MISSION
Our name defines our purpose: Let’s Kick ASS—AIDS Survivor Syndrome.
We were established in 2013 with the goal of fighting AIDS Survivor Syndrome. Our aim is to empower those living long-term with HIV, helping them flourish through building connections, re-engaging, and mobilizing to advocate for change that focuses on and enhances their quality of life.
We’ve made a difference by bringing attention to the needs of survivors, but there is still more to be accomplished.
Let's change the future together.
OUR VISION
We envision a world where AIDS survivors’ lived experiences are valued, our resilience is celebrated, and well-being is the highest priority. To be part of a community where we are essential members of the tribe, surrounded by connected friends and families of our choosing, and aging is a time to flourish.
Founded by, for, and about HIV long-term survivors, Let’s Kick ASS addresses an unmet need — the present-day psychosocial ramifications of living in the aftermath of the early AIDS pandemic.
We advocate for the needs and issues facing HIV long-term survivors. We collaborate with local and national HIV advocates, providers, and researchers.
We are an all-volunteer, grassroots movement united in compassion, committed to action, and insisting on visibility. Ending isolation and envisioning a future we never imagined we’d live in.
Our approach is radically simple. We listen to HIV long-term survivors for their input, experiences, challenges, and insights. We believe change happens from the ground up (grassroots) and that the voices of survivors and Older Adults with HIV must be integral to the programs and policies that directly affect our lives. “Nothing about us, without us.”
INTERVIEW ON NPR’s The Take Away: Tez on Aging with HIV (November 2021)
In the early days of HIV and AIDS, a positive diagnosis was a death sentence. During the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, on average, a patient died within 15 months of diagnosis.
Today, new antiretroviral therapies can make a HIV positive person's viral load undetectable, meaning that someone who is HIV positive cannot pass the infection to others. Advocates use the common term U=U (Undetectable = Untransmittable). These medications allow HIV survivors to live long, fulfilling lives, but those who have aged with the virus still struggle with the burden of loss and learning how to live for a future they were previously denied.
In this segment, we talk to Tez Anderson, a long-term survivor of HIV, activist and founder of the first and largest group in the world focused on long-term HIV survivors and older adults aging with HIV, Let's Kick ASS—AIDS Survivor Syndrome.
Change Lives. Give to Let’s Kick ASS. Invest In A Purpose-Driven Response That Includes Long-Term Survivors
It has been forty years since the mysterious virus now known as HIV entered our lives.
AIDS is not over, but with the right level of investment, it can be. We know how to diagnose and treat HIV. We know how to prevent new HIV infections. We know how to save lives.
But scaling up the HIV services that have been shown to work and keep people HIV-free and keep people living with HIV alive needs money, and commitment.
Let’s Kick ASS —AIDS Survivor Syndrome is a purpose-driven nonprofit, 501 (c)(3), empowering HIV Long-Term Survivors to thrive and age well with the virus since 2013.
We exist on the kindness and generosity of the community and our allies. If you are able please make a donation you can click the link below or send a check to:
LET’S KICK ASS—AIDS SURVIVOR SYNDROME
4111 18th St Ste 5
San Francisco, CA 94114
EIN: 46-5082959
Contact
Feel free to contact us with any questions.
Email
helllo@letskickass.org
