We Keep Us Healthy: Our Community, Our Health, Our Stories
We Keep Us Healthy: Our Communities, Our Health, Our Stories
At Unity Arc Advocacy Group, we believe that data and stories belong together. Numbers can show trends — but people reveal truth.
Why We’re Starting This Series
We’ll begin this journey with the voices of advocates living with HIV — leaders who have moved From Surviving to Steering, using their lived experience to drive change and lift others.
In the months ahead, we’ll expand the conversation to include the broader community of people living with HIV, highlighting stories of resilience, partnership, and healing under the theme From Surviving to Thriving.
Finally, we’ll bring in the voices of our allies and supporters — those working beside us to build systems rooted in health equity and justice.
Together, these stories remind us that progress is collective, and that we keep us healthy.
What to Expect Each Month
Real Stories, Real People:
Each post will align with our Storytelling Series, featuring videos and testimonies from individuals whose lives are directly affected by the ongoing cuts. You’ll meet patients, community health workers, and advocates who refuse to be invisible.Data in Plain Language:
We’ll unpack the week’s developments in HIV care and prevention — what’s changing, who’s at risk, and where progress is still happening. Using the Health Equity Monitor dashboard, we’ll translate national trends into local insight for Southern communities.Action and Advocacy:
Every story will close with tangible steps — how you can help protect funding, amplify voices, or connect neighbors to care.
Your Community, Your Health, Your Story
Hi, I’m Malcolm Reid, Founder and CEO of Unity Arc Advocacy Group, and I have the honor of serving as the current Chair of the Policy Action Committee of the U.S. People Living with HIV Caucus.
Welcome to From Surviving to Steering, part of a new blog series called We Keep Us Healthy: Our Community, Our Health, Our Stories.
For many of us living with HIV, survival was once the focus — taking our meds, trusting in our spiritual guide and in medicine, and just holding on through uncertainty. But survival was never meant to be the finish line.
At some point, each of us finds the power to steer — to take the wheel of our lives, to turn our experiences into action, and to guide others toward healing and justice. Steering means moving from simply getting by to living on purpose — leading, advocating, and thriving.
I invite you to share your story right here. Record a short video — two to five minutes is perfect. Speak from your heart; no script needed. You can also record audio only or submit a written story.
Tell us what helped you move from surviving to steering. What does “steering” look like for you — in your life, your family, or your community?
And because advocacy is about the times we’re living in, we also want to hear your thoughts on how cuts to Medicaid and HIV funding could affect you and the people you serve.
Your story matters. Your voice has power. Together, our stories become a force for truth, healing, and change — a reminder that we keep us healthy.
Thank you for sharing your truth, your strength, and your leadership.
This first chapter of our storytelling series begins with advocates living with HIV — people who’ve turned survival into leadership, fear into action, and experience into advocacy.
As we move forward, we’ll feature stories from the wider community of people living with HIV and from our allies who stand in solidarity for equity and care.
Wherever you are on that journey — steering, thriving, or supporting — your voice belongs here. Record your story below and be part of We Keep Us Healthy: Our Community, Our Health, Our Stories.