Cleveland Pride

Northeast Ohio World AIDS Day

December 1, 2011

World AIDS day is observed each year on December 1^st. It is an opportunity to unite the HIV/AIDS community, to raise awareness, to honor those we have lost, and to

resolve to keep up the fight.

Schedule of events:

5:30pm Gather at City Hall for candlelight march to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame & Museum.

6:00pm Candlelight march to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame & Museum.

6:30pm City lights go dark in honor of World AIDS Day. If you are unable to attend we ask that you turn off your lights at your home or business for 3 minutes @ 6:30pm in honor of those who have passed on.

6:35pm Program and reception at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame & Museum.

Performances by:

• Benita Ewing
• Urban Dance Collaborative of Cleveland School of the Arts under the direction of Terrence Greene
• Cleveland Kings and Girls
• Karamu House presents excerpts from Black Nativity
• Windsong

For more information contact:

Judith Pindell

jpindell@atfgc.org

www.aidstaskforce.org 216.621.0766 ext. 231

AIDS Taskforce Cleveland - World AIDS Day 2011

source: http://www.colorsofclevelandpride.org/events.html

“3rd Annual Colors Feeding People of All Colors – JOIN US”

Saturday, December 3, 2011 (DATE CHANGE)
Location: Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, 6928 Detroit Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44102
Cooking Time: 6:00am – 11:30am
Serving Time: 12pm – 4pm
Cleanup: 2pm – 5pm

Join us in preparing and serving a Holiday Dinner to those that have fallen upon hard times this holiday season. It is important to us to serve our community whenever possible.

Due to our current economic climate and shortage of affordable housing, more residents of our community are experiencing homelessness, reduced health care, and lower salary structures. Many of our residents are being released to homeless shelters from psychiatric institutions, drug treatment facilities and hospitals. People that are severely mentally ill and homeless has increased by 19% since 2003 and people addicted to drugs in homeless shelters has significantly decreased since this time. There also continues to be an ongoing struggle to collect accurate data on the number of youth that are homeless due to many of them not being included in our point in time counts. In 2010 there was a 10% increase in youth who aged out of foster care in Ohio, who many times depart our foster care system with no employment and and family resources. In our current economy a person must earn a minimum of $11.08 per hour to afford housing at market value, which doesn’t include utilities, food, or transportation.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
Homelessness in the United States on any given night, approximately 750,000 men, women, and children are homeless in the US.

* 56% are living in shelters and transitional housing, while 44% are unsheltered.
* 59% are single adults and 41% are persons living in families.
* 98,452 are homeless families
* 23% are chronically homeless according to HUD’s definition.
(Cunningham, Mary and Meghan Henry. 2007. Homelessness Counts. Washington, DC: National Alliance to End Homelessness.)

Over the course of a year, between 2.5 and 3.5 million people will live either on the streets or in an emergency shelter.
(Homelessness in the United States of America. Prepared by the National Alliance to End Homelessness.)

With these alarming numbers, Colors of Cleveland Pride, Inc. continues to find it of great importance to support those in need, in whatever capacity possible. “Colors Feeding People of All Colors” will provide a traditional Thanksgiving Dinner, distribute coats, hats, gloves, scarves, personal care items (toiletries), and referral resources. Please find it in your heart to donate cash or items on our GROCERY LIST.

We thank everyone that has signed up to volunteer and those who have donated cash and food items. Because of your generosity, we can look forward to success!

“3rd Annual Colors Feeding People of All Colors – Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner”
Saturday, December 3, 2011 at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel
Donate Cash, Goods from our Grocery List, Coats (Preferably Men’s), Gloves, Scarves, Hats, Blankets, Toiletries, Children’s Books (all ages including coloring books with crayons)
Drop Off Your Donation on Friday, November 25, 2011 from Noon – 3pm at ATGC 3210 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44115!

SOURCE: WWW.WORLDAIDSDAY.ORG

What’s it about

Every year World AIDS Day events take place across the country to raise awareness and show support for people living with HIV. Why not pop along to a local event, or better still, why not host your own? You can search for events or add your own event at: WWW.WORLDAIDSDAY.ORG

What is World AIDS Day?

World AIDS Day is held on 1 December each year and is an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, show their support for people living with HIV and to commemorate people who have died. World AIDS Day was the first ever global health day and the first one was held in 1988.

Why is World AIDS Day important?

More than 90,000 people are currently living with HIV in the UK and globally an estimated 33.3 million people have HIV. More than 25 million people between 1981 and 2007 have died from the virus, making it one of the most destructive pandemics in history.

Today, many scientific advances have been made in HIV treatment, there are laws to protect people living with HIV and we understand so much more about the condition. But despite this, people do not know the facts about how to protect themselves and others from HIV, and stigma and discrimination remain a reality for many people living with HIV. World AIDS Day is important as it reminds the public and Government that HIV has not gone away – there is still a vital need to raise money, increase awareness, fight prejudice and improve education.