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The big news this week is that the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), whose tagline is "cutting-edge medicine and advocacy regardless of ability to pay", opened a Men's Wellness Center in North Miami! This clinic, dubbed the AHF “Magic Johnson” Healthcare Center, is located at Jackson North (for all my fellow Miami-ans) and it's a walk-in clinic that provides confidential sexual health services - including HIV and STD testing and treatment at no cost to clients. Awesome!
When I saw this healine, my interest was immediately peaked because I called Miami home for 18+ years. As I looked further, I discovered that AHF is one interesting org - that definitely does some creative outreach.
AHF has a number of consignment shops across California - and with a few locations in Florida - called Out of the Closet Thirft Stores. The name alone is enough to make my heart do a little happy dance, but there's more. "Ninety-six cents of every dollar raised goes directly to care and services provided to HIV/AIDS patients and clients at AHF facilities in the US and around the world," says AHF president Michael Weinstein. And! several AHF ‘Out of the Closet’ sites also serve as free HIV and STD testing centers (including the Miami location). Awesome!
But that's not all.
In November 2008, Out of the Closet Thrift Stores gained national media attention at the mouth of - wait for it - Sarah Palin. This is how it went down:
- Sarah Palin was named Republican Vice Presidential Candidate
- Sarah Palin caught flack for an alleged $150,000 shopping spree where the Republican Nation Committee footed the bill
- Sarah Palin combated said attack by showing her family to be frugal shoppers of Anchorage's Out of the Closet thrift store
- AHF heard about it (as did the rest of the world listening to main stream U.S.-based media) and did a double-take. You see, AHF has a trademark on the name "Out of the Closet Thrift Store' and has been working since 1990 to get the name out there in order to raise funds and awareness for HIV prevention and treatment. The Anchorage store is a for-profit privately owned situation.
- AHF legally asked the Anchorage store to cease using the name.
- Anchorage store complied.
- AHF also encouraged Sarah Palin to donate her campaign wardrobe to Out of the Closet Thrift Stores to raise money for their awareness, prevention, and treatment programs. Awesome!
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