AIDS Fund Executive Director Robb Reichard participated in his first AIDS Walk/Run Philly 30 years ago, one year after the event started and shortly after he came out as gay. He went on to walk every year and, as time went on, the event became more personal.
“I started to see the impact; people I knew were dying,” Reichard said. “I attended far too many funerals in my 20s.”
The 31st Annual AIDS Walk/Run Philly 5K, held Oct. 15, aims to lessen the ongoing epidemic, and the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS.
The event kicks off at the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2600 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy., with registration starting at 6:30 a.m. The run begins at 7:30 a.m. and the walk follows at 9 a.m.
AIDS Fund will display 25 panels from the AIDS Memorial Quilt to memorialize those who died from the disease.
All donations raised through participation and sponsorships will go toward AIDS Fund’s mission to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS. The organization also expanded that mission last year to more directly assist the HIV/AIDS community. Fundraising from the walk will also support grants to assist people living with HIV/AIDS who are facing financial difficulties.
The grants range from $400-$1,000 and eligibility is determined by an individual’s need and overall health. Medical providers submit applications on behalf of clients.
Reichard said these grants can help individuals pay bills, rent and health-insurance premiums. However, he also noted they can be used for more specific items such as a refrigerator to store nutritious food and a bed in which to get a good night’s sleep.
“We want to make sure people have all of the things necessary to live a long and healthy life with HIV,” Reichard said.
When considering this grant program, Reichard said AIDS Fund learned that these types of resources did not exist.
“If [case managers] had a client who was facing eviction — particularly a client who lived in subsidized housing — they had no resources to keep them from losing their housing,” he said. “So they got evicted. They were essentially homeless and would go back on a waiting list for subsidized housing. It’s essential that we keep people in care. The barriers oftentimes to staying in care are the basic necessities in life: food, shelter, a roof over your head. Sometimes those are the things that impede people from being able to maintain their health.”
While Reichard noted the significance of the walk’s fundraising, it is also about raising awareness.
“Those funds are critical for us to continue to provide the grants, but today we are talking about getting to zero — zero infections, zero stigma and zero deaths. We really try to keep all of our focus on that goal. When somebody is a fundraising walker and they’re going out and talking about their participation in the walk and why they’re doing it, that helps to combat stigma, in addition to helping us get the message out about new treatment methods and new prevention methods such as PrEP. All of that helps to move us toward that goal of getting to zero.”
Reichard said there is still “a ways to go” when it comes to achieving this goal and noted other strides in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
“We see, nationally, a decline in the number of new infections annually. We are seeing a greater number of people knowing their HIV status because of testing. But we have this gap between where people know their status but are able to maintain themselves in care. That’s why we wanted to look at what we could do to help narrow that gap.“
Visit www.aidswalkphilly.org or www.aidsrunphilly.org for more information or to register.