Several
local
HIV
and
AIDS
providers
who
serve
women
and
people
of
color
wrote
a
letter
to
Mayor
Anthony
Williams
in
early
July
criticizing
what
they
called
unequal
and
haphazard
funding
by
the
city.
Specifically,
the
providers
ask
how
the
District
quickly
found
funds
to
salvage
Whitman-Walker
Clinic
after
their
agencies
were
denied
additional
dollars.
They
call
into
question
an
award
and
bailout
process
that,
they
charge,
is
marked
by
a
“lack
of
openness
and
disclosure.”
In
June,
the
mayor
pledged
to
disburse
$2.2
million
in
city
funds
to
Whitman-Walker
after
the
Clinic
announced
it
would
have
to
cut
back
on
services.
The
Blade
reported
at
the
time
that
Councilmember
David
Catania
(I-At
large)
told
the
council
that
the
$2.2
million
would
come
from
unspent
HAA
funds
and
the
addiction
administration.
The
providers
who
authored
the
July
letter
say
the
funding
process
is
indicative
of
a
larger
problem
—
that
the
District
lacks
a
comprehensive
plan
for
its
HIV/AIDS
crisis,
one
of
the
worst
in
the
country.
Their
criticisms
were
echoed
by
a
report
released
this
week
by
the
D.C.
Appleseed
Center
for
Law
&
Justice,
conducted
at
the
request
of
the
Washington
AIDS
Partnership
and
with
the
support
of
Mayor
Williams.
“While
we
do
not
question
the
contributions
of
Whitman-Walker
Clinic
in
our
community,
nor
their
need
at
this
time,
we
are
very
alarmed
at
the
unfairness
of
a
process
in
which
a
single
provider
can
be
assisted
while
other
providers
in
need
do
not
have
access
to
this
assistance,”
the
representatives
of
10
agencies,
including
La
Clinica
del
Pueblo,
the
Women’s
Collective,
Us
Helping
Us
and
the
Abundant
Life
Clinic,
argue
in
the
letter.
The
missive,
which
was
also
delivered
to
members
of
the
council,
requests
a
meeting
with
Williams
and
the
council.
“Our
primary
concern
is
a
standard
process,”
said
Mary
Hughes,
executive
director
of
RIGHT
Inc.,
which
provides
housing
assistance
and
case
management
to
people
with
HIV/AIDS.
“We
feel
that
if
the
city
is
setting
one
precedent
of
giving
to
one
organization
as
opposed
to
assisting
other
organizations,
we
feel
that
is
a
very
unfair
process.
My
primary
concern
is
that
a
standard
and
fair
process
is
put
in
place,”
she
said.
Kim
Mills,
director
of
communications
for
Whitman-Walker,
was
provided
a
copy
of
the
letter
by
the
Blade,
and
pointed
out
in
response
that
“the
bill
that
authorized
the
funding
was
presented
in
an
open
forum
and
passed
by
the
council.”
“Whitman-Walker
is
very
grateful
for
the
City
Council
and
the
mayor
for
the
emergency
assistance,”
Mills
said.
“There
are
other
providers
who
need
assistance.
The
letter
speaks
to
the
fact
that
the
government
needs
to
provide
adequate
funding
to
fight
this
epidemic.”
D.C.
Councilmember
Jim
Graham
(D-Ward
1)
was
not
available
for
comment
but
did
write
the
mayor
to
tell
him
he
would
like
to
attend
the
meeting
with
the
letter’s
signers.
Graham’s
spokesperson,
Kimberley
Johnson,
was
confident
the
meeting
would
occur
once
the
summer
recess
is
over.
So
far,
the
letter’s
authors
say,
the
mayor
has
not
responded.
The
mayor’s
spokesperson,
Sharon
Gang,
told
the
Blade
that
the
director
of
the
Department
of
Health
and
the
deputy
mayor
for
Children,
Youth,
Family
&
Elders
are
working
on
a
written
response.
Gang
said
she
was
not
sure
if
the
mayor
would
meet
with
the
letter’s
authors.
The
providers
who
reached
out
to
the
mayor
say
it
is
urgent
that
the
District’s
leaders
intervene.
Patricia
Nalls,
executive
director
and
founder
of
the
Women’s
Collective,
said
that
her
agency
is
picking
up
many
of
Whitman-Walker’s
clients
without
any
additional
assistance.
“We’re
doing
above
and
beyond
with
less
money,”
she
said.
Whitman-Walker,
which
is
located
around
the
corner
from
the
Women’s
Collective,
is
referring
people
for
HIV/AIDS
testing,
case
management,
boxes
of
condoms
and
for
some
services
they
don’t
even
provide,
Nalls
said.
The
District
hasn’t
helped
either,
she
said.
While
the
council
bailed
out
Whitman-Walker
with
$2.2
million,
HAA
denied
a
request
from
the
Women’s
Collective
for
as
much
as
$60,000
to
hire
another
case
manager,
Nalls
said.
She
added
that
they
are
serving
50
more
families
than
they
are
funded
to
do.
Nalls
did
not
provide
the
Blade
with
a
copy
of
her
request
to
HAA
and
said
it
was
denied
by
phone.
“We
go
through
the
correct
channels,
and
we
get
nowhere,”
she
said.
“We
know
the
process
as
it
works
—
go
to
HAA.
Bypassing
that
process,
it’s
wrong.
If
that
is
an
option,
we
all
need
to
know
what
it
is.”
Nalls
says
that
favoritism
and
conflicts
of
interest
are
tainting
the
funding
process.
For
instance,
she
pointed
out,
Graham
is
Whitman
Walker’s
former
executive
director
and
Carol
Schwartz
(R-At-large)
is
a
longtime
Clinic
board
member.
The
District
does
not
recognize
other
agencies’
unique
role
in
serving
different
populations
with
HIV/AIDS,
Nalls
said.
Providers
like
the
Women’s
Collective
stepped
in
because
they
felt
that
Whitman
Walker
was
not
properly
caring
for
people
of
color,
she
explained.
“No
one
can
serve
everyone,”
she
said.
Ron
Simmons,
president
and
CEO
of
Us
Helping
Us,
which
primarily
works
with
gay
and
bisexual
men
of
color,
echoes
Nalls’
frustrations
with
an
arbitrary
and
opaque
awards
process.
“Earlier
this
year,
groups
were
begging
for
money
and
were
told
by
the
city
no,”
he
said.
That
led
to
some
angry
reactions
when
the
mayor
announced
a
bailout
for
Whitman-Walker.
“Where
did
this
money
come
from?
What
process
was
used?”
Simmons
asked.
D.C.’s
funding
to
Us
Helping
Us
was
cut
in
January
from
about
$400,000
to
$75,000,
he
said.
The
cuts
have
forced
Us
Helping
Us
to
eliminate
one
case
manager
and
virtually
stop
its
outreach
in
clubs
and
on
the
streets,
he
said.
...
