PHILADELPHIA – On March 3rd, Mayor Michael Nutter will release his budget proposal for next year. On Thursday, February 24th ACT UP Philadelphia (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) will preemptively hold a demonstration at City Hall to remind him that, “time’s up, wake up: include money in the city budget for housing for people with HIV/AIDS.”
WHAT: Time’s Up, Nutter!: Fund Homes not Graves for People with HIV/AIDS
WHEN: Thursday, February 24th @ 10:30am WHERE: at the Love Park sign at 15th and JFK St.
Showing posts with label press. Show all posts
Showing posts with label press. Show all posts
We're "Warriors"
ACT UP Philadelphia members have been dubbed "Warriors" in the cover story of this week's City Paper. Go pick it up! Or read it online.Some of our favorite parts:
"ACT UP isn't just another advocacy group: They are the A-Team of AIDS activism, a band of crack commandos always ready to parachute in, their rhetorical guns blazing. Fail to listen and suffer the consequences: They've been known to swarm the mayor's home to demand housing for people with AIDS, take over the Capitol Rotunda to press Congress to lift a federal ban on funding syringe exchanges, and shut down the Food and Drug Administration in protest of slow approval times for AIDS drugs."
Inky Coverage of Housing Campaign
Thanks to Penn Patient Allies for their work to get this published. Please go sign the consensus statement at www.housingistreatment.org.
Carlos Gonzalez was close to death when he arrived at Temple University Hospital in 2003. His case of AIDS was so advanced that his frail body was overrun by thrush, meningitis, and pneumonia. It had become painful for him to swallow and digest food and his weight had dropped to only 117 pounds. His desperate prognosis was made worse by the fact that he had no home. Recently released from prison, Carlos lived in a drug treatment recovery house in North Philadelphia. In a room he shared with 10 other men, Carlos was exposed to airborne infections that sent him to the hospital coughing uncontrollably almost every month.
Carlos Gonzalez was close to death when he arrived at Temple University Hospital in 2003. His case of AIDS was so advanced that his frail body was overrun by thrush, meningitis, and pneumonia. It had become painful for him to swallow and digest food and his weight had dropped to only 117 pounds. His desperate prognosis was made worse by the fact that he had no home. Recently released from prison, Carlos lived in a drug treatment recovery house in North Philadelphia. In a room he shared with 10 other men, Carlos was exposed to airborne infections that sent him to the hospital coughing uncontrollably almost every month.
Letter to the Editor submitted today
Did you see this article about Philadelphia Housing Authority director Carl Greene? ACT UP Philly did, and we were pissed. Check out the letter to the editor we submitted to the Inquirer today:
Dear Editor,
The article referred to two situations in which employees were forced to work in the PHA projects, suggesting that the conditions in the projects were unacceptable for employees. But if the conditions are so bad for the employees who only work there eight hours a day, then what about the people, especially people with AIDS, who actually live there?
Carl Greene's failure is part of a larger failure in Philadelphia: we turn a blind eye to the conditions in our public housing, our shelters, and our streets. Mayor Nutter presides over an expanding waitlist for homes for people with AIDS, a crumbling public housing infrastructure, and an inept housing authority. It is time he step up and start solving the housing crisis in Philadelphia.Sincerely,
ACT UP Philly
Dear Editor,
Last night, the Inquirer's article, "At PHA: Humiliation, groping, banishment," was passed around ACT UP Philadelphia's meeting. Members include people currently living in PHA housing, people on PHA waitlists, and people currently homeless. Everyone in the group was outraged at the story. But our outrage was not directed at Carl Greene's failures. Our outrage was directed at the assumption, perpetuated in the article, that public housing projects can only be dangerous, dirty places to live.
The article referred to two situations in which employees were forced to work in the PHA projects, suggesting that the conditions in the projects were unacceptable for employees. But if the conditions are so bad for the employees who only work there eight hours a day, then what about the people, especially people with AIDS, who actually live there?
Carl Greene's failure is part of a larger failure in Philadelphia: we turn a blind eye to the conditions in our public housing, our shelters, and our streets. Mayor Nutter presides over an expanding waitlist for homes for people with AIDS, a crumbling public housing infrastructure, and an inept housing authority. It is time he step up and start solving the housing crisis in Philadelphia.
ACT UP Philly
Press Coverage of Housing Action
So far, we've found a bit of coverage of our action yesterday. But we know more is out there! So if you come across anything, please let us know in the comments.
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