THE ASPIRE BLOG

World AIDS Day, designated on December 1 every year since 1988, is an annual event that serves as a reminder to us to remain committed to preventing new HIV infections and provide essential services to all people living with HIV globally.

“World AIDS Day is a time to remember and acknowledge those people who have lost their lives as well as a time of support for those who are still living with HIV,” says Aspire Team HOPE Director Julie Foltz. 

Foltz’s team at Aspire, Team HOPE (Health, Outreach, Prevention and Education), has its roots in HIV care coordination. When Foltz started with Aspire in 2000, her role was focused on providing individuals living with HIV in a seven-county area with care management and support, including housing, insurance, transportation to and from medical appointments and other resources.

Shortly after in 2004, the first “prevention” part of the program was added in, which included testing for both HIV and Hepatitis C (HCV), as risk factors are often the same for both.

Then, in 2016, Team HOPE’s services expanded further to include PrEP Navigation, which provides education and case management support to clients about Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP). According to HIV.gov, PrEP is a medicine people at risk for HIV take to prevent getting HIV from sexual contact.

“If PrEP is taken as prescribed, it can reduce the risk of contracting HIV through sex by about 99 percent,” Foltz says. “And it can reduce the risk of contracting HIV from injection drug use by around 75 percent.”

The Harm Reduction Program, now called Point of Entry, began in 2018, and then syphilis testing began in 2023 because of the significant increase in syphilis cases in the United States. In addition, Team HOPE also provides HCV care coordination, linking clients to educational resources as well as medical care and following up with them through their course of treatment.

What began in 2000 with providing 12 clients HIV care coordination and case management has now evolved and expanded to treating hundreds of clients in 32 counties throughout Indiana.

Addressing and Reducing Stigma

“If you look back at the story of Ryan White in the 1980s and how he faced such discrimination because he had AIDS, it was because people acted out of fear and didn’t know about AIDS and how it was transmitted,” Foltz says. “We are more educated about it today, but that doesn’t mean all the stigma around HIV has gone away. If you look at some of Indiana’s laws today, they still perpetuate stigma.”

The HIV Modernization Movement-Indiana (HMM) seeks to modernize Indiana’s HIV criminal and related public health laws. According to their website, these laws — both deeply outdated and lacking in scientific merit — lead to unfair prosecutions, stigmatize Hoosiers living with HIV and are counterproductive to ending the Indiana HIV epidemic.

“If someone living with HIV is engaged in medical care and taking their medications regularly as prescribed, they can become virally suppressed — or undetectable, which means they can’t transmit HIV to another person through sexual contact.” 

U=U (Undetectable = Untransmittable) is a community-led global health and human rights movement that simplifies the science to this lifesaving message: A person living with HIV who is on treatment and maintains an undetectable viral load has zero risk of transmitting HIV to their sexual partners.

“In order to start reducing stigma, people need to be educated,” Foltz says. “We fear what we don’t know, and that fear perpetuates stigma. I wish more people would ask questions and do research from reliable sources, as opposed to social media and other news sources that are less trustworthy.”

She also stresses the importance of knowing what we say — and how we say it — matters.

“The words we use matter so much in addressing and reducing stigma,” she says. “One simple thing is to use person-centered language. Instead of saying ‘this person is HIV positive,’ say ‘this person living with HIV.’ A person is so much more than their virus, condition or disorder.”

Having HOPE for the Future

Previously called the Infectious Disease Team at Aspire, Team HOPE serves the community in a number of different ways through Health, Outreach, Prevention and Education — ensuring Aspire’s comprehensive and compassionate services are rendered in a safe, secure and non-judgmental environment.

“We strive to support our clients in achieving their optimal health outcomes,” Foltz says. The case management and navigation programs help to locate, facilitate access to and monitor the full range of HIV-related or HCV-related services in cooperation with the client.

In addition to healthcare management and care coordination, Foltz and her team provide outreach support, both through community outreach events and resource fairs as well as a harm reduction street outreach team that connects people in the Anderson community with everything from NARCAN to hygiene kits and cold weather supplies.

“The conditions we work with are 100 percent preventable, and if people learn to take the steps to prevent these diseases, they could better protect themselves and their loved ones,” Foltz says. “Also, treatment as prevention is a concept. If we are getting people living with HIV linked to medical care, engaged in care and adhering to their medication, they can reach undetectable status.”

And the education piece is essential. In fiscal year 2024, Team HOPE served more than 10,000 clients through care coordination and management, outreach, prevention services and education.

“My hope is that we are letting people know that we love them and they are worthy of that love, and they’re worthy of loving themselves.”