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Cort\u00e9z said the event acknowledges the AIDS epidemic across the globe, memorializes those who have passed, and celebrates accomplishments and people that made a difference in the fight against HIV. He also said this event looks to create awareness about the current realities of HIV, the importance of prevention, and the resources available today to fight the suppression and transmission of the HIV virus.<\/p>\n
\u201cResources are available for people to access that have helped bring us to a place where we can finally eliminate the transmission of HIV, which may sound like a pretty ambitious goal, but more than ever we believe that it is obtainable,\u201d Cort\u00e9z said. \u201cWe need to be more vocal about the milestones we have made [in the fight against HIV]. We need to be more acknowledging about the advances we have made and more vocal about the resources that are available for folks that are living with HIV. We also need to recognize the resources to the folks that are vulnerable to becoming HIV infected to reduce or eliminate the risk of infection.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cort\u00e9z said over recent months and the past couple of years, a lot of changes were implemented at Mama\u2019s Kitchen.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have expanded our mission to serve people with other critical illnesses,\u201d Cort\u00e9z said. \u201cWe have increased access to services for people with cancer, we started a pilot program earlier this year for people with congestive heart failure and soon we will be initiating a project that is focusing on people with Type 2 diabetes and we are making significant improvements to the quality of service that we are providing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cort\u00e9z said Mama\u2019s Kitchen is sharing a message of what it has learned in serving people with HIV, which provides the organization an opportunity to expand that net and impact other lives \u2014 regardless of who they are or what they suffer with \u2014 and to make their lives better.<\/p>\n
Rep. Scott Peters gave thanks to all of the staffers, volunteers and donors who supported the people that were \u201cshut in and shut out\u201d over the past 27 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor those people, it means the world to them,\u201d Peters said. \u201cIt is nothing that any government could do. It is a person to person thing and means a lot. It\u2019s Christmas time and the story of Christ is the story of a God that saves. And there is no better message than Mama\u2019s Kitchen about saving people. For me, as a Christian, it is awe inspiring to see the love that you give these folks. That\u2019s an example.\u201d<\/p>\n
State Senate pro Tempore Toni Atkins said she loved Mama\u2019s Kitchen and its expanded mission. She shared that her brother-in-law died of AIDS and her mother of cancer. She noted Mama\u2019s Kitchen eagerness to serve anyone in the community proves that it continues to be the incredible organization that is has been since its smaller beginnings.<\/p>\n
Atkins said she was aware that the event was \u201crocking the ribbon,\u201d but also mentioned that this year\u2019s theme was about transparency, accountability and partnership, and that it was the partnerships that she wanted to focus on. She added that her seat at the state allocates money which goes through the county and distributed throughout community organizations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a lot of conversation about PrEP and PEP and pushing us to do more,\u201d Atkins said. \u201cI will say that HIV and AIDS is not a gay disease, but it took the LGBT caucus at the state of California to push in the budget to get more. We did an additional $5 million this year to enhance comprehensive local services. San Diego County gets $425,000 of those dollars. Every one of those dollars goes to individuals directly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Part of that money is used to fund HIV testing to high risk populations. Atkins said the message for today is \u201cto know our status.\u201d Atkins said that now there are PrEP assistance programs that provides medical out-of-pocket costs for medications. An additional $2 million was allocated to expand the PrEP assistance program, as well as financial assistance for PEP and PrEP. Also, there is full cost coverage for uninsured individuals under the age of 18 and for those who cannot use their insurance for confidentiality and safety reasons, and for individuals whose insurance does not cover.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, who lost my brother-in-law, my nephew grew up without his dad,\u201d Atkins said. \u201cMy cousin, my dear Aunt Betsie \u2014 the kindest woman in the world \u2014 had to watch her son die before anyone ever knew what the disease was. So when I look at that tree [Tree of Life] and I see the names and I think about all the people that we have lost, the world would be a very different place if all those people were here. It is for them that we continue to work in the fight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Councilmember Chris Ward said the education, prevention, treatment, visibility, and ending the stigma is all helping to bring HIV transmission to zero.<\/p>\n
\u201cI promise that we are going to get there because we get together on days like World AIDS Day,\u201d Ward said. \u201cThere are so many parts of the world that do not have the treatment and education and are very stigmatized, much more so than we find here in America. When we find the pathways here in the community we need to continue those pathways until we get to zero worldwide.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cort\u00e9z said Mama\u2019s Kitchen was giving its first annual Humanitarian Award. The purpose of which is to acknowledge work, effort, and impacts that have gone above and beyond in making our community a better place. He said it was a joy to announce San Diego County Supervisor Ron Roberts as the first recipient.<\/p>\n
\u201cRon [Roberts] has been an early advocate for HIV here in San Diego for 35 years, providing access to the resources that he can to make our community a better a better place in response to the AIDS epidemic,\u201d Cort\u00e9z said. \u201cHe has facilitated funding that has provided for the essentials needs of our [Mama\u2019s Kitchen] organization and allowed our mission to move forward. For that, I am grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roberts delivered Mama\u2019s Kitchen\u2019s three millionth meal, four millionth meal, five millionth meal \u2026 and eighth millionth meal.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis availability to help us spread the mission and the awareness of HIV in my estimation is exceptional and it hasn\u2019t just been with Mama\u2019s Kitchen,\u201d Cort\u00e9z continued. \u201cIt has been with other organizations over the years as we continue our fight with this epidemic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roberts said in working with Mama\u2019s Kitchen he has seen much accomplished through this organization.<\/p>\n
\u201cGetting to zero is not just a slogan,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cIn two years we have seen incredible reductions in the number of new cases of AIDS in San Diego. From 2016 to 2017 there was a 20 percent decrease. We are going to get to zero. We are going to get this done sooner. The only thing standing against us is getting to the people that need this information and them acting on it. There is no excuse for anybody to take advantage. There are no financial barriers out there, there\u2019s no waiting list. We have the availability to the drugs that people need.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Adam Zweig, medical director of AIDS Healthcare Foundation, spoke for the fourth year at this event. This year, Zweig wanted to touch on some points that he felt needed repeating. He said people tend to focus on the important people in our lives that were lost to AIDS but looking forward to a future of a cure and the eradication of AIDS and HIV transmission is becoming a reality. But, he added that as a community, we should focus a little more on the present and to be honest with ourselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith such effective treatment and prevention many of us have become somewhat complacent when it comes to HIV and AIDS,\u201d Zweig said. \u201cCommunity activism has waned, and we\u2019ve lost many AIDS organizations out of the perception that there is no longer is a need. Nothing is further from the truth. We know that a person that is living with HIV can live as long as someone that is negative. We know that viral suppression pretty much eliminates the risk of transmission. With little risk from those HIV people on meds [medications] and the increase use of PrEP for those at risk, why do we continue to see increases in transmission rates in people of color, women and transgender groups?\u201d<\/p>\n
Zweig said he could argue that much of the blame can be based on stigma.<\/p>\n
\u201cStigma prevents people from getting tested and seeking prevention care,\u201d he continued. \u201cSadly, what concerns me the most is the significant amount of stigma generated within our own community. When I see patients, I really have no advice to give on how to avoid the sting of rejection and the embarrassment that my patient will face when they disclose their status to another partner. Likewise, I have no advice on how to avoid PrEP shaming that often happens when men using PrEP are labeled as promiscuous. So I think our own community has a little bit of work to do before we can claim success to HIV treatment and prevention.\u201d<\/p>\n