HIV AIDS Action Summit

IMG_9873Alliance for Housing and Healing was a leading partner at the 7th Annual HIV/AIDS Action Summit at City of Hope on October 22nd. This annual gathering of front line providers is open to the public and is a critical reminder that the fight is not over. While today’s doctors and scientists work for a cure, the next generation must take personal responsibility for prevention.

“This is a movement that is 30 years old, but is still as important today as it was 30 years ago because it’s a disease that’s completely preventable and people don’t focus on that piece because now they see people living longer and so they don’t understand the consequences are just as dire,” said Former Assemblyman Anthony J. Portantino who hosts the summit each year. “Although the advancements and drug treatments have gotten better, we still need to be on our A game with this.”
More than 400 students from San Gabriel Valley high schools attended the summit at City of Hope to hear the latest from leading researchers and visit with non-profit service providers including Alliance for Housing and Healing. At our information table, students learned that housing is healthcare. Thanks to Caroline McKiernan and Miguel Fernandez, the message included a few notable stats:
  • Housing increases compliance with medical treatment and leads to lower viral load levels and a decreased likelihood of transmitting the virus.
  • Housing assistance can reduce the risk of transmission to a partner by 96%.*
  • Housing stability for people with HIV has been shown to reduce emergency medical visits by 35% and hospitalizations by 57%.*
  • Each new HIV infection prevented through more stable housing saves countless life years and over $380,000 in lifetime medical costs. *
Terry Goddard, Executive Director of Alliance for Housing and Healing, met with students and presenters at the event including our key partners City of Hope, Planned Parenthood, and APLA. Following the uplifting morning, Terry said “An AIDS-free generation starts with the young activists that attended this important summit. They will spread the message of prevention and testing to their peers. Alliance for Housing and Healing is proud to join with our fellow service providers to support this effort to eradicate AIDS.”
To learn more about the HIV/AIDS Action Summit and stay tuned for next year’s event, connect with the facebook page.
*National AIDS Housing (2014). Retrieved online October 18, 2013 from http://www.nationalaidshousing.org/PDF/2014HOPWANeedPaper
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Best in Drag Show 2013

October 19, 2013 by admin
2013 Winner Vava Fanculo. Photo courtesy of JPI Studios.

2013 Winner Vava Fanculo. Photo courtesy of JPI Studios.

Miss Best in Show 2013 is Miss New Jersey Vava Fanculo! The six contestants danced through a difficult race with no shortage of fake nails, fake cleavage, and fake smiling. The hair pulling was real.

Under the direction of Jeffrey Drew, the contestants and dogs (chorus girls) spent months rehearsing for the big night October 6th at the Orpheum Theatre. As nearly 2,000 audience members filed in, you could feel the excitement backstage. Lashes were getting longer and corsets were getting tighter.

This year’s contestants displayed a wide variety of looks and talents ranging from opera singing to upside-down painting. Check out the photos and videos at www.bestindragshow.orgincluding the climax of the evening, Miss New Jersey’s talent.

The Best in Drag Show has raised more than $3 million for Alliance for Housing and Healing since it was founded in 2003. But the history of this event is much longer and much deeper. It started in 1989 as “The Battle for the Tiara” when Alexis Pittman and close friends joined together in a

one- bedroom West Hollywood apartment to hold a farcical beauty pageant (a la Miss America). Fundraising for Aid for AIDS, a program of Alliance for Housing and Healing, began in 1991 when Alexis collected $400 from those who had gathered for the raucous annual contest. In 2003, the event was re-christened “Best in Drag Show” and has since found a wonderful home at The Orpheum Theatre in downtown Los Angeles.

As it matured from its living-room roots, the event has maintained its kind heart – a fundraiser for those who are struggling with HIV/AIDS and poverty.

This year The Best in Drag Show received unprecedented support from many generous sponsors including our Diamond Diva Presenting Sponsor Dr. Mark Honzel. Other wonderful donors included:

BIDS-Stats

 

 

 

 

 

  • Bikram Yoga College of India
  • Denis Cagna and Carlos Medina
  • Jimmy Cuomo
  • The Edison Downtown
  • Lisa Field
  • Craig Fisse and Michael Patrick King
  • Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas
  • Kevin Huvane
  • Erik Hyman and Max Mutchnick
  • Barbara Jacobs
  • Kathy Kinney
  • Steven Levy and William Neil, Jr.
  • Klean West Hollywood
  • Jody Maroni’s Sausage Kingdom
  • John Kowalczyk DO
  • Kraut Law Group
  • Dr. James Lee
  • Andrew Meieran
  • Robert Murphy
  • Mutual of America
  • Rich Hippie Productions
  • Skechers

Many, many thanks to the ticket buyers, donors, sponsors, cast and crew for a successful Best in Drag Show. Every sequin made a difference!

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Celebs and Drag Queens Collide for “Best in Drag”

October 7, 2013 by admin

omg! Insider

2013 Winner Vava Fanculo. Photo courtesy of JPI Studios.

2013 Winner Vava Fanculo. Photo courtesy of JPI Studios.

 

 

 

Click here to watch Keltie Knight of omg! Insider backstage at the Best in Drag Show

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What a drag! Melanie Griffiths keeps it simple in black suit and trainers at charity drag contest in Los Angeles

October 7, 2013 by admin

The Daily Mail UK

Click here to read the article on the Daily Mail website

article-0-1892D99B00000578-67_634x861She has worn countless designer dresses at various ceremonies throughout her career, so it’s fitting that Melanie Griffiths should support a drag contest in Los Angeles, California.

The Working Girl star, who is married to Antonio Banderas, looked fresh-faced as she arrived at the 11th Annual Best In Drag Show at Hollywood’s Orpheum Theatre, last night.

Wearing a simple black suit with a white scoop-necked T-shirt, the 56 year-old clearly didn’t want to steal any of the limelight from the evening’s glamorous contestants.

 Completing her look with cumbersome black trainers and just a flash of make-up, she kept her hair simple with a casual ponytail.The AIDS fundraiser, an elaborate drag pageant featuring amateur performers, raises money for LA charity Aid for AIDS.Now more than a decade old, it evolved from a small event in a private apartment in 1989.

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Battle Royale

October 5, 2013 by admin

Out Magazine

by Matthew Breen

Click here to read the article on the Out Magazine website

BIDS4On Sunday, the battle for the tiara resumes at LA’s outrageous Best in Drag Show.

The often ridiculous, routinely offensive, always entertaining, and long-running drag competition, Best in Drag Show, pits elaborate costumes up against wicked wit. But no holds are barred when drag queens want a crown. And each year, the hair seems to get a bit bigger. The over-the-top annual event, a fundraiser for Aid For AIDS, has raised over $3 million since 2003, and the money goes to the non-profit throughout Los Angeles County to prevent homelessness and hunger for men, women, children and families with HIV/AIDS.

For its 11th anniversary event, Melanie Griffith (Working Girl), Dot Jones (Glee), Holland Taylor (Two and A Half Men), Mireille Enos (The Killing), Alan Ruck (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off), Bellamy Young (Scandal), and Kathy Kinney (The Secret Life of the American Teenager) have all joined the panel of celebrity judges.

The 2013 contestants include Sash Carl (Miss California: Beverly Center), D’Nez Westmoreland (Miss Michigan: Electra Caprice Riviera), Stephen Molinaro (Miss New Jersey: Vava Fanculo), Mike Cativo (Miss Puerto Rico: Mimi E), Dajuan Powns (Miss Washington DC: Ciera Lyon), and Aron Ross (Miss Wisconsin: Misty O’Portunity).

Best in Drag Show is this Sunday, October 6, 2013 at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. To purchase tickets go to BestInDragShow.org.

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The Queens from “Best in Drag” raise money for L.A. AIDS Charity

October 4, 2013 by admin

Queerty

by Les Fabian Brathwaite

Click here to read the story on the Queerty website

BEST-IN-DRAG-PHOTOSHOOT-15-509x670What originally started as a small group of friends in a West Hollywood living room in 1989 has grown into an annual tongue-in-cheek beauty pageant raising money to support those living with AIDS.

Then called Battle for the Tiara, the event raised $400, collected from twenty people. Today, Best in Drag has raised over $3 million since its current incarnation in 2003 for Aid for AIDS — a non-profit helping to prevent homelessness and hunger for men, women, children and families with HIV/AIDS in Los Angeles County.

“Behind the sparkles, spangles, and spandex is a great cause,” said Terry Goddard II, Executive Director of Alliance for Housing and Healing, “providing housing and food for those who are devastated with HIV/AIDS and poverty.”

The 2013 contestants include Miss California, Beverly Center; Miss Michigan, Electra Caprice Riviera; Miss New Jersey, Vava Fanculo; Miss Puerto Rico, Mimi E; Miss Washington, D.C., Ciera Lyon; Miss Wisconsin, Misty O’Portunity. With all that shtick flying we hope everyone’s well tucked.

Celebrity judges include Emmy Award winner Holland Taylor (Two and A Half Men), Golden Globe nominee Mireille Enos (The Killing), Alan Ruck (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off), Bellamy Young (Scandal), and Kathy Kinney (The Secret Life of the American Teenager).

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