Keep Those Cards & Letters Coming!

WE REALLY LOVE getting your letters. They are heartwarming, inspirational and help to motivate all of us to continue doing this work. Here are just a few excerpts from the more flattering fan mail we have received over the years. We also receive some criticisms from time to time. We generally respond to those on a case-by-case basis and a couple of them have been published. All input is welcomed. The Editorial Team is committed to providing quality and useful information for Women Living With HIV/AIDS everywhere.

-- Thank you all for your continued support.

Thank you for your generosity to the Health Care for the Homeless HIV/AIDS Day Center. We have come to depend on the copies of Women Alive that you so regularly send us. Based on our experience, I feel certain that others who read it must appreciate it as much as we do. It is an excellent publication. Both Staff and members have found it to be a great source of timely and valuable information - it has been a real help and support to all of us.
-- Cordially, Dr. Douglas A. Morrison, Washington D.C.

On behalf of the staff and clients of L.A. Shanti, I would like to congratulate you for publishing one of the best newsletters about women infected and affected by HIV disease and AIDS.
-- Los Angeles

Thank you so much for your contribution to our new resource library - Our clients will only benefit from your gift.
-- Windham AIDS Project

Our co-worker just brought us an issue of your newsletters. We can't put it down. We have quite a few HIV positive women in our ... study. We are happy to have such a pertinent piece of literature to pass around.
-- Risk Behavior Intervention Project -- Portland, Or.

We received your wonderful publication last week and were very impressed with the wealth of information. Thank you for doing such a great job!
-- Homestead Hospice and Shelter -- Los Angeles.

I have been reading your newsletter from cover to cover. ... It has been heart breaking to watch as names are added to your memorial list. I just wanted to say that the Women Alive Newsletter has really filled a tremendous hole that existed in the service delivery system. And the work and dedication you provide as volunteers is more than commendable, it's heroic and very much appreciated.
-- AIDS Legal Services Project -- Los Angeles County Bar Association Barristers.

I was very impressed with the recent issue of Women Alive This is a much needed publication that is informative, accessible and comprehensive in scope. Congratulations!
-- Project Inform, San Francisco.

From Positive Women

If I can do anything from my home to help Women Alive please let me know.
-- Kansas

Women Alive is a fantastic newsletter. My husband and I have AIDS and where we live our community is not very supportive. I would like to get your newsletter but, I really can't afford it.
-- Washington State

Thank you so much for existing!
-- Santa Monica

I have HIV and so do my children. I'm a single parent ... I read your newsletter and it is interesting and very supportive.
-- Texas.

I'm glad there are finally women out there getting their stuff together for the rest of us. I am HIV+ a wife and a mother of 3. I am on the board of two AIDS organizations and volunteer 5 days a week. I help teach AIDS 101 at our women's group. I geek for AIDS info! Please send your newsletter.
-- Ohio

Congratulations!!! We were thrilled to read that you have achieved your long-term goal of a support center for women. WISDOM is an organization in Philadelphia which is also for positive women. Like you we have received help and encouragement from another membership organization
-- We The People.

Thanks for being there as a role model.
-- Philadelphia

I want to thank you for the article on strange menstrual cycles, no one seems to believe that this is a problem for us. I have been experiencing a number of the symptoms listed ... and have been "Blown off" by all my doctors as far as these being HIV related. .. I can't tell you how comforting it is to know that once again I am not crazy nor am I the only one having these symptoms. I run a support group with 19 women ... We will all be writing letters to Dr. Fauci.
-- DesMoines, IA

I cannot tell you how happy I was when I read your article on vaginal secretions (boy, does that sound funny)! ..I feel this issue has been ignored and women vilified as "transmitters". ... I think in truth, women are not that infectious, sexually. I think it is very important that positive women across the country get together to demand answers based on hard scientific fact, not speculation.
-- Seattle, WA.

From Inside Prison Walls

I am presently incarcerated, although counseling and stress management classes are offered, it is not enough. What is also needed is the positive reinforcement your newsletter offers about having a rich, full life in spite of having the virus.
-- Chowchilla, Ca.

We read your magazine and have learned a lot and have appreciated the information and stories that you have published.
-- ACE -- Bedford Hills, Correctional Facility For Women, New York

I was diagnosed with having HIV in February of this year. I need information on my illness and all I ever receive is pamphlets on how not to get AIDS, or how to use condoms. I don't care about this because I've already got it, and I don't have sex anymore. Please send your newsletter.
-- CIW Frontera, California

From Around the World

I have just read your newsletter, "Women Alive" which I got from a friend's office. It has given me a lot of information and I feel I can also contribute to it by way of writing articles. Secondly, I have also started a Newsletter in my country called "Positive Woman" and hope to use it as a venue for sharing information with other positive women. I am living with AIDS.
-- Kampala Uganda

We are happy to inform you about our dedicated service towards the upliftment of the poor and the needy. We earnestly expect your valuable advice and help... Information regarding AIDS & HIV are invited.
-- India

I am an AIDS activist here in Italy ... I found your newsletter interesting and nice. I am a visible woman with AIDS so everyone knows that I am HIV positive. I would like to exchange information and experiences with you.
-- Rome, Italy.

We really appreciate your kindness and would like to keep on receiving your publications which we find extremely encouraging and interesting.
-- Mantova, Italy

We hereby write to you requesting your newsletter and fact sheets. Thanking you in advance. Yours in health and solidarity
-- Coalition of Youths With AIDS -- Mumias, Kenya

As an Information and Documentation Center involved in Aids Education and Prevention, we'd like to subscribe to your periodical "Women Being Alive."
-- Barcelona, Spain.

We have some recent cases of HIV/AIDS. We are in need of much information about this disease. Please send your literature.
-- Croatia

Thank you very much for the first issue of your new publication "Ecos Femeninos" in Spanish.... Unfortunately none of us can read Spanish and there are no native Spanish speakers with AIDS/HIV in our country. Thank you very much for the English version of Women Alive. We are going to use it in our work with people living with AIDS/HIV. The Russian NAMES Fund hopes for further cooperation with you.
-- Moscow, Russia