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Cascade AIDS Project Honors Heroes on World AIDS Day

Portland City Commissioner Amanda Fritz, Mayor Ted Wheeler, Cascade AIDS Project Executive director Tyler TerMeer and Commissioner Nick Fish

Portland, OR. Cascade AIDS Project (CAP) commemorated World AIDS Day by celebrating several people and organizations. CAP honored those dedicated to supporting and empowering all people with or affected by HIV, reducing stigma, and providing the LGBTQ+ community with compassionate healthcare. The City of Portland was honored at the December 3rd event, which was held at the Hilton. Portland City Commissioner Amanda Fritz, Mayor Ted Wheeler, Cascade AIDS Project Executive director Tyler TerMeer and Commissioner Nick Fish all posed for a photo.

CAP supporters marked World AIDS Day, which takes place on the 1st of December each year. It’s an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, to show support for people living with HIV, and to commemorate those who have died from an AIDS-related illness.

This was the 30th anniversary of World Aids Day. Founded in 1988, it was the first ever global health day.

Here’s more information about those honored at the CAP event:

One of those honored was Kathleen Saadat. She’s is an activist and community organizer who has dedicated her life to social justice. Today, Ms. Kathleen Saadat continues her work as a private consultant and trainer in the areas of human diversity, organization development, and as a motivational speaker.Kathleen began her service by earning a BA in Psychology at Reed College in Portland, Oregon, holding several managerial positions with the City of Portland’s CETA Job Training Programs in the 1970’s and 80’s and the position of Executive Director for the Oregon State Commission on Black Affairs.

From 1987 to 1990, Kathleen was appointed by former Oregon Governor Neil Goldschmidt to State Director of Affirmative Action.From 1990-1992, she was Assistant to Portland City Commissioner Gretchen Kafoury.From 1997 to 2001, she was Strategic Plan Coordinator for Multnomah County and Oregon’s Department of Community and Family Services.From 2005 to 2011, Kathleen joined Cascade AIDS Project as Manager of Communities of Color Initiative and was promoted to Director of Diversity and Human Resources.From 2011-2016, she served the City of Portland as Manager of Diversity and Affirmative Action and then as Chair, of the Community Oversight Advisory Board. Early in 2018, after a lifetime of singing, Kathleen released her first recording album Love for Sale.

Kathleen Sadaat has earned numerous achievement awards for her continued service to the Portland community. Kathleen received lifetime achievement awards from Portland PFLAG Black Chapter and Portland’s Equity Foundation. She was listed as one of 100 Who Lead, in Oregon; received the Woman of Achievement Award from Oregon State University; received two Portland Lesbian Community Project’s Spirit of Portlandia Awards for Leadership; the Bayard Rustin Civil Rights Award; the Harvey Milk Award; a Civil Liberties Award from the Oregon chapter of the ACLU; the Phoenix Rising Jack Abele award; and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the World Arts Foundation in recognition of her contributions to the efforts to “Keep Living the Dream” of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.The Lifetime Achievement Award from Oregon Black PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) is now named after Kathleen.

Corporate Hero – Edward J. Reeves / Stoel Rives

Edward Reeves is listed in The Best Lawyers in America and Chambers USA as one of the top Labor and Employment lawyers in Oregon. Mr. Edward J. Reeves received his B.A. degree from Yale University and his J.D. degree from Boston University Law School. He is currently a senior counsel in the Portland office of Stoel Rives LLP, a 375-attorney firm with offices throughout the Pacific and Intermountain Northwest.

Since 1984, Edward’s practice has focused on labor and employment, civil rights and education law. He is a member of the American Bar Association, Oregon State Bar Association, Washington State Bar Association, and the Oregon Gay and Lesbian Law Association. He was program chair of the original Lavender Law Conference held in San Francisco in 1988 and a cofounder of the National LGBT Bar Association. Edward Reeves started working with Cascade AIDS Project from its beginning in 1983. He has contributed the highest level of pro bono services of anyone in CAP’s history aroundlegal advice for HR issues and trainings for management.

Edward Reeves has been honored with numerous awards for his civil rights work including the Oregon State Bar’s Affirmative Action Award in 1991, the Basic Rights Oregon Superheroes Award in 2004 and the Cascade AIDS Project Torchbearer Award in 2006. He is the author of numerous articles including “Equality or Further Discrimination? Sexual Orientation Nondiscrimination in Oregon Statutory Employment Law After Tanner v. OHSU,” 3 J. Small & Emerging Bus. L. 269 (1999) and “Before ENDA: Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Protections in the Workplace Under Federal Law,” 20 J. Law & Sexuality 61 (2011).

Community Hero – City of Portland

The City of Portland is deeply committed to equality and to inclusive public health, and are proud to partner with the Cascade AIDS Project. In 2016, the City approved a Special Appropriation to support Prism Health – reflecting in their shared values around ensuring access to high-quality healthcare for the LGBTQ+ community. The City of Portland looks forward to continuing to work with Cascade AIDS Project to protect the rights of all community members who are living with HIV/AIDS.

CAP’s strength, as with all organizations fighting to end HIV, comes from the community banding together, united in a common cause.The City of Portland is an ally helping CAP achieve its mission of supporting and empowering all people with or affected by HIV, reducing stigma, and providing the LGBTQ+ community with compassionate healthcare. We recognize the City of Portland for their continued support for all community members.

From CAP:

CAP is the oldest and largest community-based provider of HIV services, housing, education and advocacy in Oregon and Southwest Washington

Founded in 1983, Cascade AIDS Project (CAP) is the oldest and largest AIDS Service Organization in Oregon and Southwest Washington. Our Mission: We support and empower all people with or affected by HIV, reduce stigma, and provide the LGBTQ+ community with compassionate healthcare.

With a staff of approximately 60, and a volunteer corps of over 700 individuals providing 20,000 hours of service each year, CAP manages a diverse array of programs and an annual budget of $4.2 million. Fifteen percent of CAP’s staff live with HIV, 25% identify from communities of color, and 30% are bilingual. A committed 14-member volunteer Board of Directors provides strategic guidance and oversight to ensure CAP accomplishes its mission and continues to operate with integrity and transparency.

Following is a brief overview of just a few of CAP’s programs:

• Pivot, a men’s wellness center, is open evenings and weekends to provide education, prevention, social and cultural programming, HIV and sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing, and much more. Pivot served over 2,000 individuals last year and tested 743 men for HIV and STIs.

• Last year, Oregon’s AIDS/STD hotline fielded over 4,500 calls from throughout Oregon about HIV and STIs. We’ve added a new on-line searchable database and live chat features.

• Latinos Unidos Enfrentando el SIDA (LUES) provides culturally-driven HIV prevention education in the Latino community. Last year LUES reached nearly 1,600 people through training, HIV/STI testing, and outreach events. In addition, LUES launched an innovative and popular radionovela series including characters living with HIV/AIDS.

• CAP’s Youth HIV Education program connected with over 1,000 youth through youth-facilitated workshops, and served an additional 2,581 youth through outreach, including distributing 7,602 in safer sex supplies.

• Short and Long-Term Housing Support. Last year, we provided housing services to 583 people living with HIV and developed 58 new housing opportunities. We also distributed just over $100,000 to 204 people in emergency assistance, and nearly 80% of those people still had stable housing six months after receiving assistance.

• CAP’s Family Support programs, encompassing CAP’s Kids Camp, Kids’ Connection, and Teens.Recreation.Education.Community, served 130 HIV-affected and -infected children in 66 families by offering a full menu of support programs.

For more information: http://www.cascadeaids.org/

Elisa Klein

I’ve been a professional journalist and writer since 1987, (and long-time reporter for KOIN-TV.) As a nationally published reporter, with a Master’s Degree in Journalism, I love to report positive news and information. Journalism has also connected me with another non-profit where I served as a leader; the Northwest’s biggest writer’s organization: The Willamette Writers.