1. Newly diagnosed and nowhere to turn for help or hope
Findingoutyouhave HIV ishard enough. But to findoutand have noideawhat to door who to
contact for informationaboutwhattodo next,whotospeakto,or justto hearsomeone say,“Don’t
worryit’sgoingto be ok,”is detrimentalto some newlydiagnosedindividuals. Justfindingoutyour
HIV+ sucksthe windout of your sailsandsaps the life outof yourday and those are just some of the
feelingsthatare experiencedbythose whohada supportsystemof people to talktoabout their
diagnosis. Whenthere is someone totell peoplethatthey have hope fora healthy, thrivingfuture
livingwithHIV italleviatesatinybitof the stressand fear,the lostfeelingthatone experiencesinthe
momentsfollowingapositive statusresult. The people whoare dealingwiththeir positiveHIV diagnosis
alone because of a lackof fundingforHIV relatedservicesintheirlocal community,orbecause of ASOs
(AIDSSERVICEORGANIZATIONS)thatare not able todeal withincomingclientsinanefficientandtimely
mannerbecause due toan influx of newcasestheyare overwhelmedand they are notmeetingthe
needsof theirlocal community. These peoplesuffer senselesslybecause if these newlydiagnosedcases
were giventhe righttools, thisdiseaseiscompletelymanageable andnow withthe releaseof PrEP,HIV
isbecomingpreventable. Accordingtohivnetwork.orgif youknow you’re livinginahighrisk situation
like,yourmate isHIV+ andyou are not,or if you are negative andleada promiscuous orrisky lifestyle
youmay want to speaktoyour healthcare providerasopenlyandhonestlyasyoucan possiblybear
because now-a-daysbrutal honestycansave yourlife. The daysof livingashamedof whowe are
sexually orhidinganyotherriskybehaviorneedstoendsowe can as a collective make progressin
stoppingthe spreadof ALL H’s, HIV, HEP C, HSV I & II & HPV . If yourlife ishighriskfor HIV exposure
speakto yourDr. about PrEP it’sa pre-exposure prophylaxiswhichisapreventativeoptionforpeople
whoare highriskof gettingHIV. It ismeantto be usedconsistently,asapill takeneveryday,andto be
usedalongwithotherpreventative measuressuchascondoms.
HIV doesnot discriminate,people do,bythatI meanthatit doesnot matterif someone isdoing
everythingpossible toprevent HIV there are still caseshappeningof infectionfrombloodtransfusions,
childrenbeingbornwithandthe worstcasesare the onesdone on purpose like the case of Thomas
Powell whowasinfectedbyhismate whodidnotdisclose tohim RecentlydiagnosedasHIV+thislast
January,Thomas(Tj) Powell of Orlando,Florida, experienced whatis becomingthe unacceptable norm
or standardfor treatmentof the newlydiagnosed. Tj wasnotifiedof hispositive status athishome bya
personwhowasnot a counselornordidhe give TJany informationatall aboutwhat to doin termsof
afterdiagnosiscare and support. The wordsTj remembersbeingtoldare,“There are organizationsthat
will helpyou.”then the bearerof badnews justturnedandleftthisdevastatedhumanbeingaloneto
deal withinformationthathasalreadycaused countlesssuicides, andmurders atitsworst,at itsnormal,
it causesdepression,anger,confusion,lossof everythingyoueverknew,life asyouknew it changesin
the blinkof an eye. Youbecome part of somethingyoudon’t wantto have anythingtodo with,yetare
now forcedto live witheverydayforthe rest of yourlife.
Tj calledHope andHelphislocal ASO (AIDSSERVICEORGANIZATION) locatedinWinterPark, Florida
and wastoldhe neededtospeakwiththe onsite nurse andwastransferredtoa Voicemail box thatwas
full. TJcalledback andwas toldthere wasn’tanythingthatcouldbe done onlythat specificperson
couldhelphim,Tj was notofferedanappointment,insteadhe wasaskedforhiscontactinformationfor
a call back, and that wasJanuary,still todayMr. Powell iswaitingforacall back.

2. WhenI calledHope andHelpI wastoldthat at the moment,“Hope andHelpisgoingthrougha
transitional restructuringperiodandExecutive DirectorLisaBarr ison extendedleave.” The majorityof
ASOsinthe countryhave a walkin policytooffernew patientsthe chance togetin quicklytosee a case
manager. However,Hope andHelpdidnotdo that nor tell Tj theywere bookingmonthsoutif they
were experiencingoverflowtheyjustignoredhim duringatime insome people’slifewhere theyneed
attentionimmediatelysotheydonotfall throughthe cracks and fall deeperintodepressionanddenial
and notreceive treatmentatall until theybecome veryill. NextMr. Powell calledThe Centeranother
local ASOand was toldaboutthe same thing,give usyour contact informationandwe will call youback
and no call back. Notevena returncall to Tj to inquire if he neededphonenumbers,oranyhelp
whatsoeverwhichwouldhave beenappreciated,howevernothinginthe formof helporhope came.
FinallyMr.Powell chose togo to the local VA hopingtheywouldbe able tohelphimand wasseen
quicklyandiscurrentlyin care withthe local VA. Mr. Powell isverythankfultohave the abilitytoget
medical attentionasquicklyashe didandis notreachingout because he isupsetat notgettinga call
back for himself,but because he isnowworriedaboutthe peoplebeingturnedawaythatdonothave
insurance atall andwouldbe dependentonthe servicesthatonly alocal ASO make available. Mr.
Powell iscurrentlyinthe processof startinguphisownASO,Hope Osceolato ensure thatno one hasto
sufferandworryand stressduringa time that iscritical to the comingyearsof beingable tolive a
healthythrivingpositive life.
Armedwithnot much more than a passionto make sure everyone getsfairandequal treatment
and have accessto speakingtosomeone whocan andwill take the time to helpthemcome toterms
withtheirdiagnosisandknoweachstepasearly aspossible. Tj Powellhasdone whathe alwaysdoes
ina bad situation,take hisangerandturnitintosomethingpositive. He istryingtoformhis ownASO
called, Hope Osceola, anorganization dedicatedtohelpingthe HIV+residentsof OsceolaCounty. He
has beenpurchasingRapidTestsoutof pocketto helppromote testing,he hasa webpage dedicated
to hiscause, www.hopeosceola.com andagofundme page tooffsetthe costof forminghisownnon-
profityoucan followthislinktodonate toTJ’scause, http://dt.gofund.me/ajifqk. Youcan find Hope
Osceola on Facebook at http://ow.ly/MMhbk and on Twitter @hopeosceola.
Tj continues to uphold the oath he took for his country and now for his community in this
dedication speech he posted on his social media pages: “On November 15, 2006 I took an oath that
changed my life. I took an oath to protect this country against all enemies foreign and domestic. I
have never been relieved of that oath. HIV is one of our foreign and domestic enemies. I will fight
it… until the day I die…and trust me.There will be someone behindme to keepfightingall enemies
foreign and domestic!”
Tj ismakinggreat stridesinaccomplishinghisgoal,he hascompletednearly all of the paperwork
toobtainhisnon-profitstatus,he hasorganizedacomedyshowwhere allproceedsare beingdonated
to hiscause by BET comedianShawnHarris. Tj alongwithhismanysupportersare organizingraffles
for Disney Tickets and select Las Vegas shows and plan on continuing their efforts to help not only
Florida during their time of crisis but the HIV community as a whole needs supported.
Our questionfor the Orlando, Floridaarea is this:
If Floridaisranked2nd
inthe nationfor recentHIV cases why isit sohard to findHIV relatedservices? It
isn’tlike Floridawasunpreparedforthisgrowingconcernbecause 30years ago HIV/AIDSwasalready
considereda“publichealthemergency”accordingtothe floridahealth.govwebsite.

3. Florida1981 1st casesreportedas Kaposi’ssarcomaandPneumocystisCarinii PneumoniainNew York
and FloridaDepartmentof Healthbegansurveillance casesof AIDS.
1983 State HealthOfficerdeclaresAIDS a“publichealthemergency”. Physiciansrequiredtoreport
cases,FloridaAdministrative Code 10D-3.an AIDSsurveillance programestablishedatthe State Health
Office.
Recentnewsreports are rankingFlorida2nd
inthe nationforHIV/AIDScasesforadultsand children
withmore than 49,000 people currentlyinfectedwithHIV livinginthe state of Floridaandthe state is
still rankingthirdinthe nationinthe total numberof AIDS cases,withmore than126,000 casesin 2012.
Orange CountyinFloridaisranking thirdin the state inthe numberof HIV and AIDScases. Inthe Central
Floridacountiesof Orange,Osceola,Brevard,andSeminole countiesthere are more than12,000 people
livingwithHIV andnearly6,000 people sufferingwith AIDSatthismoment. One can onlywonderwhat
Floridaisdoingto serve the needsof theirlocal communities. Thisseemstobe agrowingtrendamong
manyASO’s. Fundsare cominginbut there isnot nearlyasmuch goingoutto actuallycurb the needsof
the people these organizationswere establishedtoservice andprotect.
Stepsneedtobe takento replicate the outstandingjobthatsome ASOsare doing. The jobof anyASO is
to strive toensure thateveryone whocomestothemforhelpreceiveshelpthatday. An ASOshouldbe
able to helpeveryclientfindanID(InfectiousDisease) Dr.,adietician, foodservices, andaccess togroup
and one-on-one therapy forthemselvesaswell asaffectedfamilymembers, andhousingassistance and
legal advocacyattorneys.
THAT SHOULD BE THE BASICSTANDARDFOR TREATMENT ACROSSTHE BOARD..
While continuingtocombatHIV/AIDS firstandforemost regulartestingiscrucial andearly treatment
isimportantas well andapparently workingasnew HIV casesare down from the peakinthe 80’s, new
infectionsremainatabout50,000 per yearfor overa decade. Despite advancesincombatingHIV,
hundredsof thousandshave alreadydiedfromthe disease. HIV hasbeenreportedinall 50 US States,
the Districtof ColumbiaandU.S.dependencies,the rate of infectionisnotevenlydistributed. Ten
statesaccountedforabout twothirdsor 65% of HIV diagnosisintheir2013 HIV Surveillance Report,the
CentersforDisease Control releasedSeptember22, 2014. Regionally,the Southaccountedforabout
half (48%) of all HIV diagnosisin2011. However,if one usedper100,000 and provide adifferent
measure the resultsreflectthatthe Districtof Columbiahasthe highestrate inthe nation,more than 9
timesthe national rate. Sevenof the top10 statesare inthe South withHIV diagnosisconcentrated
highestinMetropolitanareaslike NewYork,LosAngelesandMiami.
1. Miami,FL
2. NewOrleans,LA
3. Baton Rouge,LA
4. Jackson,Miss
5. Washington,D.C.
6. Baltimore,MD
7. Memphis,TN
8. Atlanta,GA
9. NewYork City,NY
10. Jacksonville,FL

4. Infectionsare happeningtopeople of every educationandincome classes,withthe highestrate of
infectionbeinginthe lowincome,andlow educationbrackets. While manyadvancesare beingmade in
preventionpre and postexposure donotthinkthe threatisoverthere are still people beinginfected
whoare not “highrisk”. There are childrenbeingbornwithHIV infectedduringdeliveryorafter,during
breastfeedingbyMother’swhowere neverofferedanHIV testbecause theywere notconsidered“high
risk.” If youare havingsex of any kindevenprotectedsex thentestingisthe onlywaytoensure youare
negative.
Do not putyour life insomeone else’shands, #RespectYourself#ProtectYourselfandneverlose
HOPE. Because until there isacure that iswhatwe have,we have….hope
H.O.P.E. Hold OnPainEnds.
Go #TeamTj we are #WarriorStrongbecause #AllLivesMatter!