AIDS Survival Project
Historical Timeline

1988
- AIDS Survival Project holds its first board meeting. Organization founded on principles of self-empowerment and people with AIDS representing and advocating for their own needs and rights.
- First of many teach-ins to educate PWAs on basic rights and treatment information.
1989
- First strategic session is undertaken to plan programs and activities on education, public awareness, partnership with healthcare and social service providers, social and recreational opportunities.
- Emphasis placed on self-empowerment to enable PWAs to manage their lives and their treatment, and on advocacy for justice, equal access, human rights.
- Clinic established for comfortable, accessible, private space for aerosolized Pentamadine users.

1990
- Protests are held when George Bush, Jerry Falwell, and Nancy Schaeffer attend the annual meeting of anti-gay, anti-feminist group Family Concerns. Activists distribute condoms and public education materials outside meeting site.
- First monthly newsletter is published; eventually becomes Survival News publication, now printing close to 4,000 copies each edition, as well as posting vital treatment information on web site.

1991
- AIDS Survival Project advocates for: expansion of Grady IDC to new location; funds for AZT for the indigent; the use of anonymous unique identifier system, rather than names, for reporting HIV diagnoses to state health department.
- First support groups meet and first peer counselors are trained.
- Intensive, interactive educational workshops established, becoming today’s bimonthly THRIVE! Weekend.
- "PWArties" – Saturday night socials – begin.

1992
- Vigils and demonstrations are held to support new Grady IDC site in Midtown. Although opposed by Fulton and DeKalb county commissions and local businesses, the center opens a year later, on time and under budget.
- Advocacy work secures full funding of AIDS medications for Georgia’s indigent and uninsured.
- Treatment Resource Center established in 1991 expands; very soon it is nationally recognized as one of the most up-to-date and comprehensive sources of treatment information in U.S.

1993
- Speak-Out on state capitol steps draws attention to effects of AIDS crisis on Georgians.
- Drug company Hoffman-LaRoche is targeted for advocacy activities, leading to establishment of clinical drug trials in Atlanta.
- Months of activism secures commitment from Emory University to seek approval as a site for national AIDS Clinical Trial Group.
- ASP introduces legislation in Georgia Assembly to prevent physician self-referral without disclosure to patients.

1994
- Protests oppose forced house confinement of first AIDS Survival Project Board President John Kappers for post-infectious multi-drug resistant tuberculosis.
- Advocacy actions push Atlanta City Council to release allocated funds for HIV+ housing facility.
- Organization joins Georgia Rural-Urban Summit as a founding member.

1995
- First annual Legislative AIDS Awareness Day held at Georgia capitol.
- Advocacy and demonstrations are coordinated to urge drug companies to expand access to new treatments through compassionate-use programs.
- First John Kappers Award presented for outstanding volunteer (later expanded to honor best in community-wide service).
- Organization marches for the first time in the annual Martin Luther King Day parade.

1996
- ASP sponsors Brothers Back-to-Back, a support group for gay HIV+ African-American men.
- Collaboration with other agencies to expand treatment forums and seminars.
- AIDS Survival Project sponsors first annual candlelight vigil at Atlanta Pride.
- Strong partnership developed with Georgia Equality and other progressive organizations.

1997
- Class action suit against Blue Cross for taking funds from non-profit sector to form for-profit company. Settlement results in Healthcare Georgia Foundation, a nonprofit organization that now issues health services grants.
- First annual Women’s HIV Healing Retreat.
- Peer Counseling program expanded to AID Atlanta clinic.
- ASP trains first legislative volunteers to lobby for raise in state funding for AIDS Drug Assistance Program from under $300,000 to $2,500,000. Continued advocacy results in $11,300,000 in funding by 2003.

1998
- Community Outreach Program initiated.
- AIDS Survival Project board becomes the first in the state to unanimously adopt policy favoring unique-identifier HIV reporting and opposing names reporting.
- ASP’s Treatment Resource Center assists with establishing and reorganizing similar centers and libraries in Houston, New Orleans, and San Francisco.
- ASP spearheads AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) Task Force to bridge economic gap in medication access.

1999
- Organization joins Grady Coalition to advocate for prescription medication for indigent patients at Grady Hospital.
- AIDS Survival Project Executive Director Jeff Graham and Board President Eddie Young are arrested at protest of the DeKalb County Commission over Grady funding issues.
- Internet postings of up-to-date treatment news is expanded with links to The Body website, now reaching more than 35,000 online users monthly.

2000
- Minority Peer Counseling initiative begins.
- AIDS Survival Project partners with Positive Impact to develop programs for Latino community.
- First local program is presented focusing on issues unique to children living with HIV.
- Thanks to advocacy efforts by ASP and the ADAP Task Force, the program’s waiting list is eliminated for the first time since 1996.
- ASP joins coalition of civil rights groups to protest remarks prejudicial to people with AIDS and others by Atlanta Braves player John Rocker.

2001
- First Healthy Choices=Healthy Lives community forum on available services and resources in metro area and tips for managing medical and non-medical aspects of HIV disease.
- ASP assumes leadership role with national CAEAR Coalition (lobbying for Ryan White funding) and Fulton County Human Services Planning Council.
- Partnership begins with researcher Seth Kalichman to form new program, Project SHARE, for multi-year research project, "Closing the Digital Divide in AIDS Care."

2002
- Center for AIDS and Humanity launched, in partnership with Positive Impact and AIDS Treatment Initiatives, as a teaching museum and exhibit space. First exhibit is "From the Beginning: African-American Heroes and the AIDS Epidemic in Atlanta."
- AIDS Survival Project receives one of the first grants issued by Healthcare Georgia Foundation, providing initial funding for statewide advocacy program, Positive Action Network.

2003
- Positive Action Network launched to train individuals in rural areas to advocate for equitable public policy, funding, and treatment access.
- Organization joins coalition efforts demanding increased state revenues to prevent funding cuts in health and social services.
- ASP teams with Georgia Equality to conduct town hall meetings around state addressing impact of HIV/AIDS on rural communities.
- AIDS Survival Project celebrates 15th Anniversary with Gala event, sponsored by Elton John AIDS Foundation and Abbott Laboratories.