APLA Health & Wellness is a Health Center Program grantee under 42 U.S.C. 254b, and a deemed Public Health Service employee under 42 U.S.C. 233(g)-(n) for purposes of medical malpractice claims and, as such, qualified for protection under the Federal Tort Claims Act.

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From the earliest days of the epidemic, AIDS Project Los Angeles took pride in our aggressive and far-sighted approach to public policy, recognizing that advocacy at all levels of government would be vital to protecting the rights of people impacted by AIDS and increasing funding for care and treatment.

In May 1983, APLA sponsored a candlelight march at the Federal Building in Westwood that brought out a crowd of more than 5,000 people. In August 1985, APLA coordinated testimony before the Los Angeles City Council on discrimination against people with AIDS, and Los Angeles then became the first city in the nation to adopt protections against discrimination for people living with AIDS. In 1991, we organized a 168-hour vigil at Los Angeles County- USC Medical Center to draw attention to appallingly inadequate care for people living with AIDS.

Our advocacy work continues to see success today at the local, state and federal levels, including protecting funding for life-saving programs like the Ryan White Program and prevention funding at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

In Sacramento, APLA Health and our partners across the state have successfully pushed for increased services and funding over the past several years, including funding to subsidize costs for individuals whose access to health insurance coverage is blocked by escalating co-pays and deductibles. Last year, APLA Health scored an enormous win with a bill that now makes California the first state in the country to require providers to discuss information on PrEP and PEP to at-risk individuals who receive a negative HIV test result and with the passage of a comprehensive HIV Decriminalization bill, which brought Californias HIV laws into the 21st Century.

We continue to work with our partners across the state on efforts to end the epidemic in California. APLA Health maintains a leadership role in community-based efforts to craft Californias plan for getting to zero which we will be advancing with the incoming administration in Sacramento after the 2018 gubernatorial election.

From the very beginning we made our voices heard in local debates and on the federal level. When the need for a national voice on AIDS issues became apparent, APLA Health with a handful of partners created Washington, D.C.-based AIDS Action Council. AIDS Action Council continues its important work today as AIDS United and APLA Health is as involved as ever.

Throughout our 35 years, we have seen presidential administrations come and go and know that each one will be judged by history on how they responded to the AIDS crisis. From Ronald Reagans long and disastrous silence on the disease to Barack Obama implementing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and a National HIV/AIDS Strategy, we have consistently advocated for policy, programs, funding and legislation to adequately address the needs of people living with HIV and those at risk.

Continued engagement in public policy discourse is essential in shaping societys response to the AIDS epidemic and healthcare in America. Last year, APLA Health marched with thousands of others at the #ResistMarch and we continue to be a widely recognized advocate for people living with and at risk of HIV/AIDS and for all communities in need of high-quality comprehensive healthcare. We take pride in our success (your success) at the community level and within the halls of government, without losing sight of the critical work that still needs to be done.

Since our founding, APLA Health has been at the forefront working to end the AIDS epidemic. This year marks the 35th anniversary of our incorporation and the launch of our fight against HIV/AIDS and to support those communities infected and affected by AIDS.

From the very beginning, one of AIDS Project Los Angeless key goals was to educate our community with factual, up-to-date information about the disease. We launched one of the nations first Hotlines, initially housed in an old closet with all that we knew about AIDS a single page of facts and resources on a clipboard.

One of our most critical early programs was the APLA Buddy program. Dozens, hundreds and then thousands of trained APLA volunteers helped clients with AIDS with daily tasks, social activities or even just provided basic human contact. Our volunteers took meals into the hospital rooms of AIDS patients -since the hospital staff was too frightened and left trays outside the door.

For 35 years, we have fought to end the epidemic. We did this for our lives and for our future. Over the years, we have continually evolved and expanded our services to meet the growing and changing needs of people living with HIV/AIDS; adding behavioral healthcare, developing robust HIV & STD testing and prevention programs, increasing our advocacy work, broadening our support services and adding primary medical care.

We continue to be the leading provider of HIV prevention and health education services in Los Angeles County targeting populations at highest risk of HIV, including gay men of color, young gay men and members of the transgender community.

2018 WHERE: 6 APLA Health Centers including Baldwin Hills, South Los Angeles, Long Beach, Mid City / Koreatown, Downtown and our newest site Fairfax Carthay Circle 16 APLA Health locations covering Los Angeles County from Lancaster to Long Beach

We (the patients, clients, staff and volunteers) at APLA Health owe a great debt of gratitude to each of you who support us. While we are grateful for the progress weve made to combat the disease, we will never forget those we lost along the way.

We remain as firmly committed to ending this epidemic as we were when we were founded in 1983. Over the coming months, join us as we look back at our 35 year history of service and our exciting future.