STORIES Circle with MAP

If you are managing an HIV diagnosis, or your life has been affected by someone with HIV or AIDS, please join us to share stories. Family members, friends, co-workers, caretakers, activists, community organizers, and healthcare professionals -- we want you to tell your story and hear the stories of others.

The event is free and will be held at the Minority AIDS Project on Wednesday, June 26 at noon.

After a short opening program, participants will gather in groups of six to tell stories about how HIV and/or AIDS has impacted their lives. Each group ("Circle") will have a Facilitator to help guide the storytelling process. Each participant will have five minutes to tell their story, and others in your Circle will have the opportunity to respond to your story. The story-telling process will take about one hour.

This event is hosted by and the (MAP). STORIES: The AIDS Monument is building a historical monument in West Hollywood Park dedicated to those lost to HIV/AIDS and everyone who cared for people with AIDS, fought for better healthcare, and worked to advance HIV research and treatment. See below for an artist's rendering of the future monument. This is the twelfth event in the STORIES Circle series, and it is funded in part by a grant from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.

MAP's mission is dedicated to empowering and enriching the lives of individuals surviving with HIV/AIDS and other health disparities by offering medical, mental health, spiritual, and physical health service to all underserved populations by making health related services and education available and accessible to everyone. MAP’s services and educational programs are community-wide and available to all people. However, from the beginning, the primary focus of our services and outreach has been to People of color communities in Central and South-Central Los Angeles. Until the doors opened at MAP, these communities had little or no real access to preventive education and essential health care services.

When we can share our stories, listen to each other, feel heard, empathize and unify around common experiences and emotions, we can heal. Capturing the stories shared in these STORIES Circles is one of the primary ways we are making sure our individual and collective experiences during the AIDS pandemic are never forgotten.

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An artist rendering of STORIES: The AIDS Monument in West Hollywood Park.

Host or Publisher STORIES: The AIDS Monument