Housing Works: Housing Prevents AIDS. Housing Improves Health.

On December 1, World AIDS Day, Housing Works will host its annual 24-hour vigil at the southern end of City Hall Park. Starting at 12:01 AM on December 1, hundreds of New Yorkers will brave the dark and the cold to read the names of those who have died of AIDS for 24 continuous hours.

In a letter to Housing Works supporters, longtime AIDS activist and Academy Award-winning actress Susan Sarandon encouraged New Yorkers to submit names to be read at the vigil on the Housing Works’ World AIDS Day Memorial website, www.housingworks.org/worldaidsday.

“Please consider sharing the names of loved ones who have been lost to HIV/AIDS, so that they may be read aloud as part of Housing Works World AIDS Day Commemoration,” Sarandon’s letter said. She added, “For nearly 20 years, Housing Works has been at the forefront of the battle against HIV/AIDS and homelessness.”

Housing Works has organized the 24-hour vigil since 1995 as a tribute to those who have died of AIDS and as a reminder to the Mayor and City Council that the AIDS epidemic is not over in New York City. More than 104,000 New Yorkers are currently living with HIV/AIDS.

The official theme of this year’s World AIDS Day is “Universal Access and Human Rights.” Housing Works has been pushing New York City and State to expand access to housing for homeless people with AIDS, notably through a campaign to update the definition of AIDS.

For more information, visit www.housingworks.org/WorldAIDSDay