Announcement: We're Changing Our Name

As of this week, we will now be the Dorothy Mann Center for Pediatric and Adolescent HIV. Formal announcements will be made at the Family Planning Council's Annual Luncheon to be held on Wednesday, April 21st and at the AIDS Activities Coordinating Office (AACO)'s Executive Director's Meeting tomorrow. There's a lovely article in the Philadelphia Inquirer about Dorothy to learn more about her. What's not mentioned in this article is how instrumental Dorothy was in ensuring the inclusion of dedicated funding for women and children in the Ryan White CARE Act (Part D). We are thrilled that Dorothy is lending us her name for our center.

Collaborator of the Week: The Village

The Village of Arts and Humanities (The Village) is a multifaceted arts organization dedicated to community revitalization through the arts. The need for a new urban landscape in 1986, spawned the Village of North Philadelphia. Started originally as a small neighborhood park project, it has grown to offer a menu of services including: the Village Arts Challenge, Teen Leadership Corps, and an annual theater production. They have a great website, so check it out for more information and a schedule of upcoming events.
We had the good fortune to be able to go there this week to do an educational presentation on HIV. The teens had a great conversation with our staff about whether or not someone with HIV should disclose their status to their partner. Become a fan of theirs on Facebook.

Please vote for us to continue our GED/Literacy Program

This year we have been able to fund an informal program to provide homework tutoring and prep for taking a GED course for our teens. Our part-time tutor, Ritz Alvarez, is leaving for a Pediatrics Residency, but we would like to continue the program. Voting for this program through Pepsi would provide us with enough funds to hire a part-time teach and instructional materials.
Many of the teens in our program need an educational boost before they are ready to start a GED program, so this this program provides individualized learning plans to help them prepare and to build confidence.