News & Updates

04/26/2011: The 18th Annual Spirit of Hope Awards

Our annual Spirit of Hope event continues to be our largest fundraiser of the year and takes place on Tuesday, April 26, 2011. This year, we proudly honor Jeanne White-Ginder (activist and mother of the late Ryan White), Tom Whitman (special events promoter) and Rick Garcia (Manager of Chase Bank, Hollywood). The event includes entertainment, cocktails, hors 'oeuvres, and a silent auction.

02/23/2011: Mardi Gras

The Being Alive Mardi Gras Fundraiser takes place on Wednesday, February 23, 2011, featuring New Orleans Jazz, a raffle, complimentary hors d'oeuvres, beads, and, of course, libations. Laissez les bon temps rouler!

04/20/2010: The 17th Annual Spirit of Hope Awards

On Tuesday night, April 20th, Being Alive hosted our largest fundraiser of the year, The Spirit of Hope Awards. Each year we honor deserving individuals and organizations who have done exemplary work in the fight against HIV/AIDS. This year we honored the law firm of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker for their pro bono efforts to combat the state of California’s budget cuts to AIDS service organizations; Congresswoman Maxine Waters, for her commitment to enacting legislation to help people living with HIV; to producer, writer, director and activist Del Shores for his vigorous work in raising funds for HIV organizations throughout the United States; and to Dr. Neva Chauppette for her outstanding work in the area of treating people with HIV for substance abuse.

This was the second year we held the event at Skybar at The Mondrian Hotel, and by all accounts the evening was a smashing success. We raised over $50,000, and the evening was filled with good food and drink, amazing entertainment, and uplifting speeches. Comedian Justin Martindale hosted the event and singer/songwriter Michael Patrick Coughlin provided the entertainment. The speeches given by the honorees and their presenters were truly moving, and reminded us that the fight is far from over. We had a special appearance by Nolan Gould, 12 year old cast member from Modern family, who spoke eloquently about the effect of HIV/AIDS on young people, and West Hollywood Mayor Pro Temp, John Duran, urged the crowd to dig a little deeper in give all they could to support our mission.

This year we produced the event in house, without an event planner, so the staff, board, and volunteers really had their work cut out for them, and clearly rose to the occasion. To everyone involved, thank you for a job well done.

Kevin Kurth
Executive Director

04/11/2010: Community Donations by shopping at Ralphs

By shopping at Ralphs, Being Alive receives a portion of the Ralphs' Community Donations. The more you shop, the more we get, and it costs you nothing extra!

03/04/2010: In Loving Memory - Rob Fitch

We are sad to announce that our beloved friend and long time calendar designer Rob Fitch passed away on February 25th, 2010. Our prayers go to him and his family hoping that he is resting in a better place.

02/13/2010: Straight from the Heart - A Heterosexual Event

This a FREE AND UNIQUE EVENT designed specifically for the heteroxexual HIV+ community. The evening begins with dinner and educational presentations, then entertainment, including a hot lingerie fashion show, followed by dancing. Click here to see the flyer and contact information.

10/10/2009: Thrive! A Celebration of LIFE and Fundraiser

This event, produced and hosted by Dave McFaddin (Mr. Sister Leather 2008), takes place at Oil Can Harry's, Saturday, October 10, 2009, 6:00pm - 9:00pm. Special guests include: The Los Angeles Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and The Los Angeles Band of Brothers. Performances by: Members of the Los Angeles, Long Beach, Orange County and Las Vegas Imperial Courts. Raffle Prizes! 80's Dance Hits! $5.00 suggested donation.

08/14/2009: Farewell to Charles Karsters

Charles Karsters, Prevention Manager at Being Alive, is leaving us to attend school full time in Hawaii to pursue his doctorate in Clinical Psychology. Charles started at Being Alive in November 2004, and has very successfully run our Positive Images, Prevention for Positive Program, as well as spearheading the Crystal Meth Task Force for the LA Metro Area. Charles' dedication and compassion, as well as his sense of humor, will be missed at Being Alive!

06/27/2009: Homeopathy Clinic started

Homeopathy consultations are now available at Being Alive through the Homeopathy Clinic sponsored by the Los Angeles School of Homeopathy. The clinic will be available one Saturday per month. Please call to schedule an appointment.

05/31/2009: CJ Russell leaves Calendar production

As a volunteer, CJ has designed and produced the Being Alive Monthly Calendar for over two years. Rob Fitch was also co-designer and producer of the Calendar with CJ until August 2008. Rob and CJ jointly took on the calendar as volunteer work, on a committed, monthly basis, in 2007. CJ continues his work as Webmaster for Being Alive.

05/21/2009: Cars4Causes

Being Alive now has an affiliation with "Cars 4 Causes." You can donate your old car to Cars4Causes and the resulting cash will result in a donation to Being Alive on your behalf.

05/15/2009: The Find-A-Cure-Panel

We are excited to announce an affiliation with "Find A Cure Panel" where people with HIV/AIDS can participate in quantitative online research designed specifically for them. For every survey completed by those who register, Find A Cure Panel will donate a minimum of $25 to the Living Center. The survey takes approximately two minutes.

03/10/2009: Spirit 2009

Our Spirit 2009 fundraiser, Spirit of Light, Love and Laugher, took place the last week of February, concluding on March 1, 2009. The two events were:

Spirit in the Sky VIP & 16th Annual Spirit of Hope Awards
at the Mondrian Hotel, February 25
Sex Positive
at the Regent Showcase Theatre, February 26

Information on the "2009 Spirit" fundraising event, "Spirit of Light, Love, and Laughter" can be found here:

"Being Alive Presents Spirit Week 2009" (cover)
"Spirit Week 2009" (detail)

12/01/2008: Being Alive Relocation

On December 1st, 2008, Being Alive opened at its new location in West Hollywood, about two miles from our prior location at the Ron Stone building (San Vicente at Melrose Ave). Our new address and phone number:

7531 Santa Monica Blvd, Suite 100
West Hollywood, CA 90046
+1 (323) 874-4322

11/01/2008: CJ Russell becomes Webmaster

CJ takes over design, development and support of the Being Alive website.

08/31/2008: Rob Fitch leaves Calendar production

As a volunteer, Rob co-designed and produced the Being Alive Monthly Calendar, on a commited, monthly basis since 2007. Rob accomplished the initial task of converting calendar production from Microsoft Publisher to Adobe InDesign and he invested a great deal of his time, every month, designing and producing the calendar for Being Alive. Rob worked with CJ Russell, also a volunteer, who took on calendar support with Rob and continues calendar production.