaching, and economic mobility programs that equip people to navigate systemic inequities and achieve health and well-being,” said Dr. Ebony L. Ross, Director of Development and Planning at Alliance for Positive Change. “We are so grateful to have been selected as part of the Community Bag Program and for Stop & Shop's support, as are the more than 5,000 people we serve.”

Stop & Shop’s Community Bag Program reduces consumption of single-use plastics and provides support for local nonprofits like Alliance. Since the first bag was sold on May 1, 2019, the initiative has sold more than 1,610,000 bags, generating needed support for local nonprofits.

“We are excited to have Alliance for Positive Change as the benefitting organization for the Stop and Shop Community Bag Program in the Jersey City Stop & Shop for the month of April! Alliance for Positive Change has such an amazing impact in the community, helping those in need and connecting them to the resources that can have a positive and long-lasting influence on their lives, and we are looking forward to partnering with them during the month of April!” said Melissa Hansen, Stop and Shop Community Bag Program. “It’s our pleasure to support Alliance through our Program, and we encourage Jersey City Heights shoppers to buy reusable bags this month.”

In addition to a wide-array of supportive services, providing consistent access to fresh and healthy food is a priority for Alliance. Alliance hosts weekly nutrition courses and twice-monthly food pantry events at all six of its NYC locations. Alliance’s annual Thanksgiving and Holiday food distribution events provide hundreds of turkeys and fixings and thousands of pounds of chicken, fresh produce, and nonperishables to Alliance program participants and the community. At all food distribution events, Alliance provides free and confidential rapid HIV/HCV tests via Alliance on the Move.

For more information about the Stop & Shop Community Bag Program, please visit stopandshop.bags4mycause.com. To learn about all the ways Alliance for Positive Change promotes community, visit http://www.alliance.nyc.

                                                            ###

Alliance for Positive Change is a leading multiservice organization that provides low-income New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS and other chronic conditions with access to quality health care, housing, harm reduction, coaching, and PATH to Jobs—our renowned peer training and job placement program that cultivates leadership and economic mobility. Alliance opened in 1991, at the height of the HIV crisis—a welcoming community of transformation and opportunity. Today, we deliver on the promise of Positive Change with services and resources that equip people to navigate systemic inequities and achieve health and well-being.

National Nutrition Month: Spotlight on Nutrition Services at Alliance

“Type 2 diabetes runs in my family, I’m a sugar addict, and my feet and ankles started to swell up recently, so I soaked my feet, and went to the doctor,” one Alliance program participant said at a recent nutrition services group meeting. “She’s going to try to change my eating habits.”

“No, she’s not going to change your eating habits,” said Edwin Krales, better known at Alliance as “Dr. Broccoli”. “You are going to change your eating habits.”

“That’s right,” the participant, nodded.

During these nutrition services sessions, held weekly at Alliance’s Midtown Central office, Dr. Broccoli asks folks to share stories of their eating habits and nutrition goals. Some participants are eager to talk while others prefer to listen and learn during the hour-long sessions.

Dr. Broccoli pointed out that excess sugar has a negative effect on everyone’s bodies: “There is a neuroplasticity* to our genes. If we are predisposed to diabetes, can we reduce our risk of developing it with a specific diet? The answer is yes, and that reduces the risks of the gene expressing itself.”

Dr. Broccoli arranged to meet with the participant after the session to discuss specific options and share a sugar reduction sheet he had created, which is similar to calendars runners use when training for a race, building up progressively, week over week.

Alliance Peer Shirley LaRoche also had been attending Alliance nutrition classes for over 10 years. “My father used to pour sugar in his water, and even his milk,” Shirley said. “It’s milk, but it would turn grey because of all the sugar he was putting in, and I didn’t know any better myself. Now I don’t do that anymore.”

Shirley started coming to Alliance in 2009, and prior to becoming a Peer would walk over to Alliance during breaks from her job to attend Dr. Broccoli’s class every week.

“Now I’m thinking, if I eat this rice tonight, I’m definitely not adding potatoes,” Shirley said, “and instead of buying any iceberg lettuce [a notoriously nutrient-free food] I can eat some kale.”

Dr. Broccoli, who has been offering nutrition services with Alliance for over 20 years, was given the nickname Dr. Broccoli at an outreach event he led with another AIDS organization in the South Bronx for almost 30 years, because he constantly promoting eating veggies. He would schlep hours out of his way to bring fresh veggies to these outreach events, many of which were held in food deserts, areas without reliable access to produce.

Providing consistent access to fresh and healthy produce is a priority for Alliance. Dr. Broccoli notes, “The factor of social pressure is extremely important here. If you are trying to make a change in your diet, will you have support from your social structure? Will you have access to healthy foods?”

March is National Nutrition Month, and Alliance held three pantry events across all locations, on March 16, 17, and 30, which served over 300 large bags of produce.

Charles Waters, an Alliance participant for many years, met Dr. Broccoli at an AIDS Momentum Project in the Bronx over 20 years ago, and they have a jovial relationship.

“I like my KitKats,” he began, as Dr. Broccoli started shaking his head. “But when I’m having them, I think of Dr. Broccoli and I’m more mindful of what I’m going to eat the rest of the day, the rest of the week.”

“I’m more mindful of what I’m putting in my body because of him,” Charles added.

Charles wanted it added in this story that he has been HIV-positive for many years. It’s important to him to be open and represent people living with HIV to share his own experience in the hopes of helping others.

During the second nutrition session of the day, the group wrapped up its voluntary nutrition check-in and Charles transitioned the discussion to COVID-19, which the group agreed was truly “the second pandemic” of their lifetime, after HIV/AIDS.

The conversation became more scientific, discussing how HIV is transmitted through blood and body fluids, while the coronavirus is transmitted through droplets. After the meeting, most participants arranged to check out services with Alliance staff and Peers, or hung out to catch up.

Due to their popularity, weekly nutrition services meetings are open only to enrolled Alliance participants, on a first-come, first-serve basis. Participants interested in attending an upcoming session, or scheduling a one-one-one nutrition counseling meeting with Dr. Broccoli, are encouraged to email Abeer Naseem at abeer@alliance.nyc.

Dr. Broccoli and Charles Water

*Neuroplasticity: The capacity of the brain to change its connections and behavior in response to new information, sensory stimulation, development, damage or dysfunction