Thursday, December 04, 2014

ACRIA = Silence = $$ = Art

Over a week ago, I contacted leaders at the AIDS Community Research Initiative of America with 11 questions about their agenda for mature persons with HIV, of which I am one of many, their funding sources and requested links to their research findings.

I am sorry to report that except for an email from a staffer who is an acquaintance from the first decade of ACT UP/New York, in which he asked me to phone him, I've not received a written response. No, I didn't call my acquaintance because of the importance I place on hearing from an HIV agency in their own words and in writing.


Looking over ACRIA's Twitter feed this week, I learned that they're a go-to AIDS nonprofit on World AIDS Day in the New York City market, and such appearances are used to show funders that the group is getting such attention and is a reason to keep the money flowing.


One of ACRIA's executives issued a wake up call about aging people with AIDS but he sure as hell isn't answering the wake up call I sent to his group last week.


You may recall that one of my questions concerned lack of links to ACRIA's research and finding on their web site, and I hope that their director of research soon understands the need for these links and embeds them at the ACRIA site.


On Giving Tuesday, they used aging HIZ pozzies to solicit donations . . .


  . . . through a link to their donations page. We must remember ACRIA's mission as stated on their Twitter profileArt Fashion Media & Design Fighting AIDS & Saving Lives


When ACRIA isn't trying to raise its profile or additional funds or evade answering questions from people with AIDS, they're hobnobbing with art world elites. Sheesh.

ACRIA has a murky mission and it's near impossible to figure out if they directly assist maturing PWAs in a significant way, while the need for such an organization is not at all clear, but it appears that this nonprofit stays in business because the foundation and Big Pharma grants keep rolling in.

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