 So I'm not supposed to be talking so I'm gonna sit down. What I want to do is introduce you to the Councilwoman for District 7. That's the very district we're sitting in. Without further ado, to read our city proclamation, I give you Councilwoman Sandoval. Good evening, everyone. And I thank you very much for this honor, Michelle. We spoke about it yesterday on the steps of City Hall and I'm so glad that you had this opportunity, this little speaking part that I could take in today's very important event. I also want to thank Pastor Joseph for being so welcoming and having us here at his facility. And I must also thank one other person who's on stage behind me. He's actually my Chief of Staff and he's in the Live Oak Singers. That's Joe over there who did that. Which means you might be rushing Joe for constituent concerns at the end of this whole event. It happens to me. I am extremely proud to read this proclamation. We are now officially part of the Fast Track Cities here in San Antonio. We are the first one in Texas. So we're, yeah. And I also want to, before I forget, congratulate Michelle and beat AIDS for your 30th anniversary and for the work that you have. Signed by our Mayor Ron Nirenberg but I will read it using my own voice so I can't imitate him very well. Say the proclamation. Whereas the San Antonio World AIDS Day Collaborative will observe World AIDS Day and host its annual Gathering of Remembrance and Hope event at the Living Church at Woodlawn Point on December 1st, 2017, to honor the memory of the individuals who lost their lives to HIV and AIDS. And to show support for those who are still striving. And whereas an estimated 36.5% to 37 million people worldwide are living with HIV, making it one of the most important global public health issues in recorded history. And whereas despite recent improved access to antiretroviral treatment in many regions of the world, the AIDS epidemic claims an estimated two million lives each year of which nearly 270,000 are children. And whereas the collaborative, comprised of local community-based and AIDS service organizations, faith-based institutions and public leaders to address the devastating impact of HIV AIDS in the community. And, last whereas, education of HIV AIDS helps reduce the stigma surrounding the disease and decreases its spread, while knowledge promotes responsible behavior and protects our families and society. Now, therefore, I, Ron Nirenberg, Mayor of the City of San Antonio, in recognition thereof, do hereby proclaim December 1st, 2017 to be World AIDS Day in San Antonio. Thank you. If you see this in your faith tradition to pray, like it is ours, then we invite you to pray with us. If it is not in your faith tradition to pray, then we invite you to meditate. If that's not part of your faith tradition, then we invite you to sit quietly, close your eyes, and send good thoughts. Our way. Would you join us, please? Heavenly Creator, do us of all good. Thank you for the opportunity for us to come together this day, people from all over the world. This day, friends, this day of life, this day of hope. We ask for your comfort as we remember our love that we were taken too young. We ask for your comfort, even if it's not one of our challenges, we may not limit or may not remind each of us here today and prepare us for how far we have to go. The light and the truth of all that is right since we pray. And everybody said, hey man. Welcome to the universe. It's coalition and trust staff. One of them is currently in the hospital and so he asked to be present with us at the service by video. For our senior counselor, as previously the director made services in Corpus Christi, Texas. And he is substance abuse, Rival Eye Counselor with EDAs. And I asked him two questions if he could give an overview of how aid services have changed toward people in the last 30 years. And so Andy McFall is present with us here on video. And many people had no idea that they had a disease until it started to show on their body somewhere, whether they would be composing some coma lesions or losing a regular weight, something like that. In those days, there were no medications that had been possibly AZT if you know. So we had to help people as counselors both with immediate needs like let's file the claim for insurance for the mortgage. Let's make sure that we have as much in order with your friends and family as we can how to divide the day in things that must be done versus things that we can do just to relax. If there is anything I could recommend to counselors and to patients during that type of crisis, it is hold on to things that are timeless and meaningful. When the city of Sarajevo was under attack in the Balkan Wars about 20 years ago, I'm told that the symphony of that city, even though there was no electricity, water was erratic, buildings had been bombed out, that they got together and decided to take on the trial of the most difficult Mozart pieces they could find. Something they would not particularly enjoy during the regular session but during a time of crisis, they had to have faith that the music would be beautiful and that it would be worth their efforts. So I would recommend something like that. Also, I went to the Luis Hay Groups which were guiding meditations for people with HIV and the groups were kind enough to let those of us who work and people joined them also because we were exposed to the effects of HIV in the Balkan War. A second era began whenever HIV test became valid, sometime in the mid to late ages. And at that point, people could know if they were HIV positive early, before there were any outward signs. This had some disadvantages in that people could be very healthy working and yet be HIV positive. And when that happens, it's not so hard to look in the mirror and say, well, what was the piece of paper say? Look at me, I don't know if it, I don't have it. And that becomes a belief. So there were people in those days who technically knew they had HIV, but emotionally they did not know and they could not make a life with that logic. So if you ask them, have you been tested? Are you negative? They could say yes and yes and it may not be true. But they're not intentionally lying as much as they're just not able to face the information that they did receive. During these times, the focus for people with HIV switched to relationships. You might have had two people who were partners for five years. Then you find out one is positive and the other is negative. You might have people who meet and sorry they want to date and then find out that one is positive and one is negative. For the person who's negative, they could say things like, well, what do I do now if I date this person and we're just friends, you're not really in love. And then he becomes sick. What do I do? How much devotion do I owe them or this relationship if we're just pals with benefits versus if I can't say to him, oh, now you're sick. Well, I'm gone and see that beer, the thing he always would do. So there were many challenges that came out once the test for HIV antibodies appeared also. The third epic, if you want, began about 20 years ago with the advent of multidrug therapies. This concept is borrowed from tuberculosis control where multiple drugs have been used, bacteriosodals and bacteriostatics over this time period. But what's interesting is the shifts in population. Many of the people who responded very well to multiple drug therapy have reintegrated into almost all of their lives. They've gone back to work. They are in love, they see a future. For them, things are brighter than they have ever been in HIV disease for 30 years. The difficulty is at the same time HIV becomes a disease of secondary status. What we have found in the last 15 to 20 years is that many people who become lucid positive have some factor in their life that makes it difficult for them to remain HIV native. It could be active drug addiction, homelessness, susceptibility to attack, alcoholism, all these different things can come into a person's life. And there are groups that you can identify and say members of this group overwhelmingly are HIV positive by age 30. That means that our current education on HIV prevention and avoidance is not adequate for them. They will come in to be tested and we ask them how do you think you might be positive? And they'll say, oh, I shared a needle, oh, I had unprotected sex, oh, I knew someone had it, but I didn't think I'd get it all these different ways. So knowledge is not power with this third group of people. However, there is power there. Human beings change something as primal as our sexual expression, only if we have a future worth protecting. One of the old saying is, HIV always transmits an abacus and HIV never transmits an abacus. Scientifically, it has to have an anaerobic environment, which it does, and that's how it gets from one body into the other directly. Socially, these days, many people who find themselves diagnosed with HIV have other issues that surround them, that make life difficult for them in many ways. My personal belief is that if we are going to be successful in the fight against the spread of HIV, that we have to look beyond safer sex techniques and start looking at what will make life wonderful for the people who we are trying to serve. Thank you for this opportunity. It's a pleasure. My heartfelt appreciation to everyone in the field of HIV work, everyone who has HIV and has gone out of their way to carry the message of avoidance to all the people who are family members, loved ones, friends, and neighbors. Thank you for this opportunity. Thank you, Mr. Handy. It's an honor. So we have with us some of our other workers on the continuum of cater. Mr. Handy was a counselor who deals with people after they have already identified when we have a tester here. I'm going to talk a little bit about it. So could you just give us a few words about what it is like to be a tester? How is it easy or satisfying to do that work and what it is hard to tell people about it? As Catherine said, my name is Berlio Jose. But as Berlio, I am the supervisor. I'm one of the testing aspects of HIV AIDS. And we go, so I go out into the community and we approach people that way. Testing is a very serious thing that we encourage people to do because testing allows you to know or allows you to keep track of whether you are healthy. And not only do we do just HIV testing, but we also do sickness and hep C. Now these are all three, of course. And there are very easy tests. All it takes is between five to 20 minutes. You'll get two results right there. And you'll walk away knowing your status with each of those tests that we have. It's very, very imperative that we do get people to come and get tested because, as Mr. Handy's saying, we are now a fast-track city and we are trying to get the San Antonio to be 90, 90, 90. Which means 90% of the people in San Antonio know their status. And the HIV positive person myself, I know that if I would have gotten tested, I probably would have been one of these names that was said here today. So once someone, whether they are previously diagnosed or they are newly diagnosed with HIV, once they come into our organization, one of the things that we do is that we link them to one of our fabulous linkage specialist that we have on our payroll. And so I'm going to introduce our next speaker, Sylvia DeSanto. This is for two ways we're hitting this epidemic. And one of them is through PrEP. And the other one is through getting people tested and getting them into care. My role as a linkage specialist means that I will take a person and personally deliver them to the doctor and sit there with them to ask any questions with the doctor that they may have to allay some of their fears while they're there. We don't give a person a result and leave them on their own. It's very important that people are very afraid for the first few days that they know that they have HIV and for a little longer after that. And so if they're not to walk to the doctor many times, they're going to walk out. So that is my role and it predates and Ms. Durham have been gracious enough to let me spend all the time that I need with those clients to make sure that they make that first visit and even their second and third visits. I just want to say that a lot of people out here have assist other than the staff that I've worked with which has been great in referring to people to back to care. I've also worked with the community in bringing people back into care. Gracious enough to bring in people and say, listen, this person needs help. Please help them. And that's what I do. I'm not going to not be able to get all of us to status that's un-detectable. I'm going to work with anybody and everybody that I have to to make that happen. So as I talk to many women, especially the women, because the women have a harder time getting into care and particularly staying in care, one of the things I tell them is if you've ever been on an airplane, kind of always says put the mask on yourself first. And as women, we forget to do that many times. We don't take care of ourselves. We're busy taking care of our children or other things that we don't take care of ourselves. But we need to take care of ourselves. And so for any of the women out here, particularly in the audience, who know someone that isn't in care, that doesn't want to go into care, that may be afraid of what that entails, prove them to be dates and let one of our linkage specialists, especially the fabulous Sylvia, as we have said. And let us link them, let us link them, let us talk to them. Maybe there's barriers that they don't even want to share with you, the stigma of HIV is still very real. And they may not want to share that, even though they've shared their diagnosis, when you bring them to us, let us talk to them personally one-on-one. Everything is confidential. Once I get them into the care room, we get them rolling on what they need to do and they're with their doctors. We link them to case management for well-rounded services so that they get everything they need. And one of our case managers is here tonight and her name is Latoya and she's been explained to you what happens after I've sent it off her way. So case management is about maintenance. It's about maintaining your healthcare. It's about maintaining your medication, maintaining housing. A lot of people that will keep people from staying in care, sometimes, how am I gonna pay for my medication? How, what about addiction? So that's what case management is for, is to help meet any kind of barriers that you have that would not allow you to go to, that would not allow you to stay in care. We need transportation, we can offer bus passes, ref roads, for rides. If you speak Spanish, B&A's has translators. So we're able to, like they said before, to be well-rounded, to be able to meet the crowd where they are and to ensure their care. We need care. And we really go the extra mile. So the following song is Go the Distant. Thank you to all the heroes and the aid service work that's out there in this community now. So I wanna thank some of our partners, especially the Instigma and HIV Alliance, which is made up of the city of San Antonio, University Health System, L. O. Gary Resource Center, San Antonio AIDS Foundation, will head us to NIDIS, Central Med, organizations. The deltas are here tonight, my sorrows, thank you for being here. That's why I pledge delta because deltas care. All these churches, thank you so much to this church. I know I don't get the mic anymore, so I have to say that right now. Thank you. Get it to a man. At least you do have a lot of that yet, both that and that for happening. What? Yes. You've been evicted? Good one. Only you're having private problems. So what's really going on? Here's what you mean you've lost your job. So confused right now and you say it. So please, open this list. The winning for us need to think. I need to think all I can with you. That's fine. I met your dad when I was 22. Love the church. Those were the best years of my life. For six years, it's my time to leave. My God. I can't keep animals. It says, don't fear. If God's in action. Remember, trials, trauma, and tragedy. All the things we have, the relationships, all the violence, the woes, all the doctors, the courts, the taint, all the things that shake us. But God keep pushing us forward in spite of all those 13 and 15 problems, the whole covering us in our heads. You know, God changes things. Hey, dad. Girl, I am so lucky that after nine, we have been forced to church together. We've been praying together. We're really working on splitting up there. You know, the prayer. So maybe it's hot. Yeah, but I took them with adventures. We knew up, but we didn't get to chase you. So I thought I'd help you out. And I made up my mind. Shelfing me to see that all things work together for good. Build that love. I want this whole world to share my testimony. We are going to go back to all of you. We're going to turn to it. We have a very beautiful rendition of I Will Survive. And then we're going to be led by the Delta. It's out to form a procession. So be ready. Once this survival song is done, the protective team, please follow the leaders. Outdoors, you'll be given candles. And then once you get out of the doors, a place for us all to stand. And then eventually you'll be given an instruction what to do with your candles. So be ready for all of that as we all survive through this together. Thank you. So I asked me to let you all know that Christmas Carol here tonight and all tickets will be $5 for anybody in attendance here. So if you want to stay here and play, that's at 8.30. Or you want to go get something to eat and come back and be in Christmas spirit. And right until 10 that you want to just keep in the cozy room and never leave this place again. All right. I know that one. I'll reach that. All right. Can you bring that up a little bit? Very insistent, but hopefully after they settle. Put this on that side of you. It needs to be here. All right. All right, thank you. Thank you. Come on, you better sit down. The red ribbon of HIV solidarity. In a moment, you'll be asked to lift up your candles and place them down where you see a red line on the sidewalk. But first, Pastor Knight will have some words for us. On this World AIDS Day and every day, let us remember those lives lost to an epidemic that tore in our hearts, ravaged our communities, but could not steal our love for each other. We're held in the web of life that is often torn and sometimes bleeding, but always healing. There's our strength. Our precious life proceeds from love, the very ground on which we walk together. On this World AIDS Day, let us each do what we can so that this ongoing health crisis will not continue to grow in grief and sorrow, but will be met and overcome by the power of love. We know that each and every human life is precious in God's sight. And so on this World's Day and every day, let us not only remember our sisters and brothers dealing with the virus, but let us reach out to all of those who are marginalized and demonized by the virus. Let us reach out with a message of love and a message of hope. On this World AIDS Day and every day, may this light that we light so brightly here tonight, the light of hope, the light of love, the light of peace and joy shine brightly here in San Antonio, in Texas, around our nation, and throughout the world, in all of the many holy and precious names of that which we worship and adore. We say let it be so. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Christ will come forward and place your red handle on the line of scene. Close up to this room. No, I'm going to stay right there.