This post is the first in a series that we are calling the “Urban Legends” of AIDS Network. An urban legend is best defined as a story that appears mysteriously and spreads spontaneously in various forms and is usually false and is popularly believed to be true.
Top on the list of the Urban Legends of AIDS Network is that AIDS Network is a sustainable agency. With glossy public relations pieces and rehashed annual reports the agency creates a facade of success and relevance, yet the truth is that this is an agency that is teetering on the brink of long term survival.
Ryan White, state Life Care Services and City of Madison and Dane County grant funds comprise 60 percent of the agency’s revenue. Their next largest source of revenue is the annual ACT Ride, which supposedly generates close to 300,000.00. A smattering of other small grants and small contributions make up the balance.
Federal, State and local grant dollars are, for all practical purposes, tapped out. The funding stream from the federal government and state and local governments are at a level that will likely not see any further increases. AIDS Network has been unable to generate any direct federal grants for prevention or other HIV/AIDS services.
The Development Department at AIDS Network, headed by restaurant reviewer and former travel agent Dan Curd has evolved into nothing more than a party planning department. The agency plans and executes a great party; give them credit for that. Yet the series of “Camp Bingo” events and the annual Red Ribbon dinner do little to contribute to the bottom line of the agency. Bingo is basically a break even proposition and the Red Ribbon dinner generates a net income in the range of 30,000.00.
Other than these events and a failed attempt at an annual appeal letter (which generated a measly $11,000.00 in 2008) the development function at AIDS Network is virtually non-existent.
Without a strong development department and an effective grant writing function that actually brings in additional revenue AIDS Network is destined to fail. It’s not a matter of whether or not this will happen; it’s a question of how long they can hang on before the doors are closed.
This agency is not sustainable. There has been no objective data provided that shows otherwise. To the contrary, this is an agency that is attempting to add services yet has to do so in a way that points out the current state of crisis. For example, the addition of a food pantry is a welcome service, yet the AIDS Network food pantry offers limited selection of items and is open to clients only one afternoon a week, three times per month.
The agency responds to our demand for additional mental health and AODA services by hiring a mental health professional for 3.25 hours a week (at 90.00 per hour). 3.25 hours of mental health coverage for 260 clients? Another sign that this agency is struggling to give the appearance of relevance but falling far short because of the dawning realization that they are not sustainable.
Yes, Karen Dotson and Ellen Berz will discount this Urban Legend as more rantings of a crazy and disgruntled former director, yet any independent look at the objective data points to the same conclusions that I have reached.
There are solutions to the problems at 600 Williamson Street. Instead of engaging the community in a respectful dialog, the agency has gotten into the gutter and cranked up their “stigma” machines of Dotson, Berz, Haney, Vasquez and Sifri; all who will share in the blame when the funding community and the government decision makers come to realize, as we did long ago, that AIDS Network is not a sustainable agency.
The “Urban Legend” of sustainability will go on for a while longer. There’s no doubt about it. Yet “Urban Legends” eventually run head on into the truth. That’s the day of reckoning that the AIDS Network board of directors is putting off in favor of putting a positive public relations spin on the agency’s mounting failures.
