WHO BENEFITS

GMHC is the primary beneficiary of AIDS Walk New York.

Who Benefits: GMHC & Community Partners

GMHC is the primary beneficiary of AIDS Walk New York. Yet, through the AIDS Walk New York Community Partnership Program, the event also supports our fellow AIDS service, social justice, and public health organizations in the tri-state area. GMHC launched this unique initiative in 1996 to invite our partners to form AIDS Walk New York teams and fundraise for their own organizations.

The Community Partnership Program provides allied community-based organizations access to the powerful AIDS Walk New York infrastructure to coordinate corporate and community support. GMHC and our partner organizations have raised $170 million to support lifesaving services for people living with and affected by HIV and AIDS since AIDS Walk New York started in 1986.

About GMHC

GMHC is the world’s first HIV and AIDS service organization. We provide care services and prevention programs, wraparound supportive care, education, and advocacy to thousands of people living with and affected by HIV and AIDS in New York City. GMHC continues to be on the front lines caring for people who are both HIV negative and positive.

Founded as Gay Men’s Health Crisis in 1982, GMHC was born in the early days of the AIDS crisis when our government and civil society turned their backs on people living with HIV and AIDS. In this fraught political climate, we are dedicated anew to fighting AIDS denialism and as well as HIV and AIDS stigma. We will keep advocating for the funding, public policy, and legislation that our clients and communities need, at the local, state, and national levels.

For over four decades – and counting – we have not shied away from the culture wars and other epidemics that have affected the communities we serve. Our dedicated staff, volunteers, supporters, and donors are regular folks doing extraordinary work.

As the HIV and AIDS epidemic has evolved, GMHC has led the way in responding to clients’ complex needs. Amid a national housing crisis, stable housing is the top need reported to staff by GMHC’s clients living with HIV. It is also a pressing need for long-term survivors who have been living with HIV and AIDS for ten years or more. GMHC has responded by providing supportive housing to nearly 300 clients, most of whom are living with HIV.

No matter what the future holds, GMHC will be here to serve. We will continue to provide HIV/STI testing, housing, food, mental health and substance use services, health care navigation, PrEP connection, legal and immigration support, workforce training — and more— in a safe and non-judgmental space for all who need it.

A Client Perspective

One longtime client, Tony Lopez, shared his thoughts on what GMHC does. Tony came to GMHC when he was feeling isolated from grieving his partner’s death. “It’s a place where you can find the people you need,” he says. Through therapeutic support groups and lunches in our dining room, Tony started meeting people and sharing experiences. “It brought me out of my shell,” he says. “There’s always part of me, when dealing with family, that has to remain quiet. Here, I can open up fully, without the fear of being judged.”

Tony adds that some may think GMHC is just for gay men or people living with HIV. “It’s a lot more than that. They cater to people who are looking for help and acceptance. Whatever people need, if GMHC can provide it, they do.”

GMHC’S Origins

In 1981, dozens of gay men crowded into writer and activist Larry Kramer’s Greenwich Village living room to raise money for medical research into the mysterious new disease, known only then as the “gay cancer,” causing their friends and loved ones to become terribly sick and die. Kramer called the meeting in the face of government inaction and public indifference to the growing epidemic. At that time, AIDS had not yet been named and its cause, the HIV virus, had not been discovered.

From that informal gathering, Kramer went on to found GMHC with Nathan Fain, Larry Mass, Paul Popham, Paul Rapoport, and Edmund White in 1982. An answering machine in the home of volunteer Rodger McFarlane acted as the world’s first AIDS hotline—receiving over 100 calls the first night. Today, GMHC continues to pioneer services for people living with and affected by HIV and AIDS.

New Challenges

As we head into one of the most uncertain times our community has ever faced, we are facing new financial and political challenges – from threats of budget cuts for our lifesaving programs to healthcare access for our clients. We have been here before, and we are undeterred.

The unwavering commitment of our community shines through in the inspiring support for AIDS Walk New York. All of the funds raised fuel GMHC’s mission — to end the AIDS epidemic and uplift the lives of all affected. Your support for AIDS Walk New York ensures that while times may change, the people you help GMHC to serve will always have a safe haven.