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PWN-Pennsylvania recently launched their spring voter engagement campaign! Our phone bankers & canvassers will be talking to community members about harm reduction and gaining support to vote YES to HB 1245. This bill would expressly protect people from being criminalized for distributing syringes or operating Syringe Services Programs (SSPs) in PA.

PWN-USA joined thousands advocates in Washington D.C. to visit elected officials, advocate for the rights and dignity of the HIV community, and influence critical policy efforts. This AIDS Watch, over 50% of the attendees were people living with HIV!

We had 42 members and 8 staff in attendance at this conference, all fighting to center the voices of women & trans folks living with HIV! Our representatives were heavily involved in conference programming, including:

• Molecular HIV Surveillance Institute: Advocating for Change, End Criminalization
• Navigating Advocacy in Conservative Legislatures: A Lesson from Tennessee
• Beyond Storytelling and Tokenization: Lived Experience as a Credential
• Updated Infant Feeding Recommendations for US Parents Living with HIV
• Improving Care and Quality of Life: Older Adults and HIV Policy Advocacy
• Lifetime Survivors Included
• Black Women First - Centering and Empowering Black Women with HIV
• Aligning Activism & Advocacy Towards Successful HIV Criminalization Reform

Congratulations to our March 2024 Shero of the Month, Millicent Foster of Louisiana! Millicent has been a member of PWN-LA since 2016, and currently serves as the chapter Co-Chair. As a PWN Reproductive Justice for Black Lives program ambassador, Millicent was instrumental in leading repro justice trainings and outreach for women living with HIV in LA. 

"Reproductive justice for women and trans folks living with HIV would mean we have the resources and full human rights necessary to live long, healthy, and dignified lives. Free from stigma, violence, and discrimination.”

This interview was hosted by our previous Shero of the Month, Kenya Moussa of PA. Listen to the full conversation by clicking below! We are so proud to honor Millicent as our March Shero! 💐

💯 Shout out to Millicent Foster for being a HINAC Awareness Day Panelist in LA!

🤓 Congratulations and good luck to Yolanda Ross for her upcoming doctoral capstone defense! Her project is titled "Opioid Dependency Among Pregnant Women: The Need to Explore Gender-Responsive Treatment." 

People living with HIV are strong and resilient, and every day holds something to celebrate. Submit anything you want to celebrated, from getting appointed to a Community Advisory Board or giving a shout out to your fav PWN-er. There's nothing too small to be celebrated - let's uplift all of the joy and wins in our communities! 🤠

👋🏾 Black United Leadership Initiative is hosting its next member call Monday, 04/02/24 at 1PM PT/4PM ET! This call is open to Black folks living with HIV & Black folks working in this community. BULI is a network of Black activists & organizers working to end the criminalization of Black people. Join the call here: bit.ly/BULIMembership ❤️‍🔥

Are you a PWN member living with HIV? Join our virtual support group, Sister Circle, for a space to release and find peace! ✨ Join us Thursday, 04/04/24 at 8pm ET/7pm CT/5pm PT. Registration required to attend: bit.ly/PWNCARES (all caps). Hope to see you there! 💗

BULI's next Love Check-in is Friday, 04/05/24 at 4:30PM ET! 🫶🏿 Join using this link: bit.ly/bulilovecalls (all lowercase). Tiff knew we needed spaces like this - for Black folks in the HIV community to come together and just BE, outside of work obligations and tasks … To be connected … To be joyous … To vent … To process … To be Black AF! 👏🏾 Show up as you are for however long you want. WE’LL SEE YOU THERE! ❤️ *This is a protected space for Black folks only*

PWN-USA is hosting a workshop series called People Not Clusters: Breaking down Molecular HIV Surveillance with Advocates. Our next webinar is Tuesday, 04/09/24 at 10AM ET/7AM PT. Register here!

Our next PWN members call is Friday, 04/12/24 at 4:00PM ET/ 3:00PM CT/ 2:00PM MT/ 1:00PM PT. Note: you must register as a PWN member before getting the Zoom link. Register here!

• Health Not Prisons Collective's Founder's Panel Recording
  
• "Commentary: Maryland must stop criminalizing people living with HIV"   - The Baltimore Banner (03/15/2024)
  • Featuring PWN member Melanie Reese & partners Ronald Johnson and Carlton R. Smith
• "HIV is no longer a death sentence. But states still have laws targeting people who live with it" -The 19th News (03/12/2024)
  • Featuring PWN member Lashanda Salinas

• "30 Leaders Look to the Future of HIV" -Poz Magazine (03/25/24)
  • "The threats against women’s reproductive rights and gender-affirming care threaten our HIV work, and these issues disproportionately affect Black women and women of color living with HIV." -Keiva Lei Cadena
  • "Naina Khanna, the founding director of PWN-USA, has been a pivotal figure. Her enduring legacy in this community will have a ripple effect that will be felt for decades to come. Her leadership is a constant reminder of the undeniable power of women living with HIV." -Marnina Miller
• "Pa. Lawmakers Introduce Bills to Repeal Felony Charge for HIV-Related Prostitution" - Pennsylvania State Democrats (03/21/24)
  • “We should treat HIV like a health condition, not like a crime.” -Kenya Moussa (PWN-PA)
  • “With the passage of this bill, we will remove stigma, encouraging people to get tested, get into care, and thrive!” -Shekinah Rose (PWN-PA)

Photo from Pennsylvania State Democrats

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