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Community Building Advocates (CBA), address the issues of access to quality healthcare through empowering people who are affected by HIV and living with it, to learn to advocate for themselves. They work to influence the decisions of providers, funding agencies, researchers, community partners and policy makers, on the local, state, and federal level. Because many find themselves underrepresented in the decision-making institutions, of boards of directors, it is reminiscent of the earliest days of the virus. Yet they have the knowledge, experience, and wisdom to make a meaningful contribution to the discussions and programs affecting their lives. This requires long-term survivors to speak up and demand a seat at the table. Not just an advisory board for show, but meaningful inclusion about matters related to their lives.

“With courage and compassion, we survived the darkest days of the plague. Without access to effective treatments, we were forced to rely on each other and ourselves. As individuals and community, we exhibited strength we didn’t know we had. Now let’s all come together again to face the challenges of midlife and aging to envision our future.”

Tez Anderson – an award-winning, nationally recognized HIV Long-Term Survivor activist, writer, and speaker who focuses on HIV Long-Term Survivors Aging with HIV. Tez has been living with HIV since 1983.