By Bailey Williams
For the past three years, Mayra Olivares has helped people living with HIV and AIDS achieve better health outcomes. As a Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program case manager at Erie Family Health Centers, Mayra makes sure her clients receive needed medication, medical appointments and referrals for vital services like housing. Prior to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), Mayra...
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By Bailey Williams
Longtime housing advocate Debra La Joyce Thornton, age 64, passed away Thursday, July 1. Debra is survived by her mother, four children and three grandchildren she loved dearly.
Described by many as extremely hardworking and dedicated, Debra spent the last two decades helping hundreds...
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By Bailey Williams
I n the summer of 2005, party promoters, bar and bathhouse owners, government representatives, community leaders, health providers and Black gay, bisexual and same gender loving men convened at what was formerly the Ramada Inn on 47th Street and South Lakeshore Drive to...
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T oday, AIDS Foundation Chicago (AFC) is thrilled to join Getting to Zero Illinois (GTZ-IL) in announcing the grant recipients for the first-ever Getting to Zero Illinois Community Grant Program, a pool of grants totaling $350,000. Fourteen organizations across the state have each received one-time grants of up to $30,000 for new projects that will help the...
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By Danie Muriello
Everyone in the LGBTQ+ community has a coming-out story. I am a 69 -year-old transwoman, and I’d like to share just the beginning of mine.
A little more than six years ago on a very ordinary Sunday afternoon, I was leisurely reading the paper, something I did almost every Sunday. One of the sections I really liked ...
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By Ella Shapiro
Marc Querol, a TEAM TO END AIDS (T2 ) athlete and a n e mergency room (ER) trauma nurse from Chicago , is one of many health care professionals who have dedicated themselves to caring for other s during the COVID-19 pandemic. Marc and other nurses working in hospitals...
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U pdated May 26 , 2021
All people ages 12 and older are now eligible to get a COVID vaccine. There are many ways to get vaccinated in Chicago and Cook County – here are some of the main ones:
1. Your primary care provider: Call and see if they are offering vaccines. If you don’t...
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By Ella Shapiro
When you talk to Judy Brown, it is immediately clear that the 69-year-old Chicagoan is passionate about advocating for the people around her. Every day, Judy commits herself to helping others and has been doing so since she and her husband tested positive for HIV in 1993. Judy is an active member of AIDS Foundation Chicago (AFC)’s Ryan White community advisory...
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Meet Roy Ferguson: AFC board member
By Ella Shapiro
One of Roy Ferguson's greatest pleasures in life is spending time with his granddaughters. Every morning the 70-year-old Chicagoan and his partner, Michael, each take one of their youngest granddaughter’s hands and walk her to school. The pair’s eldest granddaughter just got onto her high school’s...
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By Ella Shapiro
Even though Women’s History Month has come to an end, AIDS Foundation Chicago (AFC) wanted to continue the celebration of impactful women by recognizing a local advocate who has devoted herself to supporting other women for almost 30 years. Dr. Cynthia Tucker, AFC’s Vice President of Prevention and Community Partnerships, has spent decades helping cisgender...
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