We premiered this video today at a potluck farewell for our Health and Wellness staffers. The H&W program closes at the end of this month due to budget cuts. We will miss them and their years of service!

ARCS and other HIV/AIDS service providers across the state have already suffered a 10% cut to our core funding this year. These were the first ever cuts to our baseline in the history of the HIV epidemic.

And in December, the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services
(OASAS) cut ARCS' "Health and Wellness" program, which provided HIV
risk reduction and Hepatitis C case management in the ten Hudson Valley
drug clinics, and our Chemical Dependency Services. This came as a
result of the Governor's request to OASAS to cut its budget. We were
forced to lay off seven dedicated employees.

ARCS has lost almost $1 million dollars in funding since August 2008.

The legislature thinks they are simply "trimming the branches" to save
money. What they're really doing is digging up the roots of a 25 year
old system that helps the most needy and most disenfranchised New
Yorkers.

Ask your local New York State Assembly Member and State Senator to restore
cuts to HIV/AIDS services in the new budget. Call your representatives TODAY
to tell them that the budget cannot be balanced on the backs of the
poor and needy. You can also email them and voice your opinion.

If you care about those affected by HIV/AIDS in New York State, ACT NOW and tell Albany what you think!

Looking to unload an old record/LP collection? Donate it to AIDS-Related Community Services' Valentine's Charity Ball and get a tax deduction for it! ARCS needs hundreds of LPs to use as decorations at our Valentine's Charity Ball on February 14, 2009. Our theme for 2009 is "All You Need is Love," a salute to rock-n-roll of the Sixties. However, we'll take any and all LPs, 45's or any size record!

ARCS is a certified 501(c )(3) not-for-profit agency and all donations are tax deductible to the full extent of the law. We'll give you a receipt for tax purposes.

We will even come to your home or store to pick up the LP collection if you can't deliver it to us.

Please call (914) 785-8326 or email us to donate your unwanted records. For more information on ARCS, please visit www.arcs.org. Thank you!

Hi everyone - to follow up on our blog post from last week, which was essentially the press release we sent out to all Hudson Valley media, I wanted to tell you how you can reach your New York State legislators to tell them to reverse the budget cuts made to HIV/AIDS services.

Now is the time to do something to help make a difference: just this morning, the New York City Department of Health released information indicating that the rate of new HIV infections in the City is 3 times higher than the rest of the nation. How are our sister agencies in the City supposed to fight that with a budget that's been slashed? We can also surmise that there is some (or will be some) spill-over from that situation into the Hudson Valley, as we've got a lot of commuters moving through our region every day, and lots of people who journey into the city for either medical services or to party on the weekends.

Please write to your local legislator and tell them what you think of the recent 6% cut to HIV/AIDS services. You can find out who your legislators are by going to:

New York State Assembly or

New York State Senate or write to the governor himself:

NYS Governor Paterson

Thank you for all your support! Voicing your opinion now goes a long way to enabling us to continue to serve our clients in future!

Here is the link to an interesting Yahoo! Health Article.

http://health.yahoo.com/experts/sexualhealing/28937/the-truth-about-safe-sex/

Let's Get Physical

By Paul Moccio

As we all know, it is very important that we keep ourselves healthy both physically and mentally. We take vitamins to keep our bodies functioning well and we take time-outs to give our minds a rest. When we aren't feeling well, we visit our doctor to find out what is wrong. For most people, the only time we see our primary doctors is when we aren't feeling well. But it is vital that we all go for an annual physical to make sure things are constantly running smoothly.

It is important that you have a good relationship with your doctor(s) and let them know everything you are doing in your social and personal life. When you visit your doctor for your annual physical, you shouldn't feel ashamed to tell him or her what you have been up to. When discussing your sexual history, be honest and disclose all the behaviors you are doing, risky or not. This will ensure that the proper tests are being done and he/she knows what to keep in mind when examining you. If you don't feel comfortable or you feel ashamed talking to her about this, you need to ask yourself. "Is it the doctor that makes you uncomfortable with a judgmental perspective, or is it you who is uncomfortable discussing your life with the doctor?" You should feel very comfortable when seeing the doctor and not be ashamed to discuss every detail of your life. That's why they are there, to listen and to help you! If you think it's the doctor making you uncomfortable, my advice is to seek out another doctor.

Recently I had to come to terms with this idea myself. I've been seeing my doctor for some time now and I always thought I felt comfortable with him, but lately I've been feeling more resistance. I think by coming out of the closet to him, I've thrown him off track because he isn't experienced working with gay men. He doesn't know the proper tests to perform annually. When I tell him to do the standard tests, he hesitates and tries to resist my suggestions. Although this has always bothered me, it's gotten worse in recent months because I'm now a health educator. I tell my clients to have regular tests done, while my own doctor ignores my efforts at self-advocacy! Yup, it's time to find a new doc.

All in all, I'm just spreading the word to take care of yourself, mentally and physically. If you feel as if your primary care physician (or any doctor for that matter) isn't taking care of you, find someone that will. Finding the right doctor is very hard and it often takes multiple tries but once you do it, you're set.

Part Three: Late Bloomers

By Paul Moccio

Gay men and women come out of the closet at all different ages and stages of life.  Some lucky people have the courage and support system to come out at an early age, like the TV characters I've written about previously in this blog.  Others need to build up the strength and seek the support to come out later in life as they get older.

The writers on Brothers and Sisters decided to answer the question of whether Uncle Saul, Nora's brother, was gay. In a very emotional and touching episode, as we see his struggle with his sexuality come to an end, he finally breaks down and admits to his gay nephew that he too is gay. We saw him wrestle with it since last season but it was never addressed—he was just an older male bachelor on the show. Once he finally had enough of the secrecy and inner turmoil, he asked Kevin to help him be gay because he didn't know how to live his life as an openly gay man.  It was this scene that made Kevin really reflect on his own life and decide that he really wanted to marry his boyfriend Scotty. 

I think this was an important topic to see on prime time television because so many struggle with the same issue. Many decades ago, older generations of LGBT didn't come out as being gay because it wasn't socially acceptable. They stayed hidden in the closet and even covered up their identity by getting married and pretending to be heterosexual.  We also see many instances of men having families and identifying completely as heterosexual and occasionally engaging in sexual activity with other men. These men either continue to keep their secret while engaging in sex with other men, or they eventually come to terms with their sexuality and come out of the closet. When these men come out to their wives and/or children, it often deteriorates their relationship with everyone around them, thus eradicating their former support system.

One view of this is that these individuals grew up in a very conservative, unaccepting time. Based on that, they decide it would be much easier to live a heterosexual life. On the other hand, some people just don't know they are gay until they get older.  For some people, they hit a crossroad in their life and realize it after years of conforming happily to heterosexual life.

Locally, The LOFT offers groups and support to older LGBT. For more info, call the LOFT at 914-948-7173.