25th Year Celebration of Creative Writing Workshop

On Tuesday, December 17, Alliance held a ceremony to mark the 25th Anniversary of our Creative Writing Workshop. The participants wrote collaborative group poems before breaking for lunch, then watching videos and slideshows about the poetry workshop’s rich history, and holding a poetry reading by participants and staff.

Speakers included Alliance CEO Sharen Duke, original workshop facilitator Gerry Gomez Pearlberg, and Allen Zwickler and Caren Levine—Trustees of the Phil Zwickler Memorial and Charitable Foundation Trust, which has generously supported the CWW for over 20 years.

The workshop has been a staple of Alliance’s holistic healing. In 1999, funders scoffed at Sharen’s suggestion that writing poetry and other forms of creative expression could be beneficial to people living with HIV/AIDS. But we have seen throughout the decades how poetry has transformed lives, and Tuesday was a celebration of our workshop, and poets past and present. Thank you to the Phil Zwickler Memorial and Charitable Foundation Trust for your amazing partnership.

Photos: David Nager/Alliance

Video: Kaitlyn Fudge/Alliance

Winter Holiday Party 2024

Alliance held our annual Winter Holiday Party Thursday, December 12 at St. Anthony of Padua in SOHO. Over 300 program participants came to enjoy the great food, music, and atmosphere during our extended lunch/dinner service. Everyone left with holiday gifts for adults or young kids. All photos: David Nager/Alliance

Alliance Presents at New York State World AIDS Day Summit

The New York State Department of Health hosts an annual summit in Albany shortly after December 1 to commemorate World AIDS Day. This year, the department held a two day summit, and Alliance was proud to present our insights on the impact of Peer Workers in combatting the epidemic. Our presentation featured clips from Rise Up! 14 Short Films about Alliance for Positive Change and the film’s director, Antonio Ferrera.

Additionally, Alliance participated in a Photovoice Project highlighting the day-to-day experiences of our participants. This project was led by our Chief Photography Officer, David Nager, and he received public acknowledgement for stellar work by the summit organizers.

Alliance Commemorates World AIDS Day

Across our community service sites, and our Pelham Grand Supportive Housing facility, Alliance staff, Peers, and participants held advocacy and education events to mark World AIDS Day. As a legacy AIDS provider, honoring the legacy of those lost to the infection, and supporting survivors is dear to who we are. At all sites, we held a reading of the names, and organized lectures about treatment breakthroughs. We also held movie screenings. At Midtown Central, we held our annual Poets Cafe where over 10 poets read their works and the works of former Alliance poets who have passed away.