You might want to sit down for this: You’re reading a blog post about this blog—this award-winning blog.

Not to be too self-serving, but we need to toot our horn for a minute. The International Academy of the Visual Arts announced winners of the 2013 Communicator Awards on Thursday, April 30, and the AIDS Foundation of Chicago’s Inside Story won two silver awards of distinction for best political blog and best website writing.

“I’m happy to hear the little blog got some love,” said Greg Trotter, former staff writer at the AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC). He created Inside Story in November 2011, wanting to highlight the humanity behind HIV/AIDS issues and to dig deeper into topics mainstream media often overlooked.

“The storytelling aspect of my former job with AFC was very important,” Trotter said. “I knew there were tremendous stories of courage and resilience among those living with HIV. Once I settled into that job, I began to realize that people working in the HIV sector—and right there in the AFC office—often had incredible stories.”

And so Trotter told them. Drawing on AFC’s comprehensive approach to ending HIV, he wrote stories about fundraising events, policy and housing issues, prevention campaigns, and ways people can connect with care. As diverse as his topics stretched, at the center of every piece was a common theme: humanity persevering in the context of HIV.

But none of this would have been possible without Wady Guzman, AFC’s Graphic Designer, who created the platform for Inside Story.

“Greg had a tremendous vision for this project,” Guzman said, “and it was fun to help him bring the blog to life. I’m honored that it’s being recognized in this prestigious way, and I’m eager to see it grow.”

“These awards are obviously a great honor, and I’m grateful the International Academy acknowledged the good work this blog is doing,” Trotter said. “But really, these accolades are a reflection of those who’ve been at AFC for many years and have never won an award—the people who just do their job every day to help thousands of people who live with HIV.”

The International Academy is a group of prominent professionals from acclaimed media and communications firms that judge blogs nominated for awards. The Communicator Awards receives over 6,000 entries annually for 10 categories.

As Inside Story looks to the future, it aims to maintain this high standard of reporting and storytelling, growing in its use of media. Audio and video will be added to the blog to give our audience different ways to discover the courage and resilience Trotter saw among those living with HIV.

If you’d like to pitch an idea or finished piece to Inside Story, please contact Ryan Singleton, AFC’s Communication’s Coordinator, at [email protected].