July 2003

Board Meets in Atlanta

by Bruce Garner, Co-Chair

The Board of Directors of the National Episcopal AIDS Coalition held its regular meeting in Atlanta on April 25 and 26, 2003. We spent the first day (Friday) touring four local AIDS service providers and hearing them summarize their work in the community on behalf of those affected by HIV/AIDS. We visited AID Atlanta, Project Open Hand, The Names Project, and AIDS Treatment Initiatives.

Saturday began with a Eucharist celebrated in All Saints’ Church’s Memorial Chapel; the location was particularly appropriate because the hand-stenciled decorations on the walls of the sanctuary had been given in memory of those in the parish who had died from AIDS and in honor of those who had cared for them.

At Project Open Hand</a>, Project Director Stephen Woods (center) briefed the board; shown here are Bruce Garner, The Rev. Richard Brewer, Chris Haley-Walden, Woods, Randy Kimmel, and The Rev. Billy Alford.

At Project Open Hand, Project Director Stephen Woods (center) briefed the board; shown here are Bruce Garner, The Rev. Richard Brewer, Chris Haley-Walden, Woods, Randy Kimmel, and The Rev. Billy Alford.

After the Eucharist, we devoted Saturday to the business of NEAC and of the National Committee on HIV/AIDS of the Episcopal Church, who met with us in joint session. Our shared ministry provided fertile ground for interaction and directed us toward future activities for both organizations. Among the items of business was discussion of our activities for the General Convention in Minneapolis this summer. We also received status reports and discussed our progress on projects for Young People and HIV/AIDS, the Teens for AIDS Prevention (TAP) program, and HIV programs for those over fifty years old and updates on activities related to the strategic plan adopted at our last meeting in January. We were able to report progress on all assignments.

The board elected The Rev. Valerie Thomas as board co-chair, filling the vacancy created when Scott Barnette had to resign that position due to heavier than expected work responsibilities. Chris Haley-Walden was elected vice-chair of the board and Sue Kuebler was elected secretary.

The board also appointed the Rev. William Frampton to be executive director without compensation. This allowed the board to insure that certain areas of responsibility were always covered, such as representation at meetings and conferences when other board members could not attend. Another important duty will be to help plan board meetings, particularly in cities where there is no board member living nearby. This agreement allowed us to put a structure in place that would serve NEAC and its members well without incurring any fiscal liabilities.

Upon reaching this agreement, Bill resigned his board position. We elected the Rev. Billy Alford, a member of the committee on HIV/AIDS, to complete the remainder of Bill’s term. Since Bill’s resignation from the board also created a vacancy on the Executive Committee, we elected Scott Barnette to an at-large position — a role that his work responsibilities would allow him to fill, giving NEAC the continued benefit of the experience of someone working professionally to provide HIV/AIDS services.

The board concluded this extremely busy and productive meeting with discussions of future meeting dates and locations and with a review of the action items assigned to each board member.