Rick Otterbien, the legislative director for the Michigan Positive Action Coaltion, has sent out a notice for a meeting with people interested in HIV/AIDS prevention services in Grand Rapids. The meeting, scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Sunday, June 29, at the Meanwhile Bar, 1005 Wealthy St. in Grand Rapids, is to strategize how to meet the needs of the HIV/AIDS community and fund prevention services.

The meeting is born, Otterbien said, from what he said was the silencing of the private, non-profit community group HIV/AIDS Services.

“We don’t know if the grant [for needle exchange] has been reapplied for by HIV/AIDS Services,” Otterbien said.  “[The agency has] no adminstrative staff… They didn’t even bother to do the Auction against AIDS, which had been their largest fundraiser. We are really concerned about that agency; it’s just quite bothersome. Especially for us folks who helped get that program up and working.”

But HIV/AIDS Services Board President Ruth Olsson said she was surprised by the meeting, and the criticisms.

“We are in the process of doing all that [reapplying for the needle exchange grant]. We do have administrative persons in place. We are looking for a program manager,” Olsson said. “We are really, really committed to our clients. It’s a comprehensive harm-reduction program, not just a needle-exchange program.”

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 Olsson said the auction did not happen because the owners of the Apartment Bar in Grand Rapids, who had always run the program in the past, had decided not to do it this year. She said the organization was disappointed by the owners’ decision, but respected and thanked them for all their past work.

Otterbien also said the HIV/AIDS Services Board was turning people away from the board.

“They won’t tell us what is going on, and they are turning away people with experience,” Otterbien said. “I am, like, what is that all about? And they were like, ‘We just don’t need their type of help anymore’.”

Olsson contested Otterbien’s claims. “I don’t know of anyone turned away. We just added two new board members,” she said. “It is such a surprise to me, especially if they represent a demographic we are seeking to serve.”

Olsson said she might attend the Sunday night event, if it was appropriate.

“I think what pains me is to think that there would be any division among us when we all want to stop the spread of HIV in our community. The board’s goal is to work together and not fight each other,” Olsson said.

Cross-posted at Between the Lines’ Pridesource site.