Building Community and Making a Difference

Connecting HIV+ Thrivers, Survivors, and Allies in NYC

Eager to be part of a community that makes you feel at home and creates an impact in individual lives and the broader world?

We’re committed to combating HIV stigma, promoting wellness, and nurturing meaningful relationships. We’re here to empower you on your personal journey and, together, to harness the power of community building, to foster community action!

Connect with a Supportive Community

You're not alone.

Meet and connect with others who share similar life experiences. The journey is easier with friends who know what you're experiencing, and making change is more fun when we work together.

Cultivating Meaningful Bonds & Connections

We seek to provide a safe space for sharing, learning, and growing together with others who understand what it's like to live with HIV today, and how that fits into the context of how HIV has historically impacted specific communities.

Celebrating Togetherness

We seek to create a diverse menu of events to meet people where they're at, understanding that mutual interests beyond a medical diagnosis are the deeper ways to connect socially and maintain good health.

Empowering Through Knowledge

Whether you're looking for health tips, HIV management advice, or general life guidance, we're here to help you with practical and empowering resources.

Our Mission

Community = Individual Empowerment

We’re not just a community; we’re a catalyst for positive change. With a focus on eradicating HIV stigma, promoting wellness, and forging meaningful relationships, we aim to empower every individual to live their best life. We’re working together to build a more inclusive and supportive world.

Combating HIV Stigma and Criminalization

Advocating for a more accepting and just world by challenging prejudice on the individual and community level, and boosting the voices of those confronting unjust laws targeting HIV+ individuals.

Promoting U=U

Spreading the message that undetectable equals untransmissible: taking HIV medicine as prescribed and maintaining an undetectable viral load makes it nearly impossible to transmit HIV.

Supporting Wellness

Connecting folks to existing mental and physical health institutions serving the community, both to keep HIV+ folks healthy and to prevent new infections.

Addressing Safety Net Gaps

Identifying and initiating conversations about the deficiencies of support systems for HIV+ individuals in NYC and the Tri-State area.

Have Questions?

We've Got Answers!

If your question isn’t answered here, please ask us at contact@pozalliance.org. We’re eager to hear from you!

What's your mission statement?

Positive Alliance is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization dedicated to the well-being of HIV+ individuals and to connecting people with HIV (PWH) and allies with one another and with opportunities to create positive change. These efforts are currently focused on New York City and the tri-state area.


We are dedicated to bringing people together to build personal connections, combat isolation and the negative health outcomes it can cause, and to work together towards some common goals, which include but will not be limited to:


   • Combating HIV stigma and criminalization.
   • Promoting undetectable=untransmissible (U=U).
   • Supporting the missions of other service organizations that promote the physical and mental
      wellness of HIV+ individuals, and preventing new infections.
   • Identifying and addressing deficiencies in the existing safety net for HIV+ individuals in New
      York City and the Tri-State area.

Who is Positive Alliance for?

Positive Alliance is currently positioned as a safe and useful space for HIV+ male-identified individuals who are attracted to other men, and also for allies. We think of an ally as  anyone who shares our commitment to working towards the best possible quality of life for people living with HIV.

 

Allyship can take the form of combating HIV stigma, promoting wellness and inclusivity, donating money or other resources, or just that good friend who comes along for moral support and a fun time!

 

If you are an organization specializing in the support of HIV+ communities other than gay/queer/bi male-identified individuals, we're looking to partner with you! Reach out at contact@pozalliance.org.

How can I join Positive Alliance?

We aren't a member organization, so you can join by just getting involved! Come to any of our events, or connect with us via the social media links at the bottom of the page. You can also sign up for our mailing list and newsletter here.

Are there any membership fees?

No, there are absolutely no fees to join Positive Alliance. We believe in working hard to make our community, our events, and our resources accessible to everyone.

What types of events do you host?

We're still in the process of rebuilding our in-person event programming after the Covid-19 hiatus. 

 

In the near future, look for some of the following:

 

   • A monthly drag show and fundraiser, open to both our HIV+ community members and allies.

   • A monthly or semi-monthly mixer only for HIV+ male-identified individuals attracted to other men, reflective of the legacy of the organization.

   • A holiday party.

   • A virtual game night.

 

In the past, we've hosted weekly parties at major gay-friendly venues, summer picnics, bowling nights, "Sea Tea" cruises, and more.

 

We will reach out to the community for your guidance in which events you'd most like to see come back, and what new events you'd like to see!

Do you have any upcoming events?

We do! We also hope to more fully populate our calendar (and add a calendar page) early in the new year.

 

VIRTUAL GAME NIGHT

 

March 14th, 2023, 7 PM

 

Looking to meet or reconnect with other gay/bi/queer HIV+ folks? Join Josh and Robert from the comfort of your own home! Positive Alliance and NYC Gaymers are excited to partner for a relaxed, friendly, virtual game night! 
 
Sign up here to join in, and we'll email you the secure and confidential link and password the day before the event.
 

INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD RETREAT

The annual retreat, an affiliated event heartily endorsed but not hosted by this organization, is coming back from its Covid-era hiatus, in slightly changed form.

It will take place from July 11-14, 2024. Find out more here!

How can I donate to Positive Alliance?

Your generous support is always appreciated! Click here to make a contribution. Your donation will help us continue our work and host impactful events.

How will my donations be used?

We are dedicated to the wise and prudent use of the resources donated for us to use. In the long term, we hope to tackle much larger initiatives, but in the short and medium term, here are some of the expected expenses:

 

  • To help us secure venues for events by placing a deposit, which some venues prefer nowadays.
  • To help us buy food or refreshments for events.
  • To transport food, supplies, and decorations to venues, if too much to carry on public transit.
  • To help us cover the cost of attendance at certain types of future events, for those who cannot afford to do so on their own.
  • To help us afford modest, web-based advertising to promote our events to people who aren’t already on our mailing list or part of our social media communities.
  • To provide reasonable compensation or at least thank you gestures for people who provide services for us (performers, web construction, promotional services, etc.).
Do you offer any resources for HIV+ individuals?

We don't ourselves offer direct access to healthcare or similar resources. However, check back soon for an exhaustive list of links on a dedicated page. We'll do our best to consolidate a list of resources folks in our community might need: testing, PrEP, healthcare access, mental wellness support options, addiction and recovery resources, and connections to organizations in other cities trying to do what we do here!

How can I stay up to date on upcoming events and activities?

Stay in the loop by subscribing to our newsletter, following us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, or regularly checking here on our website for the latest updates and event announcements.

Can I volunteer with Positive Alliance?

Absolutely! We are always looking for passionate individuals to join our team. Email us if you'd like to pitch in and get involved: you might be just the person we need!

What's Positive Alliance's track record?

HISTORY

Positive Alliance began life in a Hell’s Kitchen living room in 2009. About a dozen HIV+ gay men started a monthly party to connect with one another and build social bonds. HIV was no longer a death sentence, and a new generation of treatments meant that the infection was, for most people, a manageable, chronic condition to keep under control. However, undercurrents and overtones of HIV stigma still flowed freely through the gay community, PrEP wasn’t an option yet, and there were still many more hurdles to dating and intimacy than there are today.

 

In 2010, Jacob Pring’s POZ party, which had already started successful runs in both Washington, DC and Philadelphia, started at Vlada Von Shats’s Vlada Bar in Hell’s Kitchen. Vlada provided a welcoming home, and very quickly the private living room group and Jacob’s POZ group merged into what would eventually become Positive Alliance, and then Impac+, and now Positive Alliance again!

 

Between 2010 and 2015, the group grew from 13 guys, to several hundred regular, active members. Michael H. and Jeanathan L. assumed leadership in 2015 and further grew the organization.

 

Positive Alliance NYC is proud of our contributions to this community: countless friendships exist because of our work. Several marriages came out of our events. Our community has come together to help people access physical and mental healthcare, find stable or safer housing, buy clothing when they’ve lost everything, and many more small, quiet acts of love and support that would fall through the cracks of larger organizations. Perhaps one of the most meaningful things we have been is an important part of diminishing the stigma surrounding HIV within the community as a whole.

 

OUR PRESENT

Like many organizations, we were severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, and the need for distancing and isolation. Programming has been slow to recover, partly because of surges in new strains of Covid-19, and a reasonable concern for health and safety; and partly due to the new economic realties faced by would-be venues. However, we have dusted ourselves off and gotten back on our feet. We are back to semi-regular programming, and poised for a new chapter of growth!

 

OUR FUTURE

We are dedicated to fully reconstituting our programming in whatever form that looks like to meet the current needs of the community we serve and are a part of, and we look forward to many exciting developments over the next six to 12 months, including new initiatives to more directly partner with other groups tackling the issues impacting quality of life for those living with HIV. Stay tuned!