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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) is
3 celebrating its 20th anniversary this year; and
 
4     WHEREAS, The AFC was founded by four dedicated community
5 activists and physicians, Dr. Ron Sable, Dr. Renslow Sherer,
6 Judy Carter, and William Young, in 1985 to respond to the
7 emerging devastation of AIDS; the mission of the organization
8 is to lead the fight against HIV/AIDS and improve the lives of
9 people affected by the epidemic; and
 
10     WHEREAS, The problem of HIV/AIDS continues to impact
11 communities in Illinois, nationally, and around the world; an
12 estimated 35,000 Illinoisans are living with HIV/AIDS, and
13 about 70% of these individuals live in Chicago, Cook County,
14 and the collar counties, the AIDS Foundation of Chicago's
15 service area; over half of reported AIDS cases in 2003 were
16 among men who have sex with men, and over one-quarter were
17 among injection drug users; and
 
18     WHEREAS, People of color are disproportionately impacted
19 by HIV/AIDS; African-Americans make up just over half of the
20 State's reported AIDS cases, and one in six is Latino;
21 two-thirds of Illinois women living with HIV/AIDS are
22 African-American; and
 
23     WHEREAS, The AFC created the Service Providers Council in
24 1986 to bring together community agencies in the fight against
25 AIDS; the Service Providers Council today unites agencies from
26 a nine-county Chicago metropolitan area delivering services to
27 people with HIV/AIDS; the Service Providers Council shares best
28 practices and ensures efficient service delivery and
29 consistency of services; and
 
30     WHEREAS, The AFC convened the region's HIV/AIDS case

 

 

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1 management system, which is renowned as a national model in
2 service integration; the system serves HIV-positive people who
3 struggle with homelessness, mental illness, addiction,
4 poverty, and other health concerns; more than 5,000 individuals
5 receive assistance from the system's 165 case managers working
6 at 49 agencies across metropolitan Chicago; and
 
7     WHEREAS, The AFC's grant making program began in 1988 and
8 is today the Midwest's largest source of private funding for
9 local AIDS organizations; the program has distributed more than
10 $14 million for HIV prevention, care, and advocacy projects,
11 and in 2004 provided 61 local AIDS agencies $1.2 million in
12 grant funding; and
 
13     WHEREAS, Each month the AFC mobilizes thousands of AIDS
14 advocates to address local, State, and federal HIV/AIDS policy
15 issues; disseminating accurate and timely information about
16 trends in the epidemic is an important way the AFC builds pubic
17 and private support for the fight against HIV/AIDS; therefore,
18 be it
 
19      RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
20 NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
21 we congratulate the AIDS Foundation of Chicago on the occasion
22 of the agency's 20th anniversary; and be it further
 
23      RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
24 presented to the AIDS Foundation of Chicago as an expression of
25 our esteem and with best wishes for the organization's future
26 success.