Keith D. Cylar Activist Fund
The Keith D. Cylar Activist Fund was established in 2004 after the death of Housing Works cofounder Keith D. Cylar. Cylar died of AIDS-related complications.
The Fund is a permanent endowment to support advocacy and activism by people living with HIV/AIDS in the U.S. and around the world, ensuring that they receive the training and ongoing support they need to fully involve themselves in AIDS policy and decision-making. The Fund supports the Keith D. Cylar AIDS Activist Awards, given annually to activists on the global, national and Housing Works community level to empower them in their work.
To make a contribution using a downloadable form that can be faxed or mailed, please click here.
The 2010 Keith D. Cylar Awardees
The 2010 Keith D. Cylar International AIDS Activist Award goes to PHAP+, a coalition of grassroots Haitian AIDS organizations led by people living with HIV/AIDS. After the devastating earthquake of January 12, PHAP+ swung into action. In collaboration with Housing Works, Aid for AIDS, Caribbean Women’s Health Center and Diaspora Community Services, PHAP+ opened a new HIV clinic in Port-au-Prince; helped reopen a family health center sponsored by Diaspora Community Services; and lay the groundwork for another HIV clinic in St.-Marc, a city north of Port-au-Prince where tens of thousands of Haitians have fled. The clinic in St.-Marc now is up and running, and all told, the three clinics have provided services to more than 2,600 Haitians. PHAP+ has not limited itself to providing care—it is also on the front lines of pushing the United Nations and USAID to create and implement a disaster relief plan for people living with AIDS.
Learn more about Housing Works’ collaboration with PHAP+ and how you can help.
The 2010 Keith D. Cylar Virginia Shubert Courage Award goes to Edner Boucicaut. Named after Housing Works cofounder Virginia Shubert, the award recognizes the extraordinary contributions of a non-HIV-positive activist in the fight against AIDS and AIDS stigma. Boucicaut’s salaried job is as Chief Communications Officer for Cecosida, an organization that promotes stories about AIDS in the Haitian media. However, Boucicaut donates so much of his time to promoting the work of PHAP+ and helping the coalition organize that he has, in essence, made working for the group his second, unpaid job. Boucicaut has dedicated countless hours to helping PHAP+ grow and tirelessly tapped his extensive network of government officials and AIDS community members to surmount the obstacles that all community organizations face. He has done all of this organizing while caring for his family, which like so many other Haitian families, was displaced by the earthquake and is living in tents. A Paris-educated professional, Boucicaut could have left Haiti many years ago; however, he is far too deeply committed to helping Haitians living with disease to do so.
