1) Call 311 and ask to be transferred to your alderman's neighborhood office. The 311 operator can tell you who your alderman is, or you can look online at http://www.civicfootprint.org.

2) Call Mayor Daley at 312-744-3300.

PLEASE DO NOT DELAY! City Council's final vote on the 2007 Budget will occur in just 3 weeks!

LEAVE THIS MESSAGE: "Please support a $1.7 million increase for HIV prevention."

BACKGROUND: In less than 30 days, the Chicago City Council will approve the 2007 budget. Chicago has not increased HIV prevention funding since 2003. Adjusting for inflation, Chicago's HIV prevention budget is equivalent to Fiscal Year 2000 city spending on HIV prevention.

Although Chicago has a comprehensive, citywide HIV prevention plan, there are too few dollars to implement it. With a $1.7 million increase, Chicago could reverse recent service cuts, made because of insufficient funding, for a variety of proven interventions across the city, including projects serving women and girls, injection drug users, and youth. Chicago could also follow the lead of cities like New York and Washington, D.C. and implement a wide-spread condom distribution campaign, expand voluntary HIV counseling and testing in STD clinics and community-based settings, and purchase HIV rapid testing kits and other supplies.

We know that HIV prevention works. Chicago's past investment in HIV prevention has kept new infections at a constant rate. But without immediate action, new HIV infections will increase, particularly among African-Americans and Latinos, who are already disproportionately impacted by HIV/AIDS.

Save the date: Public hearing on the 2007 Budget on WEDNESDAY, November 1, 10:00 AM in the City Council Chamber, 121 N. LaSalle Street. Concerned residents will pack the Chicago City Council chamber to provide personal testimony about the need for increased City funding for HIV prevention services. This hearing is an excellent opportunity to tell City Council why HIV prevention is needed. The last time AIDS advocates organized testimony at City Hall in 2003, aldermen raised HIV prevention funding by $600,000. It's time to do it again!