The AIDS Project of Rhode Island (APRI) will hold their 40th annual AIDS Walk for Life on Saturday, May 3, 2025 at Pierce Field in East Providence, bringing together advocates and those affected by one of the most prolific and destructive diseases in world history.

The walk is the major annual fundraiser for APRI, whose mission is to advocate and fundraise for local people diagnosed with AIDS, an autoimmune disorder caused by the HIV virus that led to a global health panic beginning in 1981, and which has persisted to the modern day, and continues to be particularly lethal to people in undeveloped countries throughout the world.

And although the conversation around HIV/AIDS largely disappeared from public discourse in the United States, APRI has continued its advocacy work to continue to support those whose lives are still impacted by the disease. Recent estimates state that more than 1 million Americans are currently living with HIV/AIDS, and there are reportedly around 38,000 new cases expected each year.

A lifetime of advocacy
A highlight of the Walk for Life will be the bestowing of the Hope Harris Award, which is given to individuals or organizations “exemplifying service to the communities APRI serves and unwavering dedication to the fight against HIV/AIDS” and is named in honor of the late Hope Harris, a longtime board member of APRI who was committed to combatting the stigma of people living with HIV/AIDS during the peak years of hysteria surrounding the disease; particularly within the African American community.

Longtime Newport residents, Russ and Beth Milham, will receive the award, fittingly after more than 30 years of continued advocacy for AIDS-related causes, which includies work supporting the AIDS Memorial Quilt, and work as volunteer educators within schools and prisons throughout the region.

Beth, a retired RN, got involved with the work after seeing the lack of awareness about local AIDS resources in the Newport area in the early 90s. She organized an informational health fair to let people in Newport County know about the services available. As fate would have it, a local Rhode Island chapter for the Names Project (who started the AIDS Memorial Quilt) was trying to organize an event for the same day. So they joined forces, with Beth ultimately leading the effort to organize a three-day display of the massive quilt in the spring of 1992.

“I found out that I was not just on the volunteer committee, I was the volunteer committee,” Beth reminisced with a laugh.

Russ was introduced to the work during his career as a counselor in higher education in Massachusetts, and he was ultimately selected to be a part of a state committee looking into the AIDS crisis specifically in the Fall River area in the late 80s. Ultimately, their paths crossed while helping with the memorial quilt, and they’ve been advocating together ever since.

The couple have put in countless hours not only advancing the goals of the AIDS Quilt — which strives to honor the lives of all lost to the disease — but by bringing in panels from the quilt as an educational advocacy tool to local schools to better inform kids (and adults).

Beth talked about how back in the early and mid-90s when they started doing this work, it was a much different world when talking about the disease than it is today.

“When we finally were able to get into a school they were very cautious about what we could talk about. We would give them an outline of what we cover and how age-appropriate it was. How we would concentrate on stigma and seeing the whole person, not just a person with AIDS, which is what the quilt is all about,” she said. “We told them that if the students asked us a direct question that required a direct answer, then we would give them a direct answer, because that’s the only way you can maintain trust with young people. They had to accept that or ask us not to speak.”

They continue to put in volunteering time for the AIDS Memorial Quilt, and if you or someone you know is interested in putting together a panel for the quilt in honor of someone who has died from HIV/AIDS, reach out to them at BPmilham@cox.net.

The couple said they were honored to receive the award recognizing them for their work.

“I did not know Hope Harris personally, but from all I’ve read about her, she’s a person I greatly admire and would love to emulate,” Beth said. “To have us receive an award in her name and her memory is really humbling.”