Being Alive; June 1997
Mary Lucey

Since that meeting, many changes have taken place within Being Alive's infrastructure. First of all, Walt Senterfitt has stepped aside from his position as long-time Board President. Walt unselfishly held the reins of the organization for four years. With extraordinary leadership ability, Walt helped to sustain Being Alive through tremendous financial hardships and difficult times. Walt, of course, will continue to contribute to Being Alive by holding a seat on the Board of Directors and volunteering on other levels, as well. Thank you, Walt.

I have accepted the position of interim Board President and several new volunteers are now members of the Board of Directors of Being Alive. Welcome aboard to Steve Arias, Ernie Federico, Napoleon Lustre and Scott Smith. Being Alive wishes to continue to expand the Board and, of course, Board meetings are open to the general public; participation from volunteers and members is encouraged.

Juan Ledesma has graciously agreed to serve as interim Vice President of the Board of Directors. He recently served as head of the Search Committee for replacing our Executive Director. Jim Stoecker, long-time Board member, continues to serve as Board Treasurer. We thank both of them for their long-time commitment to Being Alive and to people living with aids. The Board of Directors will begin the process of Board Officers' elections in the month of June; please join us.

The newly expanded Board is moving swiftly to fill vacant staff positions and streamline operations. The Board of Directors, staff and members would like to welcome Charlie Price as our interim Executive Director. Charlie Price is a long-time community activist for PWAs with extensive experience in working with small non-profit agencies. We look forward to working with Charlie in securing the future of Being Alive.

We'd like to thank Gary Costa for his superlative performance as Executive Director for the past several years. His dedication and exceptional contribution to Being Alive's mission will be truly missed.

With many important issues before us, we continue to be optimistic about the re-energization of the Board, volunteers and staff. We are asking for increased participation from our members and the aids community at large. In a time when aids funding is shrinking, it has become increasingly meaningful to come together as a community, to stand together as the People with AIDS Coalition who want and need to take control of our lives and, most importantly, our destiny. The Being Alive Board meetings are held the last Wednesday of each month at 3626 Sunset Blvd. at 7 p.m. Please join us. Together, we can and do make a difference.

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Copyright © 1997 - Beings Alive. Permission granted for noncommercial reproduction, provided that our address and phone number are included if more than short quotations are used. Subscription lists are kept confidential. Being Alive, 621 N. San Vicente Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069, Tel - 310.289.2551; FAX - 310.289.9866; Email: BeiAlive@aol.com  http://www.beingalivela.org/