spotlight

Originally from Massachusetts, ALRP Board member Tom Hixson moved to San Francisco in 1998. “At that time,” said Tom, “the AIDS crisis really had changed thanks to the new medications. I had the sense of moving into a city where I was arriving right after the worst part of the crisis had passed. I live in the Castro, and I can still feel the impact that HIV/AIDS has had on the community.”

Amanda joined the ALRP Board when two long-time Board members from Jones Day, where she’s an Associate, were ready to step down. “I’d already expressed an interest in learning more about ALRP,” she said. “It was important for me to do something to support the LGBT community. Coming to the Bay Area it’s been startling for me to see how big an impact HIV/AIDS still has in this community.

Our family lost my uncle to AIDS 25 years ago,” said ALRP Board member Matt Richards. “He passed away right on the cusp of when antiretroviral treatments were becoming effective. So for my family, AIDS has always been a deeply personal issue, and my involvement with ALRP has been a way for me to honor him. To be involved in the fight he wasn’t able to carry through himself.”

When ALRP Staff Attorney Dmitri Pikman’s elderly client was in danger of being evicted, he knew it was going to take more than a persuasive letter to solve his client’s problems. “In addition to being HIV+ the client had a host of other disabilities,” said Dmitri. “He’d been living in his apartment building for over twenty years, and his housing was in jeopardy because the landlord needed to do building-wide pest control measures…”