I want to tell you a story about one man whose life was transformed because of your generosity this year. Ron* grew up in rural Texas, in a place where “gay pride” is still more of a hope than a reality. Everywhere he turned as a kid, he got the message that something about him was bad and shameful.

Travis County’s HIV infection rates have remained stubbornly high — and now Austin is stepping up to do something about it.

The international Fast-Track Cities initiative was introduced on World AIDS Day in 2014. It challenges communities to meet the following goals by 2020:

Meet Tim. That’s a photo of him from a few weeks ago, just before he moved out of Doug’s House.

He looks a lot different than when he arrived last February. Back then he weighed less than 100 pounds. He was so weak he could barely stand. His CD-4 count was zero — something his medical team had never seen before. At 34 years old, he was nearly dead.

The Project Transitions office has been part of the Crestview neighborhood since 1995.  After 20 years and adding Top Drawer Crestview to our location, the office was in desperate need of a redo, but it wasn’t high on the to-do list.

Then we got a message from UPLIFT Desk.

HIV drug therapy is undeniably one of the most successful medical breakthroughs of the last century.

In 1995, complications from AIDS was the leading cause of death for adults 25-44.  Today, thanks to HIV medication, people with HIV can live for decades.  And drug therapy helps suppress the virus, which means our entire community stays healthier. 

It’s a win-win, right?

If you found out that a dear friend or family member was in hospice care, what would you do? You’d probably visit. Make a meal. Offer to run errands. That’s what we do for each other in hard times, right?

Last month, the Texas Department of State Health Services issued a health advisory warning of new HIV diagnoses in the state.

And the CDC’s latest data show the rates of new infections among black and Latino gay men living in the southern US are at epidemic levels — even higher than the AIDS-ravaged nations of Africa.

This means that more people are living with HIV in central Texas than ever before. It can be...