MILWAUKEE — Vivent Health is hosting the sold-out Make a Promise gala on Friday, April 10th, at the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee to celebrate 40 years of working to end the HIV epidemic in Wisconsin.
"It's 40 years of transformation, 40 years of helping the community and really responding to the AIDS crisis," Brandon Hill said.
Hill is the president and CEO of Vivent Health. The organization has helped drive some of the strongest HIV outcomes in the country using an integrated care model that has become a model for HIV care nationwide.
"It's a true integrated model. That means that food service, food pantry, legal assistance, housing assistance — that team works directly with the providers, doctors, dentists, nurses, behavioral health specialists, psychiatrists, and pharmacists — they work as one team," Hill said.
In the mid-1990's, Hill said there were roughly 600 new diagnoses statewide per year. He said that the number is now cut down to roughly 200, and 80 percent of people living with HIV in Wisconsin are connected to services from Vivent.
That has led to patients achieving viral suppression rates above national averages, meaning people living with HIV are able to live long and healthy lives.
Watch: Vivent Health celebrates 40 years of fighting the HIV epidemic in Wisconsin with a sold-out Milwaukee gala
"Prevention holds the key to helping us finish the epidemic, get over that finish line, and right now there's been a lot of threats, and there are a lot of changes, and there's also a lot of uncertainty, and we know that anything that is done there could set us back. Now, our community, as Wisconsin and Milwaukee have done, has committed to fighting that fight, moving ahead and not losing any ground — because we really can't," Hill said.
Friday's gala honors the work of Vivent and the legacy of the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin, while helping the organization look ahead to a future of helping even more people live long, healthy lives, while working to end the HIV epidemic.
While the event is already sold out, Vivent has volunteer opportunities and is accepting donations from anyone who wants to contribute to the fight.
TMJ4 Anchor and Reporter Ryan Jenkins will serve as the emcee at the Make A Promise Gala.
The gala is a tradition dating back to 1986, when a group of gay men hosted a dinner party in a Milwaukee-area home to raise funds to fight against HIV/AIDS. Their success inspired a promise to return the following year with more people and to raise more money. That promise continues, and the goal is to repeat the annual dinner until a cure for AIDS is found.
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