Party with a purpose

Nonprofit Joining Hearts celebrates 30 years with a pool party

Joining Hearts.5968f69988656
Photo credit: Courtesy Joining Hearts
Erin Bakermans (from left), Jerry Henderson and Cory Henderson attend Joining Hearts' Memorial Day Sunday Summer Kickoff event.

In 2015, HIV/AIDS rates in Atlanta were described as “reminiscent of New York in the ’80s.” Today, more than 30,000 people in Atlanta have been diagnosed as HIV positive, and the city ranks fifth in the country for new HIV infections. In short, Atlanta is facing an epidemic. Enter: Joining Hearts.

Since 1987, Joining Hearts, an all-volunteer nonprofit organization focused on HIV/AIDS activism, has raised awareness and funds to provide care and housing assistance to people living with HIV/AIDS in Atlanta. The nonprofit began when a group of friends noticed a lack of housing needs for those with HIV/AIDS. They threw their first fundraising party at the height of the AIDS epidemic in the ’80s and have never looked back.

Jerry Henderson, president of Joining Hearts’ board of directors, tells Creative Loafing that Joining Hearts “works directly with community leaders, affiliated state organizations, the city, concerned citizens and HIV/AIDS experts to assess patients’ needs and define the best leverage funds to highly impact the current state of HIV/AIDS in Atlanta.”

Since its founding, Joining Hearts has raised more than $2 million dollars for HIV/AIDS awareness and assistance in Atlanta, and last year the organization saw a 30 percent increase in grants, which significantly expanded its reach.

The money raised by Joining Hearts goes toward various organizations in the city working to combat HIV/AIDS, including AID Atlanta, Jerusalem House, Living Room, Positive Impact, Grady IDP, Action Cycle Atlanta, Open Hand Atlanta and Lost-N-Found Youth, which work to provide services like awareness, testing, care, and housing assistance.

While Joining Hearts’ contribution to the community has been vital, the reality of the epidemic proves that there’s still much more work to be done. Despite medical advancement, HIV/AIDS is still deeply stigmatized and misunderstood.

“Even though great progress has been made in battling this disease,” Henderson says, “there is still more work to do in eradicating HIV/AIDs in Atlanta ... It’s time to rip the band-aid off and have deeper discussions to make a difference.” He says that though discussions are happening, “not enough focus is on prevention and education.”

For Henderson, this only means those at Joining Hearts have to work a little harder. That’s why their main event for 2017, Thirty, Flirty, Thriving, a pool party at Piedmont Park Aquatic Center, will be bigger than ever. While the pool party is a celebration of Joining Hearts’ 30th anniversary and everything the organization has accomplished, it is also the group’s biggest fundraising event of the year and an opportunity to significantly increase its impact in Atlanta’s community.

“It takes countless hours and volunteers for the event to work seamlessly,” Henderson says. “Joining Hearts’ Host Committee works hard in the planning and execution of such a large event, which has sold out in the past several years.”

Their hard work certainly seems to have paid off. This year’s pool party is already sold out (those who wish to attend can still donate to be a Joining Hearts patron and receive VIP tickets in return). To give us “a little sneak peek” of the event, Henderson tells us that the party will have two opening DJs, DJ Joe Gauthreaux and DJ Grind, as well as Atlanta’s own DJ Seth Breezy, and the night’s celebration will close with fireworks across the city’s skyline.

Joining Hearts 30: Thirty, Flirty, Thriving: 4-11 p.m. Sat., July 15. Piedmont Park Aquatic Center, 1345 Piedmont Ave. N.E. www.joininghearts.org.

 






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