When Will We Truly Tackle Homelessness?

Posted on March 5, 2013 by elizabethlombino

New statistics were released indicating that over 50,000 people access New York City shelters each night. About 50% of those people are children.

This is an atrocity. America is a wealthy, vibrant nation. There is no reason or excuse for these high numbers of homeless individuals and families. Chronic homelessness is preventable. With affordable housing and additional social services, no one has to be homeless long term.

Below is a repost of an article Rich and I wrote close to 3 years ago. The pop culture reference may be very outdated, but the message is the same ~ that anyone can become homeless. And with the rising number of homeless individuals, it is clear that we are all at risk. We must all work together, with compassion and hope, to work to eliminate homelessness.

“Never look down on someone unless you are helping him up.” ~ Jesse Jackson

Anyone Can Become Homeless, Even Former NBA Players, July 2010

Unless you’ve been living under a rock these past few days, you’ve no doubt heard about “The Decision.” NBA superstar LeBron James, now officially ego-in-chief, had a one-hour primetime special to announce his intention to join the Miami Heat. (Being Knicks fans, we think “the Decision” sucks.) LeBron will be offered a nine-figure contract, making him one of the highest paid professional athletes in history. His throne as the King of the NBA will soon be in South Beach.

Juxtapose his situation with that of “Sugar Ray” Williams, a 10-year veteran of the NBA. He is currently homeless and living in the back of his broken-down 1992 Buick. Sugar Ray played in the late 70′s to mid 80′s. Although the salaries were not as astronomically high as they are now, he had fame, fortune and seemingly endless resources available to him. Still, he’s homeless.

Surprisingly, he’s not the first former professional athlete to face the challenge of homelessness. Former NBA player David Vaughn now sleeps in a storage shed, former boxing champion Rocky Lockridge now lives on the streets of Camden, New Jersey, former NBA player Joe Pace lives in a homeless shelter in Seattle, and former NFL player Donnie Green resides in a Maryland shelter. These stories are clear examples of how even the most seemingly financially secure person can become homeless.

America seems to have adopted a “what have you done for me lately?” mentality when it comes to our pop culture icons. Sugar Ray was among the world’s elite athletes during his run in the NBA. Yet once he stopped playing the game he was cast aside and forgotten. As he told the Boston Globe, “[w]hen I played the game, they always talked about loyalty to the team. Well, where’s the loyalty and compassion for ex-players who are hurting? We opened the door for these guys whose salaries are through the roof.”

He’s right. At the exact same moment that Sugar Ray languishes in his car, free agents within the NBA are bartering for $100 million deals. LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and others take their pick of any team that will provide the highest salaries and greatest opportunities. Will these players one day face the turmoil of some of their predecessors? Only time will answer that question. What is clear now is that these young and vibrant athletes are utterly glorified and practically having money thrown at them to play a game. Once the game stops for them, the glory may stop as well, just as it did for Sugar Ray.

We realize that some of the professional athletes who have become homeless, and some of those who have not, have made less than ideal choices throughout their careers and lives. Elite athletes and other pop culture heroes are not immune to issues of domestic violence, addiction, gambling and other challenges. Even those of us who are seemingly financially stable can be in danger of becoming homeless. It’s not just about the hundreds of thousands of individuals who are dangerously close to homelessness due to unemployment and other financial challenges.

Perhaps homelessness is not solely an issue of finances after all. Perhaps the issue truly is deeper and speaks of the necessity of a strong support system, access to adequate and effective resources, intervention during crisis situations, and consistent and supportive treatment of underlying issues. Advocates have long been arguing that these are the real issues at play. Sugar Ray puts a face to this argument. Let’s hope everyone is watching in HD.

Post originally published on Change.org, July 2010

Filed under: Homelessness, Hope Notes, Poverty, Social Media | 1 Comment »

Major Opinion on Major HIV/AIDS Crisis

Posted on May 16, 2011 by elizabethlombino

Originally published on TheBody.com ~ Spread Hope: A Therapist’s Guide to Living & Laughing with HIV/AIDS 

In a breath of fresh air, The New York Times Op/Ed writer Charles M. Blow provides a well-rounded, well-researched, and thought-provoking commentary on the need for our government to pay more attention to the ADAP Crisis.

AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAP) provide financial assistance to low-income people living with HIV/AIDS in paying for their critical and life-saving medications. As HIV meds continue to be incredibly expensive, more and more people are seeking financial assistance.  Unfortunately, states across the country continue to cut funding to this valuable program, thereby denying these crucial medications to thousands of people living with HIV/AIDS.  HIV medications are necessary to treat and manage HIV/AIDS and to prevent disease progression. These medications are necessary to keep a person living with HIV/AIDS alive. Indeed, they are the very reason HIV is now a chronic disease, and not acutely life-threatening. Yet with cuts in funding, and other limitations to access to the medications, many HIV+ people will no doubt experience a sharp decline in their health. HIV/AIDS will become a seriously life-threatening disease.

This is all unnecessary and preventable. As The New York Times article makes clear from the start, “treatment as prevention.” The piece highlights recent research that found that HIV+ individuals who were on antiretroviral medications from the time of their diagnosis (early treatment) were 96 percent less likely to pass on the disease than those who were not on early treatment. This is huge news in the world of HIV/AIDS for two reasons:

1. Early treatment is essential in effectively preserving the health of an HIV+ person, and

2. Early treatment can also help prevent further spread of HIV.

As ADAPs across the country cut their funding and change their criteria for eligibility, this research shows that to continue to cut funding to ADAPs is doing a huge disservice to those living with HIV/AIDS and to HIV prevention efforts.

This is an issue close to my heart. I’ve been writing and advocating for the ADAP Crisis for months now. States continue to underfund their programs and enact longer waiting lists. Some states are revamping the criteria for eligibility for the program (including indicating that a person’s immune system needs to be further compromised before financial assistance can be provided, shifting the income level that would indicate a person’s need for assistance, and other program cost-containment strategies) thereby cutting more and more patients from the program all together.

In addition, pharmaceutical companies almost universally ignore the pleas to lower the cost of these insanely expensive medications. Here’s a striking example of the cost disparity for HIV/AIDS medications: one newer medication by Merck, called Isentress, can cost over $13,000 a year. By comparison, the popular cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor costs around $2 per day, or $730 a year. Seriously?

For The New York Times to publish an Op/Ed on this issue is huge. Blow clearly did his research and highlights many of the bleak statistics and outcomes of underfunding ADAPs. He is firm and persuasive in his writing. Exactly the type of commentary needed to raise awareness. In the 30-year history of HIV/AIDS, there have been incredible advancements in treatments. Now, HIV is a chronic disease. People can live long, healthy lives with HIV… when they are on a consistent, specific and life-long medication regimen. People can still die from complications related to HIV disease progression if they are not on a medication regimen.

Blow’s point that many of those who need assistance are those who are some of our most disenfranchised members of society cannot be glossed over. Many of the HIV-positive patients who are cut from ADAPs are those with little to no political power or financial resources. Our nation’s financial climate is not improving and as such, many of the most vulnerable residents are the ones who will suffer the consequences. In addition, many of these people are stigmatized and disenfranchised for multiple reasons: for being HIV-positive, for living in poverty, for being a person of color, for being gay. Historically, these are the populations most often ignored and marginalized by our nation. The ADAP Crisis encompasses this and as such, it too has been ignored.

Blow writes: “Not only is it morally reprehensible to restrict or deny life-saving drugs to those who need them (talk about death panels), it is a colossal miscalculation of public health policy, not to mention fiscally irresponsible.”

If our nation continues to treat people living with HIV/AIDS in this way, we will no doubt repeat the mistakes of the epidemic early on. We will see a resurgence in the spread of HIV. People will not seek testing as they will fear the implications of a positive result. There is already intense fear and stigma attached to an HIV-positive diagnosis. When we add lack of support, financial burden, lack of treatment, further stigma and discrimination, HIV/AIDS will become silent once again. As we all learned from the early years of the epidemic: silence = death.

We all need to do our part to ensure HIV/AIDS does not go silent again. Let’s hope Congress is listening.

To read the piece on TheBody.com, click here.  

Filed under: Body.com, Change.org, Health, HIV/AIDS, Hope Notes, LGBTQ, Poverty, Social Media, Strengths Perspective | Leave a Comment »

Progress in Gainesville Meal-Limit

Posted on May 5, 2011 by elizabethlombino

Post originally published on Change.org

Success! Gainesville Meal Limit on the Way to Change

It has taken some time, but after close to 8,000 of you signed the petition, Gainesville officials are finally listening!

As we have written, Gainesville officials have enforced a meal limit ordinance to area soup kitchens. The rule states that soup kitchens can provide meals to only 130 people each day. If you are number 131, you do not eat that day. No exceptions.

We also wrote that Kent Vann, Executive Director of the St. Francis House soup kitchen at the heart of this debate, recently made an appeal to officials. His goal was to change the wording of the ordinance to reflect a limit on the time the soup kitchen can serve food, not a limit on number of people.

It looks like Mr. Vann’s creative activism has proven successful!

The Gainesville City Plan Board recently voted unanimously to change the limit to reflect Mr. Vann’s suggestion of a 3-hour time limit. This recommendation will then go to the City Commission in the coming weeks. They will then decide if the changes are to be made. This is certainly a large step toward victory. It shows that some city officials are listening and responding to the pressure of activists.

In addition, many activists involved in this battle feel any ordinance or meal limit is outright inhumane and unnecessary. They are continuing the fight to remove any and all limits. They continue to put pressure on other influential city residents who have supported the meal limit.

The fight will continue. This move forward is big news. Yet, as many activists know quite well, the fighting does not stop until all changes are made. The Gainesville City Commission has shown little empathy for the most vulnerable city residents. There is the possibility that they will not agree to this change.

Please continue to support this important fight by signing the petition. And if you have already signed, please continue to share with your network! Thank you to all who have provided support in this fight!

To read the article on Change.org, click here.

Filed under: Change.org, Homelessness, Poverty | Leave a Comment »

Pharma Continues to Raise Prices of HIV Meds Despite ADAP Crisis

Posted on April 10, 2011 by elizabethlombino

Post originally published on Change.org

The AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) Crisis continues. In fact, it is getting worse.

As of March 31, the waiting list for ADAP has increased to7,745 people in 11 states. (The number was 5,100 in 10 states when we first began reporting about the ADAP Crisis in January.) That means right at this moment, there are close to 8,000 HIV-positive individuals waiting for financial assistance to pay for their HIV medications. They are being denied coverage for their life-saving medications due to budget cuts on the federal and state levels. They are now at an even greater risk of seeing a drastic decline in their health while they wait for their medications.

That’s part one of the bad news. Part two is more disheartening. It seems that one pharmaceutical company (Pharma) has responded to the crisis … by raising the prices of their HIV/AIDS medications. Seems they have a different definition of crisis.

Gilead Sciences made the decision to raise the prices of their top HIV medications. The cost of Atripla went up by 5.1 percent. Truvada and Emtirva went up by 7.9 percent. All of these medications also experienced increases within the last two years.

Just a few months ago, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) called for the top pharmaceutical companies (including Gilead) to decrease the prices of their medications to assist with the ADAP crisis.  The goal was to inspire Pharma to assist in the crisis by helping ease the financial burden off state and federal funds.

Clearly Gilead did not read the letter.

If thousands of HIV-positive individuals are unable to pay for their medications now without government financial assistance, surely they won’t be able to pay with the increase in prices. This is such a ludicrous move. Our health care system is already stretched beyond recognition and continues to face burdens and challenges. So what does Pharma do? Raise the prices of their already insanely expensive medications, thereby further straining state and federal government funding and our health care system.

Please forgive my sarcasm and cynicism. Actions such as these are so unreasonable on so many levels. People are dying from HIV/AIDS needlessly because they are unable to afford their medications. HIV can be treated with medications and people can live long lives — if they have access to the medications. ADAP provides financial assistance. Now that is being cut.

Pharma could decide to put its bottom line aside and assist in this crisis. Yet they respond by increasing prices. This is greedy, outrageous and purely inhumane.

Please join us in telling Gilead that raising prices on their HIV/AIDS medications is outright wrong. Urge them to look beyond profit and see the vulnerable people they are hurting by making their already expensive medications even more unobtainable.

To read the post on Change.org and sign the petition, please click here.

 

Filed under: Change.org, Health, HIV/AIDS, Poverty, Social Media | Leave a Comment »

Continuing to Give a Voice to Those Without One

Posted on March 28, 2011 by elizabethlombino

Below is a post I wrote a few months ago. I continue to get the questions around why I do what I do. Why I advocate for others. It seems the questions will continue. That’s okay with me. I’m happy to share my passion.

I’m also happy to share my voice. Many people have told me that they have read my blogs or seen my articles and learned something new about an issue or population that they did not know before. This is huge. Raising awareness is so essential. There are so many issues and challenges that we all face. There are so many myths and misinformation out there. If we all take the time to share our experiences and provide real information, we will all grow and learn from each other.

So I will continue to write about what I am passionate about. HIV/AIDS, Motherhood, Post-Partum Depression, Poverty, Gay Rights, Social Work, Mental Health, Stress Reduction, Humor, Parenting … I hope to continue to share my thoughts on these issues. I hope to continue to get discussions going and empower people to get involved. For those who may not have the opportunity to speak up, I hope to continue to share my voice for their cause.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’ Martin Luther King, Jr.

These are words that I live by. For whatever reason, I have a strong need to help and support others. Being a Social Worker fits this need. Working with others and listening to their stories is so beneficial to them and it’s incredibly fulfilling to me.

Writing also satisfies this need. My voice is out there. Whether I am writing about Motherhood and Parenting, Social Work issues, Poverty, HIV/AIDS, Gay Rights, Stress Reduction or any other of the many areas that I am interested in, my words speak for others. I am simply giving a voice to those who do not have a voice of their own. To those who are learning to use their voice. To those who have a voice, but it is drowned out by the environment they are in. Whose voice is silenced by others who are more powerful. I can be a voice. A small voice that can be loud for all of us. I can share their stories with others and help make a difference. Working together, our voices can grow and get stronger. Change can more likely happen.

Sometimes I’m asked why I do what I do. Why I’m a Social Worker helping others. Sometimes it is a genuine question from a curious person. Sometimes it’s a question twinged with judgement. The questions are the easy part; it is often the answers that are hard. At least to the person asking. What I do makes sense in my heart and in my day to day life. Yet to many people, it is a completely foreign concept. To help others. To seemingly give selflessly of myself and of my time. To advocate for others. These can be difficult concepts for people to understand.

It all comes down to hope. By speaking my voice, I am providing hope. Hope to others who can relate to what I write. Hope for me to know that I’m not alone. Hope for the world. It may sound idealistic and a bit of an unobtainable utopia, yet often hope is what gets us through the day. Hope provides something positive, something warm. Hope can be something to cling to, something to believe in. Hope can be everything.

Perhaps it’s my Grandmother’s influence. She was always such a positive spirit. She would find hope in everything. Always a smile and a laugh. She found the good in every person she encountered. Even those she disagreed with were still a friend to her. She had that special gift – to disagree yet still find something likable and genuine in all those around her.

Whatever the reason or influence, my desire to help others remains strong. I am proud to know that I am touching someone’s life each day.

As President Barack Obama said: What matters is not wealth, or status, or power, or fame, but rather how well we have loved, and what small part we have played in making the lives of other people better.

Filed under: Body.com, Hope Notes, Mental Illness, Poverty, Social Work, Strengths Perspective | Leave a Comment »

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