Last week, news broke that a New York woman was "cured" of HIV following a blood stem cell transplant to treat leukemia.
But did the headlines get the story right?
Central Illinois Friends has served people living with HIV in Greater Peoria since 1990.
In this interview, WCBU's Hannah Alani interviews Central Illinois Friends executive director Deric Kimler about his take on the latest breakthrough in the treatment of HIV. The two also chatted about the growing need for sexual health services in central Illinois.
The following is a transcript of an interview that aired during “All Things Peoria” on Thursday, Feb. 24. It has been edited for length and clarity.
Deric Kimler: These are unique circumstances. This is the third person that we know of that has been, quote unquote, ‘cured’. But they're really in remission. And that's not technically a cure. And so, before the community really gets our hopes up, we've got to take our time and do our studies to make sure this works for everybody. This may just be a unique situation. And so, I know that you're seeing a lot of headlines that say this is a ‘cure.’ But this is not technically a cure for all yet. But it is exciting news, because it means we're closer. And so I do believe we'll see it very soon and in our lifetime, but if you're listening to this, and you're living with HIV, and you're feeling really, really excited right now, please, please, please just wait, and hold out. Give us a call. We will talk to you and explain to you why this is ‘remission,’ and not quite a ‘cure’ yet. I don't want you to read these headlines and immediately think that that this is over.
Hannah Alani: Can you kind of explain that, the difference between remission and cure? If one of our listeners did call you up and say, ‘Hey, explain this to me,’ what would you say?
Deric Kimler: So the difference between remission and a cure is that the virus is still inside of you, right? So today, we have what's called ‘undetectable equals un-transmittable,’ where the medication gets the viral load so low that you are undetectable, which means you cannot transmit the virus. Just because the virus is dormant inside your body, does not mean that you're not living with HIV, right? You're still living with HIV. Now that is somebody that is taking medication every day.
Now with this situation, this person is in ‘full remission.’ And as of right now, we have seen that they do not need to continue to take medication, because the counts, the viral load, has not gone up. But, the virus is still inside of the body. So, they're undetectable. They're un-transmittable. In all sense of the word, they are just like everyone else, right? That's not living with HIV. Except the virus is still in their body, and it make come back. Whereas a ‘cure,’ the virus is completely gone.
So if you're living with HIV, and you're listening to this, and you're getting really excited about the report of this cure, just, please be cautiously optimistic. I can't express enough that this is exciting news. However, remission is not the same as a cure. And although the headline says it’s a ‘cure,’ we have a lot of time and studies to make sure that this is going to be right for everyone. And not just this this one person. And so yes, be cautiously optimistic, but the key word is ‘cautiously.’
Hannah Alani: Remind our listeners where you're physically located now, and how long you've been there. I know Central Illinois Friends has been an organization in some way shape or form since 1990, is that right?
Deric Kimler: Yeah. So we've been at UnityPoint Health at the Glen Oak Medical Plaza for probably 14 years now, 13 years. So that's right in Downtown Peoria. And that's our main hub. … We have a second location now that we opened up in Normal, Illinois, and that's on 900 Franklin Avenue. We’re actually in walking distance of Illinois Wesleyan University, and ISU, and we're right down the street from Carle Hospital.
We are looking for a brand new space here in Peoria. Because we are busting out of the seams of this office. We've outgrown it. The need is very much here. And we know that other organizations could utilize this service as well. And so it's not just a person-to-person kind of service. I mean, we're helping other organizations as well.
Hannah Alani: Do you have a goal in mind, a fundraising goal, when it comes to either build, lease or buy, a new space, in Peoria?
Deric Kimler: I wish I did. We're in the very, very early stages. So I put together a pretty cool committee, and we got a lot of good movers and shakers on the committee and I'm really excited. I feel like we have the right people on the bus. But we've just started our meetings. So, it's exciting. There's a lot of energy behind this. And the need keeps coming. I mean, there's not a day that goes by where we don't have someone in our office, they could benefit from this service.
Hannah Alani: For our listeners who aren't familiar with your organization, what does Central Illinois Friends do? And can you speak a bit more to how you're ‘busting out of the seams,’ how the need is just growing so fast?
Deric Kimler: Yeah. So essentially, Friends helps people living with HIV. And that is, that is our very first prong of what we do. We were founded to help people that were dying in their last dying days, or struggling in the early years of trying to live with HIV. And now we can help people live a long and lasting life as comfortable as possible. Our goal is to try to get everyone who is living with HIV access to care. So that's a that's our number one priority.
Outside of that, we also do completely free sexual health services. So, you know, outside of the testing for HIV, in the last 14 years, we've really grown our prevention outreach. And specifically growth towards complete comprehensive sexual health education and testing services. Now, you may think, how does this correlate with what you just got done talking about, with a development building? Well, what ends up happening is the community members that we've been seeing more and more, that have really blown up during COVID, are community members that have the highest barriers to accessing health options in central Illinois. And those people are LGBTQ+, they’re people that may not be citizens. They’re people of color, specifically women of color, who aren't treated fairly when it comes to their reproductive health. And so we've been seeing an increase in people from pockets of vulnerable populations coming through our doors and saying, ‘Hey, we need sexual health services.’
Now, I just told you the two prongs that we do, but there's a whole other prong … We’re trying work with other organizations to build. And that other prong is the very thing that those people coming in are asking for, which is primary care options. [Hormone-Replacement Therapy]. Specialty care. Transgender services. Counseling services. And so on and so forth. And right now it's getting harder and harder to find a referral. Not to say it doesn't exist in Peoria, or in Bloomington. But the entities where it exists are flooding. And they can't keep up. And so we really do need another option. Options are good for our community, despite many people saying, you know, ‘Let's not recreate the wheel,’ or, ‘Let's not duplicate services.’ Well, we do need to recreate the wheel in this field. And the duplication is necessary because there aren't enough services for the people that need them.
Hannah Alani: What is your budget, and how much of the budget relies on individual giving donations?
Deric Kimler: So our budget we just passed for 2022 is over $1 million. This is the very first time we've ever had a million dollar budget. When I first started, we were at $600,000. That's how much this place has grown. I mean, we have a staff finally, a team that is going out and doing the work. So it's exciting.
We would consider it a win if we raised $100,000 in donations. And you may think, ‘Well, that is not very much of a million dollars.’ But for us, it is, by the way that we’re structured. We have grants. We work with the Illinois Department of Public Health, Illinois Public Health Association. The piece of what we do that we raise funds for specifically goes directly to the community. We are lucky enough to have UnityPoint Health and to have Carle Hospital housing us. Because they house us, we can take that donation and directly buy a bed for someone who is living with HIV and can't afford a place. We can take that money and directly furnish an entire apartment for somebody who is getting out of rehabilitation and just needs that extra help to stay sober. You name it. We can go on and make sure that all the testing is completely free, no matter the boxes you check on an intake form. It doesn't matter, your race, your ethnicity, your sex, your sexual orientation, your gender, your social class, it doesn't matter. We have the ability to make it free. And those donations help with that.
Hannah Alani: You have a big fundraiser coming up this Friday, Mardi Gras, which is sold out! For any listeners who aren’t making it to Mardi Gras, but want to donate to your cause, and help you do what you do, or volunteer their time. … How can folks go about doing that?
Deric Kimler: Yeah, go to our website. And there's a ‘Donate’ tab on there, it's through PayPal. And so you can set up monthly giving, or just go ahead and give whatever you can. And there's also a ‘Get Involved’ tab where you can sign up to be a volunteer. We would very much appreciate it.
