AIDS Walk Philly returns for its 38th year on Oct. 20, bringing together the community to provide essential emergency funding for individuals living with HIV in the Philadelphia area. Hosted by AIDS Fund, this year’s event aims to raise crucial funds for those facing homelessness or unstable housing.
Kicking off at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the 5K will commence with the Reading of the Names at 7 a.m., followed by an opening ceremony at 8 a.m. Participants can energize themselves with an aerobics workout before the walk begins at 8:30 a.m. The day will conclude with a closing ceremony starting at 10 a.m., celebrating the community’s resilience and commitment to supporting those in need.
Cherri Gregg from WHYY, Loraine Ballard Morrill from iHeartMedia, Pierre Robert from WMMR, Valeria Aponte Feliciano from Telemundo62, and Mutha Knows from Power99 will be speaking or emceeing during the ceremony. All of them have a long history of supporting the event and cause. Robert in particular has been emceeing the ceremony since the event’s inception.
AIDS Walk Philly started in 1987 as a way to fund AIDS organizations at a time when they were getting little government funding. Since 2016, the goal has shifted to helping people with HIV/AIDS get and maintain housing.
AIDS Fund Executive Director Robb Reichard said the organization, “looked at what the current needs are in the community, and we changed our mission, and AIDS Walk now [raises] funds for our emergency grant program that supports people living with HIV when a health crisis could become a financial crisis.”
Reichard has been with the organization since 1988, starting as a volunteer for the walk. His involvement quickly expanded to include participating in phone banks, tabling at outreach events, and coordinating the Reading of Names. In 1999, he became the associate director of AIDS Fund, and in 2004, he was promoted to executive director.
The AIDS Fund’s From All Walks of Life Fund provides small grants that average $440. These grants are most often given so that people have the first and last month’s rent or enough to pay the rent if they get behind due to a health crisis.
“Just this past week, we did a grant for a 67-year-old woman who is currently in a nursing facility, but she finally got approved for a Philadelphia Housing Authority voucher. Her case manager said it’s a dream come true for her, because she’s been housing insecure for so long. But she didn’t have that first and last month’s rent that she needed,” Reichard explained.
He added, “Once she gets in, 30% of her income will go to the rent, but she doesn’t have the money to get in, so we were able to step in with a $500 grant to help her move from that nursing facility into her first safe, permanent home in a long time.”
He also talked about a young man who had been kicked out of his home because his mother’s new partner thought HIV could be passed by using the same dinnerware (it can’t). The AIDS Fund was able to give him a grant of $450 to get into housing.
According to the Philadelphia Department of Public Health’s 2022 Surveillance Report, which was released in December 2023, there are currently 18,658 people in Philadelphia living with HIV, with Black and Latino people being disproportionately affected. From 2020 to 2022, the percentage of people with HIV who are unhoused doubled in Philly. The increase also disproportionately affected Black people.
Participants are encouraged to raise at least $50. By doing so, they will receive an official AIDS Walk Philly 2024 T-shirt. They will also get additional gifts depending on the amount of money they raise. This includes a sweatshirt for $500 and a jacket for $1,000.
“Our tagline is, ‘Be A Lifeline.’ All of those products say ‘I am a Lifeline’ because those people have raised money and have been a lifeline for somebody living with HIV. Those are our thank you to them. And we want everyone to know they’re a lifeline,” Reichard said.
AIDS Walk Philly will begin at 7 a.m. on Oct. 20 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2600 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy. Participants can register to participate at aidswalkphilly.org.