As we come to the end of a productive year, on behalf of all of us at The Reunion Project (TRP), I want to express my appreciation to all of the members of our alliance and to our supporters. In 2023, we strengthened our connections to community with essential and engaging programs. I’d like to highlight some of the work you made possible this year.

The Reunion Project awarded four mini-grants to communities around the U.S. to host their own HIV long-term survivor event and create a local network of HIV long-term survivors. One of these programs was held on December 8, “Más Allá de los Desafíos: El Poder de Nuestras Historias (Beyond Challenges: The Power of Our Stories), by Instituto ANCLA and PACTA Inc. “This was a very significant event as it is the first time an event focused on long-term HIV survivors has been organized in Arecibo, Puerto Rico,” said Rosa E. Martínez Colón, President and CEO of Instituto ANCLA. “Also, it's the first time The Reunion Project had an event outside the mainland, and completely in Spanish.” A new round of grants will open in 2024, so please stay tuned.

At this year’s United States Conference on HIV/AIDS (USCHA) we conducted a near-capacity workshop on “Long-term Survivors and HIV Cure Research: A Community Perspective”, followed by an engaging community discussion. The workshop was based on a highly successful webinar series that TRP sponsored with the RID, DARE and CRISPR for Cure Martin Delaney Cure Collaboratories and other community partners. TRP was one of the co-sponsors of the HIV and Aging Listening Session we held at the conference along with NMAC, the U.S. PLHIV Caucus, SAGE, THRIVE SS, AIDS United, and Ribbon. We were proud to help support the lifetime survivors’ activities at this year’s conference. And our exhibition booth at USCHA was a huge hit!

We also offered a number of virtual events this year including two National Virtual Town Halls, one in June and one in December, along with our HIV Long-Term Survivors Toolkit Webinar series on topics ranging from trans elders and HIV to Long-COVID for PLHIV. These virtual events offer other ways for long-term survivors to connect in addition to our regional town halls.

Senior Program Manager Larry Bryant, Jr. joined our team in January of this year and together with Director of Community Outreach Waheedah Shabazz-El and Program Coordinator Heather O’Connor oversaw the development of three regional 2-day town halls in 2023, all of them taking place in the South.

Earlier this year The Reunion Project collaborated with Ribbon, the U.S. PLHIV Caucus and other community partners on a Congressional Policy Brief on HIV and Aging that was released in June to coincide with the 40th commemoration of The Denver Principles in Washington, D.C.

In December, TRP was proud to be named one of the POZ 100 in 2023.

The Reunion Project derives its strength from our connections with community and our collaborations with community partners. It is through these connections that we work to ensure that the unique voices and stories of long-term survivors of HIV are heard and not forgotten. As we look forward to 2024, it is by elevating these diverse stories of survival that we aim to make meaningful connections that will leave a lasting impact on the decisions, services, and policies that will affect all of us.

Thank you for supporting our efforts, and for being a member of our alliance. Happy holidays, and best wishes for a successful and thriving New Year.

Warmest regards,

Jeff Berry

Executive Director and Co-Founder

The Reunion Project