The mobile outreach van was ready to launch in spring 2020. But then COVID hit, Mr. Gates said, and the launch was delayed until vaccines came to market. But the history of AGSCC’s van goes back much further. In 2018, the Falmouth Board of Health voted unanimously to allow ASGCC to open an office on East Falmouth Highway that would have a syringe exchange program.
On World AIDS Day this Dec. 1, the AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod (ASGCC) will open a drop-in center at 301 Commercial St. — that is, in the very middle of the hustle and bustle. At over 1,200 square feet, the center is about six times bigger than the group’s prior drop-in location, a former flower shop in Provincetown’s West End.
We were all horrified by the video footage of the murder of George Floyd. Sadly – many marginalized people in the country were not surprised by it. What happened to George Floyd was no mere episodic example of racism, it was systemic. What we saw on video that day is what systemic racism looks like.
While the rollout is at the moment slower than it needs to be, the first COVID-19 vaccines are being administered and a new chapter is set to begin. While we’re eager to move onto the phase of recovery and renewal, first we need to focus on staying safe for the next few months.