Health
Cannabis Culture
NYC law limits drug testing for employees
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![Bill de Blasio, gay news, Washington Blade](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2019/04/Bill_de_Blasio_insert_c_Washington_Blade_by_Michael_Key.jpg)
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio permitted both marijuana bills to become law without his signature. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)
NYC law limits drug testing for employees
NEW YORK — Lawmakers have successfully passed a pair of municipal bills limiting situations where those seeking employment or on probation may be drug tested for past cannabis exposure.
Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio permitted both bills to become law absent his signature.
Bill No. 1427 states, “The department of probation shall not require individuals to submit to marijuana testing unless a determination is made, based on an individuals’ history and circumstances, that abstinence from marijuana is necessary to otherwise lead an otherwise law-abiding life.” The new law takes immediate effect.
Bill No. 1445 states, “[I]t shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer, labor organization, employment agency, or agent thereof to require a prospective employee to submit to testing for the presence of any tetrahydrocannabinols or marijuana in such prospective employee’s system as a condition of employment.” Exceptions to the new law include those employees seeking certain safety sensitive positions — such as police officers or commercial drivers — or those positions regulated by federal drug testing guidelines. The law takes effect in one year.
Cannabis retailers not linked to elevated crime rates
SEATTLE —The establishment of licensed cannabis retailers is not associated with negative impacts on local crime rates, adolescent use, or home values, according to a literature review published by Leafly.com.
Researchers at the website, in partnership with the Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies at Humboldt State University, identified 42 papers specific to the community impact of cannabis storefronts.
They reported: “Crime near licensed dispensaries has generally stayed flat or decreased, teen cannabis use in legal states has fallen since legalization, and property values near cannabis outlets generally are not affected or, in some cases, experience a greater value increase than comparable properties not near a cannabis outlet. … Despite the fears of those who want to ban cannabis stores, the published research finds that legal retailers are safe, responsible neighbors.”
Authors acknowledged that false claims surrounding dispensaries continue to persist despite ample evidence to the contrary. The prevalence of such claims has led to local bans on the establishment of licensed retail facilities in many states. Specifically, in California, 75 percent of localities impose bans on the establishment of cannabis storefronts, while 65 percent of cities and counties in Colorado impose similar prohibitions.
Licensed medical cannabis sales begin in Arkansas
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Qualified patients now have limited access to medical cannabis products, after the state’s first licensed dispensaries began making sales last week. Voters initially approved medical cannabis access by passing a statewide initiative in November 2016.
Under the law, qualified patients may obtain both herbal preparations of cannabis and infused cannabis products from state-licensed dispensaries. Products must be derived from plants harvested by one of five state-licensed cultivators. To date, only one cultivator is operational. Two additional cultivators are expecting to harvest their initial crops this summer.
Nearly 12,000 patients are licensed in the state to participate in the medical cannabis access program.
Arkansas is one of 33 states that legally permit medical cannabis access.
N.J. lawmakers may put legalization before voters
TRENTON, N.J. — The Senate President indicated last week that lawmakers will likely let voters decide in 2020 on whether to legalize the adult use of marijuana.
Sen. Sweeney acknowledged last week that lawmakers are at an impasse regarding pending legislation to tax and regulate the adult use marijuana market. As a result, he says that they will likely place an initiative question before voters next November.
Assembly and Senate lawmakers were initially expected to decide on the issue in March. However, plans for a Senate floor vote were pulled after it became apparent that the measure lacked majority support in the legislature’s upper house.
Lawmakers are still anticipated to move forward with votes later this year on legislative efforts to greatly expand the state’s medical cannabis access program and to facilitate the expungement of past, low-level cannabis convictions.
According to a February poll conducted by Monmouth University, 62 percent of New Jerseyans believe that the possession and use of marijuana should be legal, and 74 percent support the expungement of past marijuana convictions.
Cannabis Culture news in the Blade is provided in partnership with NORML. For more information, visit norml.org.
Monkeypox
US contributes more than $90 million to fight mpox outbreak in Africa
WHO and Africa CDC has declared a public health emergency
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2024/08/JYNNEOS_Mpox_vaccine_insert_courtesy_CDC.jpg)
The U.S. has contributed more than $90 million to the fight against the mpox outbreak in Africa.
The U.S. Agency for International Development on Tuesday in a press release announced “up to an additional” $35 million “in emergency health assistance to bolster response efforts for the clade I mpox outbreak in Central and Eastern Africa, pending congressional notification.” The press release notes the Biden-Harris administration previously pledged more than $55 million to fight the outbreak in Congo and other African countries.
“The additional assistance announced today will enable USAID to continue working closely with affected countries, as well as regional and global health partners, to expand support and reduce the impact of this outbreak as it continues to evolve,” it reads. “USAID support includes assistance with surveillance, diagnostics, risk communication and community engagement, infection prevention and control, case management, and vaccination planning and coordination.”
The World Health Organization and the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week declared the outbreak a public health emergency.
The Washington Blade last week reported there are more than 17,000 suspected mpox cases across in Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, and other African countries. The outbreak has claimed more than 500 lives, mostly in Congo.
Health
Mpox outbreak in Africa declared global health emergency
ONE: 10 million vaccine doses needed on the continent
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2024/08/JYNNEOS_Mpox_vaccine_insert_courtesy_CDC.jpg)
Medical facilities that provide treatment to gay and bisexual men in some East African countries are already collaborating with them to prevent the spread of a new wave of mpox cases after the World Health Organization on Wednesday declared a global health emergency.
The collaboration, both in Uganda and Kenya, comes amid WHO’s latest report released on Aug. 12, which reveals that nine out of every 10 reported mpox cases are men with sex as the most common cause of infection.
The global mpox outbreak report — based on data that national authorities collected between January 2022 and June of this year — notes 87,189 of the 90,410 reported cases were men. Ninety-six percent of whom were infected through sex.
Sexual contact as the leading mode of transmission accounted for 19,102 of 22,802 cases, followed by non-sexual person-to-person contact. Genital rash was the most common symptom, followed by fever and systemic rash.
The WHO report states the pattern of mpox virus transmission has persisted over the last six months, with 97 percent of new cases reporting sexual contact through oral, vaginal, or anal sex with infected people.
“Sexual transmission has been recorded in the Democratic Republic of Congo among sex workers and men who have sex with men,” the report reads. “Among cases exposed through sexual contact in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, some individuals present only with genital lesions, rather than the more typical extensive rash associated with the virus.”
The growing mpox cases, which are now more than 2,800 reported cases in at least 13 African countries that include Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and prompted the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week to declare the disease a public health emergency for resource mobilization on the continent to tackle it.
“Africa has long been on the frontlines in the fight against infectious diseases, often with limited resources,” said Africa CDC Director General Jean Kaseya. “The battle against Mpox demands a global response. We need your support, expertise, and solidarity. The world cannot afford to turn a blind eye to this crisis.”
The disease has so far claimed more than 500 lives, mostly in Congo, even as the Africa CDC notes suspected mpox cases across the continent have surged past 17,000, compared to 7,146 cases in 2022 and 14,957 cases last year.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg when we consider the many weaknesses in surveillance, laboratory testing, and contact tracing,” Kaseya said.
WHO, led by Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, also followed the Africa CDC’s move by declaring the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
The latest WHO report reveals that men, including those who identify as gay and bisexual, constitute most mpox cases in Kenya and Uganda. The two countries have recorded their first cases, and has put queer rights organizations and health care centers that treat the LGBTQ community on high alert.
The Uganda Minority Shelters Consortium, for example, confirmed to the Washington Blade that the collaboration with health service providers to prevent the spread of mpox among gay and bisexual men is “nascent and uneven.”
“While some community-led health service providers such as Ark Wellness Clinic, Children of the Sun Clinic, Ice Breakers Uganda Clinic, and Happy Family Youth Clinic, have demonstrated commendable efforts, widespread collaboration on mpox prevention remains a significant gap,” UMSC Coordinator John Grace stated. “This is particularly evident when compared to the response to the previous Red Eyes outbreak within the LGBT community.”
Grace noted that as of Wednesday, there were no known queer-friendly health service providers to offer mpox vaccinations to men who have sex with men. He called for health care centers to provide inclusive services and a more coordinated approach.
Although Grace pointed out the fear of discrimination — and particularly Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act — remains a big barrier to mpox prevention through testing, vaccination, and treatment among queer people, he confirmed no mpox cases have been reported among the LGBTQ community.
Uganda so far has reported two mpox cases — refugees who had travelled from Congo.
“We are for the most part encouraging safer sex practices even after potential future vaccinations are conducted as it can also be spread through bodily fluids like saliva and sweat,” Grace said.
Grace also noted that raising awareness about mpox among the queer community and seeking treatment when infected remains a challenge due to the historical and ongoing homophobic stigma and that more comprehensive and reliable advocacy is needed. He said Grindr and other digital platforms have been crucial in raising awareness.
The declarations of mpox as a global health emergency have already attracted demand for global leaders to support African countries to swiftly obtain the necessary vaccines and diagnostics.
“History shows we must act quickly and decisively when a public health emergency strikes. The current Mpox outbreak in Africa is one such emergency,” said ONE Global Health Senior Policy Director Jenny Ottenhoff.
ONE is a global, nonpartisan organization that advocates for the investments needed to create economic opportunities and healthier lives in Africa.
Ottenhoff warned failure to support the African countries with medical supplies needed to tackle mpox would leave the continent defenseless against the virus.
To ensure that African countries are adequately supported, ONE wants governments and pharmaceutical companies to urgently increase the provision of mpox vaccines so that the most affected African countries have affordable access to them. It also notes 10 million vaccine doses are currently needed to control the mpox outbreak in Africa, yet the continent has only 200,000 doses.
The Blade has reached out to Ishtar MSM, a community-based healthcare center in Nairobi, Kenya, that offers to service to gay and bisexual men, about their response to the mpox outbreak.
Health
LGBTQ Los Angeles prepares for potential mpox outbreak
Deadlier strain in Africa sparks global concerns, local health officials remain vigilant
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2024/04/MPOX-Vax.jpg)
The World Health Organization Wednesday again declared mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, a global health emergency.
In summer 2022, mpox reached the U.S. Thousands of recorded cases left people quarantined with minimal guidance as the medical world worked to understand the virus.
It was the first health crisis litmus test following the COVID-19 pandemic.
A swift vaccination effort mitigated public concern, though it was a slow start. Vaccine was quickly and sufficiently made available on the East Coast though far less vaccine was made available on the West Coast.
The vaccination efforts were successful, however, and the number of cases dropped quickly.
Now, a deadlier mpox strain, known as Clade 1b, has emerged.
It has in recent weeks killed more than 500 people in Africa. And with an alarming 4 percent mortality rate that means infection rates are extreme.
On Aug. 15, Sweden reported the first case outside of Africa.
Though the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health says the new mpox strain has not yet been detected in the U.S, there is grave concern.
“Cases of the more virulent clade I mpox cases have not been detected in Los Angeles County or anywhere in the United States,” it said in a statement. “However, if health care providers encounter a patient with mpox-like symptoms who has recently traveled to affected countries in Africa, they should contact Public Health to arrange for clade-specific testing at the public health lab. This will help us identify any clade I cases in Los Angeles County if they arise.”
The less severe Clade II mpox was responsible for the 2022 outbreak. According to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, mpox is “spread through close contact with body fluids, sores, shared bedding or clothing or respiratory droplets.” Sexual contact is an effective means of transmission. The most noticeable symptoms are pimples or blisters on the face, body and genitals. This is often accompanied by fever, chills, headaches, muscle aches or swelling of the lymph nodes.
“With the recent declaration of mpox as a global health emergency and reports of the more virulent Clade subtype outside Africa, there is a clear risk of such outbreaks reaching the U.S.,” said Jake Collins, a physician assistant who works with a large LGBTQ clinic in Los Angeles. “This is concerning especially since this Clade 1b subtype is linked to more severe illness and higher mortality. Among my patients, I’ve seen an increase in mpox cases this year compared to last, even among vaccinated individuals, but these cases have been mostly mild with no deaths or hospitalizations.”
One Los Angeles resident, who asked to remain anonymous, described his 2022 bout with mpox as “one of the most painful experiences” he’d ever had.
“[It] came with so much shame and guilt – self-hatred,” he said. “So, it definitely does scare me, but it also makes me more aware that last round I didn’t think it could happen to me, so I wasn’t smart or careful [or] educated on it because it was so new. I think there is always fear for something like this to hit our community again, because in general we can be risky in sexual practices, so I think we just need to be very cautious as a community and be mindful [in] taking care of our sexual health.”
Since August 2022, the federal Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response has procured and distributed more than 1 million vials of the JYNNEOS vaccine across the U.S., agency spokesperson Spencer Pretecrum told reporters in an email.
But 75 percent of at-risk populations in the U.S. not fully vaccinated against mpox, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report.
People who got their first shot of the mpox vaccine but who did not return for their second dose, are at risk.
Full protection requires both doses.
During the height of the 2022 mpox epidemic, health professionals advised caution in sexual practices. A two-dose vaccine, however, was quickly distributed, and fears died down.
“I received two vaccines when mpox was initially spreading back in 2022, so I’m hoping guidance comes out soon as to the effectiveness of these vaccines against the current strain,” West Hollywood resident Gabe Perkins said. “I am worried but not enough to change my behaviors or social activities unless I hear otherwise. The queer community came together to get vaccines quickly and early which I think helped prevent the previous outbreak from becoming too widespread, so I’m hoping it remains that way.”
While the LGBTQ community was the epicenter of the previous outbreak, so far the strain in Africa, which appears to be more contagious, has not concentrated on a single demographic. It affects both adults and children. How it spreads beyond the cases so far identified is yet to be seen.
“Any outbreak freaks me out,” West Hollywood nightlife employee Eric Evans said. He added that while he thinks the fear will rise “when it gets closer to home,” he doubts it will reach the level of panic in 2022. “Kind of like when COVID rose again recently, but the reaction from people wasn’t as extreme.”
Evans also said he believed the LGBTQ community, in general, vaccinates at a higher rate than the general population.
“Hearing about the mpox outbreak in Africa and now Europe makes me even more grateful for the response of the LGBTQ community — specifically gay men — who when faced with this disease here in the U.S. immediately got vaccinated, modified our sexual behaviors for a few weeks and essentially nipped it in the bud,” nonprofit consultant and LGBTQ activist Adam Crowley said. “It’s still a threat to the unvaccinated anywhere, but our community knew how to protect ourselves. Community health is so important, and it’s our responsibility to get vaccinated. We can be a model of how to address a public health issue. I don’t live in fear, but I think it’s important to be aware and to understand how we can prevent outbreaks.”
To protect against mpox, health officials advised limiting physical contact and sexual partners, as well as wearing masks, washing hands and other prevention methods similar to COVID-19. The CDC recommends the JYNNEOS vaccine for at-risk populations.
“Getting the two-dose vaccine series remains the best way to reduce the severity of infections and curb the spread of mpox, even with the Clade 1b subtype,” Collins said. “At this time, a booster isn’t being recommended, but I have been informing my patients to continue checking for updated recommendations from trusted organizations like CDC and WHO.”
“Currently, the existing monkeypox vaccines have shown efficacy against multiple strains of the virus,” said Michael Dube, national medical director of AIDS Health Foundation’s Public Health Division. “At this time, there is no recommendation for re-vaccination for those who have already completed their series. However, we urge anyone who has not been fully vaccinated and is at higher risk to strongly consider doing so, following public health guidelines … As more information becomes available about this strain, we will better understand any new transmission dynamics. For now, general precautions like good hygiene and avoiding close contact with infected individuals remain essential.”
For up-to-date information, visit who.int/health-topics/mpox.
AIDS and HIV
White House urged to expand PrEP coverage for injectable form
HIV/AIDS service organizations made call on Wednesday
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A coalition of 63 organizations dedicated to ending HIV called on the Biden-Harris administration on Wednesday to require insurers to cover long-acting pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) without cost-sharing.
In a letter to Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the groups emphasized the need for broad and equitable access to PrEP free of insurance barriers.
Long-acting PrEP is an injectable form of PrEP that’s effective over a long period of time. The FDA approved Apretude (cabotegravir extended-release injectable suspension) as the first and only long-acting injectable PrEP in late 2021. It’s intended for adults and adolescents weighing at least 77 lbs. who are at risk for HIV through sex.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force updated its recommendation for PrEP on Aug. 22, 2023, to include new medications such as the first long-acting PrEP drug. The coalition wants CMS to issue guidance requiring insurers to cover all forms of PrEP, including current and future FDA-approved drugs.
“Long-acting PrEP can be the answer to low PrEP uptake, particularly in communities not using PrEP today,” said Carl Schmid, executive director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute. “The Biden administration has an opportunity to ensure that people with private insurance can access PrEP now and into the future, free of any cost-sharing, with properly worded guidance to insurers.”
Currently, only 36 percent of those who could benefit from PrEP are using it. Significant disparities exist among racial and ethnic groups. Black people constitute 39 percent of new HIV diagnoses but only 14 percent of PrEP users, while Latinos represent 31 percent of new diagnoses but only 18 percent of PrEP users. In contrast, white people represent 24 percent of HIV diagnoses but 64 percent of PrEP users.
The groups also want CMS to prohibit insurers from employing prior authorization for PrEP, citing it as a significant barrier to access. Several states, including New York and California, already prohibit prior authorization for PrEP.
Modeling conducted for HIV+Hep, based on clinical trials of a once every 2-month injection, suggests that 87 percent more HIV cases would be averted compared to daily oral PrEP, with $4.25 billion in averted healthcare costs over 10 years.
Despite guidance issued to insurers in July 2021, PrEP users continue to report being charged cost-sharing for both the drug and ancillary services. A recent review of claims data found that 36 percent of PrEP users were charged for their drugs, and even 31 percent of those using generic PrEP faced cost-sharing.
The coalition’s letter follows a more detailed communication sent by HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute to the Biden administration on July 2.
Signatories to the community letter include Advocates for Youth, AIDS United, Equality California, Fenway Health, Human Rights Campaign, and the National Coalition of STD Directors, among others.
AIDS and HIV
Tennessee Agrees To Remove Sex Workers With HIV From Sex Offender Registry
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2024/04/Tennessee-Capitol-Building.jpg)
The Tennessee government has agreed to begin scrubbing its sex offender registry of dozens of people who were convicted of prostitution while having HIV, reversing a practice that federal lawsuits have challenged as draconian and discriminatory.
For more than three decades, Tennessee’s “aggravated prostitution” laws have made prostitution a misdemeanor for most sex workers but a felony for those who are HIV-positive. Tennessee toughened penalties in 2010 by reclassifying prostitution with HIV as a “violent sexual offense” with a lifetime registration as a sex offender — even if protection is used.
At least 83 people are believed to be on Tennessee’s sex offender registry solely because of these laws, with most living in the Memphis area, where undercover police officers and prosecutors most often invoked the statute, commonly against Black and transgender women, according to a lawsuit filed last year by the American Civil Liberties Union and four women who were convicted of aggravated prostitution. The Department of Justice challenged the law in a separate suit earlier this year.
Both lawsuits argue that Tennessee law does not account for evolving science on the transmission of HIV or precautions that prevent its spread, like use of condoms. Both lawsuits also argue that labeling a person as a sex offender because of HIV unfairly limits where they can live and work and stops them from being alone with grandchildren or minor relatives.
“Tennessee’s Aggravated Prostitution statute is the only law in the nation that treats people living with HIV who engage in any sex work, even risk-free encounters, as ‘violent sex offenders’ subjected to lifetime registration,” the ACLU lawsuit states.
“That individuals living with HIV are treated so differently can only be understood as a remnant of the profoundly prejudiced early response to the AIDS epidemic.”
In a settlement agreement signed by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on July 15 and filed in both lawsuits on July 17, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said it would comb through the state’s sex offender registry to find those added solely because of aggravated prostitution convictions, then send letters alerting those people that they can make a written request to be removed. The language of the settlement suggests that people will need to request their removal from the registry, but the agency said in the agreement it will make “its best effort” to act on the requests “promptly in the order in which they are received.”
The Tennessee attorney general’s office, which represents the state in both the ACLU and DOJ lawsuits and approved the settlement agreement, said in an email statement it would “continue to defend Tennessee’s prohibition on aggravated prostitution.”
In an email statement, the ACLU celebrated the settlement as “one step toward remedying the harms by addressing the sex offender registration,” but said its work in Tennessee was not done because aggravated prostitution remained a felony charge that it would “fight to overturn.”
Molly Quinn, executive director of LGBTQ+ support organization OUTMemphis, another plaintiff in the ACLU lawsuit, said both organizations would help eligible people with the paperwork to get removed from the registry.
“We would not have agreed to settle if we did not feel like this was a process that would be extremely beneficial,” Quinn said. “But, we’re sad that the statute existed as long as it did and sad that there is any process at all that folks have to go through after living with this extraordinary burden of being on the sex offender registry for really an irrelevant reason.”
Michelle Anderson, a Memphis resident who is one of the plaintiffs in the ACLU lawsuit, said in court records that since being convicted of aggravated prostitution, the sex offender label has made it so difficult to find a home and a job that she was “unhoused for about a year” and has at times “felt she had no option but to continue to engage in sex work to survive.”
Like the other plaintiffs, Anderson said her conviction kept her minor relatives at a distance.
“Ms. Anderson has a nephew she loves, but she cannot have a close relationship with him,” the lawsuit states. “Even though Ms. Anderson’s convictions had nothing to do with children, she cannot legally be alone with her nephew.”
The Tennessee settlement comes months after state lawmakers softened the law so no one else should be added to the sex offender registry for aggravated prostitution. Lawmakers removed the registration requirement and made convictions eligible for expungement if the defendant testifies they were a victim of human trafficking.
State Sen. Page Walley (R-Savannah), who supported the original aggravated prostitution law passed in 1991 and co-sponsored the recent bill to amend it, said on the floor of the legislature that the changes do not prevent prosecutors from charging people with a felony for aggravated prostitution. Instead, he said, the amendments undo the 2010 law that put those who are convicted on the registry “along with pedophiles and rapists for a lifetime, with no recourse for removal.”
“Having stood, as I mentioned, in 1991 and passed this,” Walley said, “it is a particular gratifying moment for me to see how we continue to evolve and seek what’s just and what’s right and what’s best.”
KFF Health News, a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.
Health
Excessive heat warning for July 4 weekend
The National Weather Service warns of dangerously high temperatures across the region
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2023/07/LAC-Extreme-Heat.jpg)
LOS ANGELES — As a punishing heat wave grips California, Los Angeles officials have issued an excessive heat warning through July 8, prompting the city to open additional cooling centers and urge residents to take precautions.
The National Weather Service warns of dangerously high temperatures across the region, with some areas expecting highs up to 118 degrees Fahrenheit (47.8 Celsius). Death Valley could see temperatures rise above 130 degrees (55 Celsius).
In response, the City of Los Angeles is opening four augmented cooling centers from July 3 to July 8, operating from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. These include the Fred Roberts Recreation Center in South Los Angeles, Mid-Valley Senior Center in Panorama City, Lake View Terrace Recreation Center, and Jim Gilliam Recreation Center in Baldwin Hills.
More than 70 Los Angeles public libraries are available as cooling spots during regular hours. Residents can find locations and hours at LAPL.org/Branches.
“We’re taking this heat wave very seriously,” said Mayor Karen Bass. “These cooling centers provide critical relief, especially for our most vulnerable residents.”
City officials advise residents to stay hydrated, limit sugary and alcoholic beverages, and avoid outdoor activities during peak heat hours. They also encourage checking on vulnerable neighbors and keeping pets cool and hydrated.
The heat wave coincides with heightened fire danger in Southern California. A Red Flag Warning is in effect from Thursday evening through Friday night for parts of Ventura County and the Antelope Valley, with gusty winds and low humidity creating critical fire weather conditions.
“If fire ignition occurs, conditions are favorable for extreme fire behavior which would threaten life and property,” the National Weather Service warned.
As the state faces this prolonged period of extreme heat, authorities stress the importance of community awareness and preparedness. Residents are urged to stay informed about local conditions and follow safety guidelines to protect themselves and others from heat-related illnesses and potential fire hazards.
Where to stay cool around the City of West Hollywood:
Plummer Park’s Senior Lounge (7377 Santa Monica Blvd)- The City’s Cooling Center is open during periods of extreme heat (above 90 degrees).
- For more information regarding the City of West Hollywood’s cooling center, please call (323) 848-6530.
- West Hollywood Library (625 N. San Vicente Blvd) – Cooling Center operated by LA County
- Will & Ariel Durant Branch Library (7140 W. Sunset Blvd) – Cooling Center operated by LA County
- West Hollywood Aquatics & Recreation Center (ARC) (8750 El Tovar Pl) – community members can visit the pool to get relief from the heat. For more information, please visit the ARC webpage.
The City provides free transportation to Plummer Park through its Cityline service. Cityline is a friendly and accessible alternative to the larger bus system and all shuttles are ADA-accessible. Cityline operates Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and shuttles arrive approximately every 30 minutes. For additional information and a detailed route map, visit www.weho.org/cityline.
Safety Tips For Angelenos To Avoid Heat Injury
- Seek shade and refuge from the hot sun if you must be outside.
- Stay hydrated and drink more water, especially if you drink coffee or soda.
- Check in on and prepare your household, family, friends, pets and workplace.
- Limit your exposure to direct sunlight between 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM, when the sun’s rays are strongest.
- If you feel ill, tell someone immediately. Symptoms of dehydration and heat illness may include dizziness, fatigue, faintness, nausea, muscle cramps, headache and vomiting.
- Symptoms of heat stroke include:
- High body temperature (103°F or higher)
- Hot, red, dry, or damp skin
- Fast, strong pulse
- Headache
- Dizziness
- Nausea
- Confusion
- Losing consciousness (passing out)
- In the event of a heat stroke:
- Call 911 right away-heat stroke is a medical emergency
- Move the person to a cooler place
- Help lower the person’s temperature with cool cloths or a cool bath
- Do not give the person anything to drink
- Listen to your body, and remember that those with chronic illness such as asthma, heart disease etc., are more vulnerable to extreme heat. Please take extra precautions.
- Click here for more safety tips from the Los Angeles Fire Department.
- Click here for safety tips in multiple languages including English, Spanish, Armenian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and more.
AIDS and HIV
Young gay Latinos see rising share of new HIV cases, leading to call for targeted funding
Fernando Hermida diagnosed four months after asking for asylum
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2024/07/YOUNG_LATINO_KHN_HIV.webp)
Four months after seeking asylum in the U.S., Fernando Hermida began coughing and feeling tired. He thought it was a cold. Then sores appeared in his groin and he would soak his bed with sweat. He took a test.
On New Year’s Day 2022, at age 31, Hermida learned he had HIV.
“I thought I was going to die,” he said, recalling how a chill washed over him as he reviewed his results. He struggled to navigate a new, convoluted health care system. Through an HIV organization he found online, he received a list of medical providers to call in D.C., where he was at the time, but they didn’t return his calls for weeks. Hermida, who speaks only Spanish, didn’t know where to turn.
By the time of Hermida’s diagnosis, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was about three years into a federal initiative to end the nation’s HIV epidemic by pumping hundreds of millions of dollars annually into certain states, counties, and U.S. territories with the highest infection rates. The goal was to reach the estimated 1.2 million people living with HIV, including some who don’t know they have the disease.
Overall, estimated new HIV infection rates declined 23 percent from 2012 to 2022. But a KFF Health News-Associated Press analysis found the rate has not fallen for Latinos as much as it has for other racial and ethnic groups.
While African Americans continue to have the highest HIV rates in the U.S. overall, Latinos made up the largest share of new HIV diagnoses and infections among gay and bisexual men in 2022, per the most recent data available, compared with other racial and ethnic groups. Latinos, who make up about 19 percent of the U.S. population, accounted for about 33 percent of new HIV infections, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The analysis found Latinos are experiencing a disproportionate number of new infections and diagnoses across the U.S., with diagnosis rates highest in the Southeast. Public health officials in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, and Shelby County, Tennessee, where data shows diagnosis rates have gone up among Latinos, told KFF Health News and the AP that they either don’t have specific plans to address HIV in this population or that plans are still in the works. Even in well-resourced places like San Francisco, HIV diagnosis rates grew among Latinos in the last few years while falling among other racial and ethnic groups despite the county’s goals to reduce infections among Latinos.
“HIV disparities are not inevitable,” Robyn Neblett Fanfair, director of the CDC’s Division of HIV Prevention, said in a statement. She noted the systemic, cultural, and economic inequities — such as racism, language differences, and medical mistrust.
And though the CDC provides some funds for minority groups, Latino health policy advocates want HHS to declare a public health emergency in hopes of directing more money to Latino communities, saying current efforts aren’t enough.
“Our invisibility is no longer tolerable,” said Vincent Guilamo-Ramos, co-chair of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS.
Lost without an interpreter
Hermida suspects he contracted the virus while he was in an open relationship with a male partner before he came to the U.S. In late January 2022, months after his symptoms started, he went to a clinic in New York City that a friend had helped him find to finally get treatment for HIV.
Too sick to care for himself alone, Hermida eventually moved to Charlotte to be closer to family and in hopes of receiving more consistent health care. He enrolled in an Amity Medical Group clinic that receives funding from the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, a federal safety-net plan that serves over half of those in the nation diagnosed with HIV, regardless of their citizenship status.
His HIV became undetectable after he was connected with case managers. But over time, communication with the clinic grew less frequent, he said, and he didn’t get regular interpretation help during visits with his English-speaking doctor. An Amity Medical Group representative confirmed Hermida was a client but didn’t answer questions about his experience at the clinic.
Hermida said he had a hard time filling out paperwork to stay enrolled in the Ryan White program, and when his eligibility expired in September 2023, he couldn’t get his medication.
He left the clinic and enrolled in a health plan through the Affordable Care Act marketplace. But Hermida didn’t realize the insurer required him to pay for a share of his HIV treatment.
In January, the Lyft driver received a $1,275 bill for his antiretroviral — the equivalent of 120 rides, he said. He paid the bill with a coupon he found online. In April, he got a second bill he couldn’t afford.
For two weeks, he stopped taking the medication that keeps the virus undetectable and intransmissible.
“Estoy que colapso,” he said. I’m falling apart. “Tengo que vivir para pagar la medicación.” I have to live to pay for my medication.
One way to prevent HIV is preexposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, which is regularly taken to reduce the risk of getting HIV through sex or intravenous drug use. It was approved by the federal government in 2012 but the uptake has not been even across racial and ethnic groups: CDC data show much lower rates of PrEP coverage among Latinos than among white Americans.
Epidemiologists say high PrEP use and consistent access to treatment are necessary to build community-level resistance.
Carlos Saldana, an infectious disease specialist and former medical adviser for Georgia’s health department, helped identify five clusters of rapid HIV transmission involving about 40 gay Latinos and men who have sex with men from February 2021 to June 2022. Many people in the cluster told researchers they had not taken PrEP and struggled to understand the health care system.
They experienced other barriers, too, Saldana said, including lack of transportation and fear of deportation if they sought treatment.
Latino health policy advocates want the federal government to redistribute funding for HIV prevention, including testing and access to PrEP. Of the nearly $30 billion in federal money that went toward things like HIV health care services, treatment, and prevention in 2022, only 4% went to prevention, according to a KFF analysis.
They suggest more money could help reach Latino communities through efforts like faith-based outreach at churches, testing at clubs on Latin nights, and training bilingual HIV testers.
Latino rates going up
Congress has appropriated $2.3 billion over five years to the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative, and jurisdictions that get the money are to invest 25 percent of it in community-based organizations. But the initiative lacks requirements to target any particular groups, including Latinos, leaving it up to the cities, counties, and states to come up with specific strategies.
In 34 of the 57 areas getting the money, cases are going the wrong way: Diagnosis rates among Latinos increased from 2019 to 2022 while declining for other racial and ethnic groups, the KFF Health News-AP analysis found.
Starting Aug. 1, state and local health departments will have to provide annual spending reports on funding in places that account for 30 percent or more of HIV diagnoses, the CDC said. Previously, it had been required for only a small number of states.
In some states and counties, initiative funding has not been enough to cover the needs of Latinos.
South Carolina, which saw rates nearly double for Latinos from 2012-2022, hasn’t expanded HIV mobile testing in rural areas, where the need is high among Latinos, said Tony Price, HIV program manager in the state health department. South Carolina can pay for only four community health workers focused on HIV outreach — and not all of them are bilingual.
In Shelby County, Tennessee, home to Memphis, the Latino HIV diagnosis rate rose 86 percent from 2012 to 2022. The health department said it got $2 million in initiative funding in 2023 and while the county plan acknowledges that Latinos are a target group, department director Michelle Taylor said: “There are no specific campaigns just among Latino people.”
Up to now, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, didn’t include specific targets to address HIV in the Latino population — where rates of new diagnoses more than doubled in a decade but fell slightly among other racial and ethnic groups. The health department has used funding for bilingual marketing campaigns and awareness about PrEP.
Moving for medicine
When it was time to pack up and move to Hermida’s third city in two years, his fiancé, who is taking PrEP, suggested seeking care in Orlando, Fla.
The couple, who were friends in high school in Venezuela, had some family and friends in Florida, and they had heard about Pineapple Healthcare, a nonprofit primary care clinic dedicated to supporting Latinos living with HIV.
The clinic is housed in a medical office south of downtown Orlando. Inside, the mostly Latino staff is dressed in pineapple-print turquoise shirts, and Spanish, not English, is most commonly heard in appointment rooms and hallways.
“At the core of it, if the organization is not led by and for people of color, then we’re just an afterthought,” said Andres Acosta Ardila, the community outreach director at Pineapple Healthcare, who was diagnosed with HIV in 2013.
“¿Te mudaste reciente, ya por fin?” asked nurse practitioner Eliza Otero. Did you finally move? She started treating Hermida while he still lived in Charlotte. “Hace un mes que no nos vemos.” It’s been a month since we last saw each other.
They still need to work on lowering his cholesterol and blood pressure, she told him. Though his viral load remains high, Otero said it should improve with regular, consistent care.
Pineapple Healthcare, which doesn’t receive initiative money, offers full-scope primary care to mostly Latino males. Hermida gets his HIV medication at no cost there because the clinic is part of a federal drug discount program.
The clinic is in many ways an oasis. The new diagnosis rate for Latinos in Orange County, Florida, which includes Orlando, rose by about a third from 2012 through 2022, while dropping by a third for others. Florida has the third-largest Latino population in the U.S., and had the seventh-highest rate of new HIV diagnoses among Latinos in the nation in 2022.
Hermida, whose asylum case is pending, never imagined getting medication would be so difficult, he said during the 500-mile drive from North Carolina to Florida. After hotel rooms, jobs lost, and family goodbyes, he is hopeful his search for consistent HIV treatment — which has come to define his life the past two years — can finally come to an end.
“Soy un nómada a la fuerza, pero bueno, como me comenta mi prometido y mis familiares, yo tengo que estar donde me den buenos servicios médicos,” he said. I’m forced to be a nomad, but like my family and my fiancé say, I have to be where I can get good medical services.
That’s the priority, he said. “Esa es la prioridad ahora.”
KFF Health News and The Associated Press analyzed data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the number of new HIV diagnoses and infections among Americans ages 13 and older at the local, state, and national levels. This story primarily uses incidence rate data — estimates of new infections — at the national level and diagnosis rate data at the state and county level.
Bose reported from Orlando, Fla.. Reese reported from Sacramento, Calif. AP video journalist Laura Bargfeld contributed to this report.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is responsible for all content.
This article was produced by KFF Health News, which publishes California Healthline, an editorially independent service of the California Health Care Foundation.
A Project of KFF Health News and the Associated Press co-published by Univision Noticias
CREDITS:
Reporters: Vanessa G. Sánchez, Devna Bose, Phillip Reese
Cinematography: Laura Bargfeld
Photography: Laura Bargfeld, Phelan M. Ebenhack
Video Editing: Federica Narancio, Kathy Young, Esther Poveda
Additional Video: Federica Narancio, Esther Poveda
Web Production: Eric Harkleroad, Lydia Zuraw
Special thanks to Lindsey Dawson
Editors: Judy Lin, Erica Hunzinger
Data Editor: Holly Hacker
Social Media: Patricia Vélez, Federica Narancio, Esther Poveda, Carolina Astuya, Natalia Bravo, Juan Pablo Vargas, Kyle Viterbo, Sophia Eppolito, Hannah Norman, Chaseedaw Giles, Tarena Lofton
Translation: Paula Andalo
Copy Editing: Gabe Brison-Trezise
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.
Subscribe to KFF Health News’ free Morning Briefing.
Monkeypox
LA County Public Health gives 200 Mpox Vax at WeHo Pride
Street Fair attendees lined up for their Mpox vaccination, while others asked questions & gathered info to get their vaccine at a later date
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2024/06/IMG_1938.jpg)
By Paulo Murillo | WEST HOLLYWOOD – The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health administered Mpox vaccinations at an on-site pop-up clinic at the WeHo Pride Street Fair during WeHo Pride Weekend on Saturday June 1, 2024 and Sunday, June 2, 2024, on Santa Monica Boulevard in the City’s Rainbow District.
According to a LA County public health nurse, 200 Mpox vaccinations were administered during the weekend. She said she believed it was an even 100 for each day, which was a much larger number than expected.
Several Street Fair attendees lined up for their mpox vaccination, while others asked questions and gathered information to get their vaccine at a later date because they didn’t want to risk feeling side effects during the pride festivities.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is hitting pride events again this year and is offering the Mpox (formerly known as “monkeypox”) vaccinations for free during various pride festivals throughout LA. county. No appointment are necessary. Individuals can simply sign up and wait their turn. The LA County Public Health booth is also condoms, swag and information on COVID, STDS and more.
The mpox vaccine is currently available to anyone who requests it and individuals do not have to disclose information about personal risk. The virus spreads primarily from prolonged skin-to-skin contact, which includes hugging, sleeping in the same bed, or sexual activity, and can also be transmitted via direct contact with scabs, rashes, or respiratory secretions from a person infected with mpox.
Large gatherings can become hubs for transmission of the virus, which disproportionately affected gay men, bisexual men, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) in a breakout in 2022.
According to the Los Angeles County Mpox case summary updated every other Friday, data as of May 30, 2024 a total of 2,605 Mpox / orthopox confirmed cases (number also includes Long Beach and Pasadena).
LA County Public Health information on the Mpox vaccine can be found at: http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/monkeypox/pride.htm.
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![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2024/04/image-14.png)
Paulo Murillo is Editor in Chief and Publisher of WEHO TIMES. He brings over 20 years of experience as a columnist, reporter, and photo journalist. Murillo began his professional writing career as the author of “Love Ya, Mean It,” an irreverent and sometimes controversial West Hollywood lifestyle column for FAB! newspaper. His work has appea
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The preceding article was previously published by WeHo Times and is republished with permission.
Human health studies & sciences
Sexually transmitted hard-to-treat fungal skin infections now in U.S.
This sexually transmitted form of ringworm has been increasingly diagnosed throughout Europe, reported mostly in men who have sex with men
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2024/06/NYU-Langone-Health.jpg)
NEW YORK – Healthcare providers should watch out for new and highly contagious forms of ringworm or jock itch, which are emerging as a potential public health threat, according to a pair of reports.
In the first of the studies, experts at NYU Langone Health who focus on the spread of contagious rashes document the first reported case in the United States of a sexually transmitted fungal infection that can take months to clear up, even with treatment. In the second report, NYU Langone physicians partnered with authorities at the New York State Department of Health to describe the largest group of patients in the country with a similar fungal strain that resists standard therapies.
Both species of fungi are among a group that causes skin rashes, or tinea, which easily spread on the face and limbs (ringworm), groin (jock itch), and feet (athlete’s foot). However, the tinea explored in the new reports can look very different from the neat, regular circles seen in most forms of ringworm. They may instead be confused for lesions caused by eczema and can therefore go without proper treatment for months.
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2024/06/dlo240006f2_1716224146.7861-546x600.png)
The first report, which published online on June 5 in the journal JAMA Dermatology, describes a man in his 30s who developed tinea on his penis, buttocks, and limbs after returning home to New York City from a trip to England, Greece, and California. Genetic tests of fungal samples collected from the patient’s rashes revealed that the infection was caused by the species Trichophyton mentagrophytes type VII (TMVII).
This sexually transmitted form of ringworm has been increasingly diagnosed throughout Europe, with 13 instances reported in France in 2023, mostly in men who have sex with men. Notably, the man in the current study said he had sex with multiple male partners during his travels, none of whom reported similar skin issues.
“Healthcare providers should be aware that Trichophyton mentagrophytes type VII is the latest in a group of severe skin infections to have now reached the United States,” said study lead author and dermatologist Avrom S. Caplan, MD. Dr. Caplan is an assistant professor in the Ronald O. Perelman Department of Dermatology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.
“Since patients are often reluctant to discuss genital problems, physicians need to directly ask about rashes around the groin and buttocks, especially for those who are sexually active, have recently traveled abroad, and report itchy areas elsewhere on the body,” added study senior author John G. Zampella, MD.
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2024/06/dlo240006f1_1716224146.7761-600x302.png)
(Photo Credit: JAMA Dermatology)
Dr. Zampella, an associate professor in the Ronald O. Perelman Department of Dermatology, says that while infections caused by TMVII are difficult to treat and can take months to clear up, they so far appear to respond to standard antifungal therapies, such as terbinafine.
Meanwhile, Dr. Caplan says the new skin condition explored in his other new report presents a greater challenge for dermatologists. The study results, published online in May in JAMA Dermatology, center on Trichophyton indotineae, which is widespread in India and is now reported globally. First confirmed in the United States last year, the infection causes itchy and contagious rashes similar to those of TMVII, but it often resists terbinafine treatment.
To better understand how T. indotineae can evade antifungal drugs, the researchers collected clinical and laboratory data from 11 men and women treated for ringworm in New York City hospitals between May 2022 and May 2023. Their tinea was confirmed to have been caused by T. indotineae. Seven of the patients had received standard doses of terbinafine for anywhere from 14 days (the usual duration for most forms of ringworm) to 42 days, yet their rashes did not improve.
Analyzing the fungal samples’ DNA, the team reported several variations in the genetic code (mutations) that prevent terbinafine from hooking onto fungal cells and poking holes in their protective membranes. According to the study authors, these mutations might help explain why the therapy often failed in some cases to fight the infections.
The results also showed that when seven patients were treated with another antifungal called itraconazole, three recovered entirely and two improved. The problem with this therapy, Dr. Caplan says, is that while effective, the drug can interfere with many medications and can cause nausea, diarrhea, and other side effects that make it hard to use for long periods.
“These findings offer new insight into how some of the fungal skin infections spreading from South Asia can evade our go-to therapies,” said Dr. Caplan. “Beyond learning to recognize their misleading signs, physicians will need to ensure their treatment addresses each patient’s quality of life needs.”
Dr. Caplan adds that he plans to work with leading fungi experts around the United States and internationally over the next few months to expand research efforts and track emerging cases.
The researchers caution that while dermatologists should be on the alert for signs of TMVII and T. indotineae in their patients, rates so far remain low in the United States.
Study funding was provided by NYU Langone.
Health
LGBTQ blood donation drive underway across the U.S.A.
The LGBTQ supportive blood drive will take place from May 28, 2024, through National Blood Donation Day on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2024/05/Americas-Blood-Centers.jpg)
NEW YORK – GLAAD, which describes itself as the world’s leading LGBTQ media advocacy organization, and America’s Blood Centers, a national organization of community-based independent blood donation centers, announced on May 22 they have launched an LGBTQ supportive “Summer of Giving” national blood donation drive campaign.
The announcement says the campaign is aimed at encouraging “businesses to host blood drives and all eligible individuals to donate blood in support of the recent FDA eligibility changes that promote fairness and inclusivity in the donation process while maintaining the safety of the blood supply.”
The joint announcement was referring to the final revised blood donation rules issued in May 2023 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that replaced a previous policy requiring men who have sex with men to abstain from sex for three months before they would be eligible to donate blood.
The previous policy was among the gradual changes made by the FDA from its original policy in the 1980s of automatically banning gay and bisexual men from donating blood due to their perceived risk of HIV infection. LGBTQ activists called that policy discriminatory because it banned all gay and bisexual men from donating blood even if they were not as individuals at risk for HIV infection.
The new policy, adopted in May 2023, according to a statement released by the FDA, put in place a screening process that asks all prospective donors regardless of their sexual orientation to answer a series of individual, risk-based questions to determine their eligibility for donating blood.
The FDA statement said implementation of the new policy “will represent a significant milestone for the agency and the LGBTQI+ community” as stated by Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.
“The ‘Summer of Giving’ is a celebration of the LGBTQ community and decades of work to remove the stigma too many potential donors have to endure,” said GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis in the joint statement. “Removing discriminatory barriers and following facts and science will ease the critical national blood shortage,” Ellis said, adding, “This campaign sends a long-needed message that LGBTQ people are welcome and can generously contribute to their communities to help save lives.”
Kate Fry, CEO of America’s Blood Centers, said in the statement that her organization is proud to join GLAAD to promote the facts surrounding the FDA’s change in blood donor policy, which she said, “prioritizes the safety of the blood supply while bringing more equality to the donation process.”
Fry added, “The Summer of Giving campaign is a unique opportunity for individuals and businesses to donate blood and host blood drives in support of a new era of blood donor eligibility. Together we can help save lives during a time of critical need for the blood community.”
The joint statement announcing the LGBTQ supportive blood drive says it would take place from May 28, 2024, through National Blood Donation Day on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, “in recognition of the critical need for blood donations during the summer months.” According to the statement, “Despite the ongoing demand for blood products, donations typically decline during this period due to travel and the lack of school-based blood drives.”
Under the revised FDA blood donation policy, as was the case with the previous policy, anyone who tests positive for HIV is not eligible to donate blood. The new policy includes these restrictions, which apply to everyone regardless of their sexual orientation or gender:
• Any individual who has had a new sexual partner in the past three months and has engaged in anal sex in the same period is deferred for three months from the most recent sexual contact from donating blood.
• Any individual who has had more than one sexual partner in the past three months and has engaged in anal sex during that same period is deferred for three months from the most recent sexual contact.
• Any individual who has taken any oral antiviral medication to prevent HIV (PrEP or PEP) is deferred for three months from the most recent dose. These medications may delay detection of HIV and result in false negative test results.
• Any individual who has taken any long-lasting antiviral medication by injection to prevent HIV (PrEP or PEP) is deferred for two years from the time from the most recent injection. These medications may delay detection of HIV and result in false negative test results.
• Any individual who has ever taken any mediation (i.e., ART) to treat an HIV infection is permanently deferred.
GLAAD and America’s Blood Centers say further details about the new FDA blood donation policy and to find the nearest community blood center, interested persons should access glaad.org/tag/summer-of-giving.
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