Regina Quattrochi, Bailey House CEO, commented, “This new grant will help us expand our supportive housing for homeless HIV+ youth and support more young people to access the care and support they need to thrive. We are very excited to be a leader in addressing this critical need in New York City.”

STARS fills a critical gap in services for this population, and is the latest addition to Bailey House’s supportive housing portfolio. Bailey House started in 1983 when a group of community activists, spurred by the lack of adequate housing, care, and support for people who were then living – and dying – of an unknown disease, responded by creating their own solution: SHAP (Supportive Housing Apartment Program).  As the nation’s first housing provider for people living with HIV/AIDS, Bailey House pioneered a housing model that has been emulated worldwide, and cited for best practices by HUD (U.S. Housing and Urban Development) and the New York State AIDS Institute.

Less than 200 municipal shelter beds are available for homeless youth in New York City, while even fewer options are available for those living with HIV/AIDS.  In response to the need for stable housing and care coordination for HIV+ homeless youth, Bailey House launched STARS in 2009. A HUD-SPNS (Special Project of National Significance) initiative, STARS originally consisted of 20 apartments. Because there is a significant dearth of services for homeless young adults of transgender experience, eight additional units specifically for transgender youth were added last year. STARS is one of the only programs in the city that provides permanent housing for the transgender community, and this new grant allows Bailey House to expand its housing for transgender youth as well as its housing for the HIV+ homeless youth population as a whole.

Through generous sponsorships, bidding wars and celebrity buzz we have raised over $15 million dollars since our inaugural event. All proceeds from the Auction & Gala go directly to providing critical housing and supportive services for homeless men, women and children living with HIV/AIDS and other chronic illnesses.

Visit our new Auction & Gala website to see all the fabulous Auction items we have for this year’s 30th Anniversary Event!

Here are just a few of the items:

Portrait Sitting with Andres Serrano

Opening Night Tickets to Alan Cumming’s Solo Macbeth on Broadway

“Tatjana, Hawaii 1987″ photograph by Herb Ritts

Prana Rainforest Retreat: 5 Night Stay for 2

See more here!

If you would like to purchase tickets to the Auction & Gala on March 28th at Pier 60, please click here.

Douglas comes to Bailey House from GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation), where he served as Vice President of Development. He led GLAAD’s development initiatives, overseeing revenue generation through various forms of philanthropy, including individual, foundation and corporate giving as well as special events.

Regina Quattrochi, Bailey House CEO, commented, “We are excited to have Eric Douglas, with his extensive track record in local and national not-for-profit philanthropy, head up our development team. Bailey House is at a crossroads with many opportunities for expansion and innovation, which will depend initially on support from the private sector. Eric’s expertise will be invaluable.”

Prior to his position at GLAAD, Douglas served as Senior Officer of Donor Resources at the Gill Foundation in Denver, CO, where he worked to educate philanthropists about the wide variety of LGBT nonprofits that further equality. In addition to matching donors with strategic and meaningful causes, he identified and cultivated prospective donors for the Foundation’s prestigious OutGiving conferences. During his tenure at Gill, Douglas co-authored the Business of Change resource guide, which examined the changing paradigm of corporate philanthropy and analyzed ways to maximize social and business benefits of philanthropic programs.

Douglas is a senior fundraising professional with nearly 20 years of experience in nonprofit fundraising and philanthropy.

Bailey House, which has served low-income homeless and unstably housed men, women and families living with and affected by HIV/AIDS since 1983 and The Center for Independence of the Disabled, NY (CIDNY), a leading advocate for people with disabilities that has worked for over 30 years to remove physical and social barriers and to ensure that people with disabilities have the tools they need to live independently, provide for financial needs, and enjoy equal opportunities, announce a strategic alliance to improve the health outcomes of low-income men and women living with all types of disabilities – physical, sensory, cognitive, developmental and psychiatric. The two agencies are launching this initiative, Health Matters - which combines their expertise in housing, case management, health coverage navigation, entitlement advocacy and legal advocacy – to end barriers to care for affected New Yorkers with disabilities.

Goals of the alliance include ending barriers to health care for disabled New Yorkers who are often forced to use costly emergency and acute care because they are unable to easily access primary care or mental health services in their communities. Three key factors that increase emergency department care by adults with disabilities include lack of access to care and prescription medications, the complexity of individuals’ health profiles, and disability status itself.

Susan Dooha, Executive Director of CIDNY, describes the alliance: “Our partnership will help break through the barriers that low-income New Yorkers with disabilities face as they try to maintain their health.  Working with our partner Bailey House will ensure that people with the toughest health access challenges get prompt attention and services as a matter of course.”

Regina Quattrochi, Bailey House’s CEO, explains the objective of the collaboration: “We are excited to join forces with CIDNY to tackle health disparities often faced by New Yorkers living with disabilities. We know from the recent experience post Superstorm Sandy that some of the most vulnerable New Yorkers – the unstably housed, people with disabilities and the elderly – faced insurmountable barriers to obtaining critical care and services during a crisis. What’s more disturbing, however, is that many face the same insurmountable barriers even when the City is operating normally. Health Matters will serve as a model of what can be done when two agencies with strong track records join forces.”

Contact:

Bailey House

Lauren Pallies, Assistant Director, Community Health

(212) 633-2500 x332 or lpallies at baileyhouse.org

CIDNY

Margi Trapani, Director of Communications

646-442-4154 or mtrapani at cidny.org

Friday, February 8, 2013, Bailey House held the grand re-opening ceremony for Bailey-Holt House at 180 Christopher Street following extensive damage from Superstorm Sandy in the fall of 2012.

In 1986, Bailey-Holt House opened in Greenwich Village and, as the nation’s first residence for people living with HIV/AIDS, became a concrete symbol of the earliest response to the crisis of the epidemic.  Since then over 1,000 men and women have lived and thrived in this landmark building on Christopher Street with a majestic view of the Hudson River – a view that places it right on the edge of New York City’s Flood Zone A.

On October 29th, Superstorm Sandy hit the East Coast. That night, the Hudson River overflowed and broke through the doors of Bailey-Holt House. The building was badly flooded by the storm surge. Water completely filled the basement and spilled onto the first floor. Electricity, gas and hot water were cut off.

The 44 individuals living in Bailey-Holt had to be evacuated. Some of the most medically fragile residents were taken to Mount Sinai Medical Center, to ensure that critical medical services like daily dialysis were not interrupted. Others were situated with friends and family, or were re-located to emergency shelters and other temporary housing. Since the storm, Bailey House staff has worked continually to help residents maintain the housing and care they deserve and keep them connected to the Bailey House community, despite the temporary nature of their accommodations.

Speaker Christine C. Quinn’s office has been working with Bailey House to repair the residence since Sandy.  “Bailey-Holt House provides invaluable, all-in-one services to New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS,” said Speaker Quinn. “I’m thankful to the staff and volunteers who worked around-the-clock to re-open the facility after being devastated by Sandy and am grateful for the work that Bailey-Holt House does to help New Yorkers lead productive, independent lives.”

It has been a long process, with many replacements of equipment and infrastructure necessary as well as mold and debris removal and other extensive repairs of the basement and the first floor offices and lobby. Now, with the hook up of electricity and hot water, Bailey-Holt House has finally been able to re-open for its 44 residents. However, the battle is not over yet. The repair costs have been an unexpected financial burden for this ground-breaking AIDS agency, which is still waiting for assistance from FEMA and the Small Business Association. Regina Quattrochi, CEO of Bailey House, commented, “We are grateful to Speaker Quinn and her staff for advocating for us every day since the storm so that our residents could come home again. Our next challenge now is to find the money to pay for $1.5 million in repairs. Like others whose buildings were affected, we need relief soon”.

2012 was a year packed with triumph and disasters from political conventions and Hurricane Sandy to HIV activists doing civil disobedience in the buff in Congressman Boehner’s office.  This was also a year filled with bittersweet memories of the early epidemic and Act-Up in David France’s “How to Survive a Plague”  and the smashing success of  the National AIDS Housing Coalition’s North American HIV/AIDS Housing and Healthcare Summit, which brought together 100’s of researchers, international policy makers and activists at the World Bank.

There were also other moments, some national and others close to home that caught our attention. As we dangle off the fiscal cliff in this last week of December, we want to share our Top 10 Champions and Scoundrels:

Champions

1.  Tied for #1 are Governor Cuomo and Speaker Christine Quinn for their staff’s work in getting us the equipment we needed to do the initial clean-up of Bailey-Holt House and for advocating for us with state and city agencies
2.  Bailey-Holt House residents who are managing being displaced and staying connected to us and each other
3.  M*A*C  AIDS Fund, Elton John AIDS Foundation, Rocking Moon Foundation and other donors for generous contributions to the Bailey-Holt House Emergency Fund
4.  The Imperial Court of New York for all of their support and campy entertainment
5.  NYC’s Rapid Repair program for replacing all of the Bailey-Holt House boilers with new, shiny ones
6.  VOCAL, Housing Works and Health Gap for their yearlong advocacy efforts
7.  The Bailey House 30^th Gala and Auction Committee for planning what will be an amazing event on 3/28/13
8.  DIFFA and Broadway Cares for playing Santa with plentiful gifts for all BHH residents
9.  The “30 for 30” Campaign for relentless advocacy on behalf of HIV+ women
10.  NYS Office of Mental Health staff, who helped us open the new Behavioral Health Center in East Harlem

Scoundrels

1.  Hurricane Sandy and HASA tie for #1 for Sandy’s storm surge and for HASA’s refusal to reimburse us for over $300,000 in supportive services and operational expenses incurred post Sandy
2.  HASA for failing to cut red tape or assist with the Bailey-Holt House evacuation and rehousing effort after Sandy
3.  HASA staff who didn’t  seem to know that on October 29, 30^th and 31^st no one living in or near Bailey-Holt House could  call the HASA Service Line because their cell phones were dead and all the land lines were out
4.  NYC  Water Board for sending us a whopping November water bill for Bailey-Holt House even though it was vacant
5.  NYS Office of Medicaid Redesign for implementing the Health Home model without thinking through critical aspects of funding and care
6.  Congress for dangling all of us off the fiscal cliff
7.  Alabama, Georgia and other states, which are refusing Medicaid expansion while having some of the highest per capita rates of HIV infection in the nation
8.  “Test and Treat” proponents who fail to address homelessness
9.  Proponents of abstinence based programs for their willful disregard of evidence based HIV prevention
10.  The Westboro Baptist Church for just about everything

As we look forward to our 30^th anniversary in 2013, we remain committed to helping men, women and young adults living with HIV/AIDS get housing and have access to care and services. After all these years we know more than ever that “The Future Starts with A Place to Live”. Happy New Year from all of us at Bailey House and here’s hoping that in 2013 the champions far outnumber the scoundrels in your life!

BUY TICKETS

On March 28th, Bailey House will hold its 30th Anniversary Auction & Gala at Pier 60 at New York City’s Chelsea Piers. Last year’s Auction & Gala attracted over 800 stylish, philanthropic New York trendsetters. Through generous sponsorships, bidding wars and celebrity buzz we have raised over $15 million dollars since our inaugural event. All proceeds from the Auction & Gala will go directly to providing housing and supportive services for Bailey House clients.

PAST AUCTION HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE

Armani Shopping Spree; NY Yankees Opening Day Box Seats; Fine Photography by William Wegman, Herb Ritts and Robert Mapplethorpe; Celebrity Experiences with Diane Sawyer, Anderson Cooper, Andy Cohen, and Tim Gunn; Jean-Paul Gaultier Dream European Vacation; Donna Karan Accessories; Costa Rican Five-Star Resort Stay; Designer furnishings and accessories from Swarovski, Baccarat, Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, Ralph Lauren, and Carmen Marc Valvo.

AMONG OUR PAST SPONSORS AND SUPPORTERS

Armani, ABC Disney, Wells Fargo, Coca-Cola, The Standard Hotel Group, Coach, Aon, Liz Claiborne, Ben & Jerry’s, Orbitz, Heineken, Patrón and The David Geffen Foundation.

On Friday 12/21/12, some predict the end of the world, citing the end of the Mayan calendar. Others say that the Mayan calendar is infinite and that 12/21 signifies not the end but a new beginning. Perhaps the Mayans were saying change is good and that sometimes we have to let go of the box, not merely step out of it.

On Tuesday we learned of the death of Spencer Cox, one of the founders of Act-Up and TAG.  Spencer and many others in the early days of AIDS kicked the box aside and made the blueprint. They crafted it out of their anger, their desperation and their love.  For them and for Bailey House’s founders, silence and inaction were not choices.

On March 28^th we will be celebrating our 30^th anniversary by giving the “First Decade Award” to 30 individuals, who along with us made defiance and action the mantra. In 1983, when we started, holding someone dying of AIDS was an act of defiance in a room full of doctors dressed in Hazmat suits.  Providing someone dying of AIDS with permanent housing was considered a waste of resources – bureaucrats said they would die anyway. We kicked that box so hard it splintered into a thousand pieces – almost as many as there were Bailey House residents who proved them wrong.

We wish the Mayans were here to give us some insight, but since they are not we will create our own. As we move towards 12/21/12 and 2013, we’d like to quote our favorite seer – His Holiness the Dalai Lama: “It’s not enough to be compassionate. You must act.” We wish you and your loved ones a very happy holiday season and as you ring in the New Year we hope that you will put box kicking and making positive change on your list of 2013 resolutions. With your support they are at the top of ours.