'Great way to uplift people': World AIDS Day remembrance in Elgin to feature speakers living with HIV

A World AIDS Day event in Elgin Saturday will remember those who have been lost to the disease as well as celebrate people successfully navigating life with HIV and those who help them.

Open Door Health Center of Illinois will host its 12th annual World AIDS Day remembrance from noon to 2 p.m. at Gail Borden Public Library, 270 N. Grove Ave.

Perry Maier, executive director of the clinic, said they've provided services for more than 600 people with HIV in Kane County this year, some of whom will speak during the event Saturday.

He said while programs like these used to be somber occasions, now they're more of a celebration of the advances that have been made in the past 35 years since the first World AIDS Day, recognized on Dec. 1.

"Having people living with HIV come up to the podium and talk about their lives is a great way to uplift people," Maier said. "HIV has not gone away, but it is treatable and it is preventable."

The event also will feature presentations, a musical performance by vocalist La Chaparita de Oro, resource booths from local social service agencies and an exhibit by Elgin photographer Gil Feliciano called "New Faces of HIV/AIDS."

Maier said the exhibit, similar to one in the 1980s that helped humanize the epidemic, can start conversations about a disease that may have drifted from public conscious.

"We still deal with issues of stigma and discrimination and social determinants of health," Maier said. "It's great that we have people here who were willing to do it and provide education so it stays in the front of everyone's mind."

More than 40 million people have died of AIDS-related illnesses since the first cases of HIV were reported more than 35 years ago, according to the World Health Organization.

In 2022, there were 39 million people globally living with HIV.

Open Door Health Center of Illinois is a not-for-profit launched in Elgin in 1977 and provides services including education, prevention, diagnosis and treatment to those who have or are at risk for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS.

The event is free but registration is recommended at odhcil.org/.