Subject: WBlade omits refs to NAPWA's IRS 990 and hi salaries
From: M Petrelis <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 4 Apr 1998 03:32:42 EST

[dear friends,
the washington blade's policy of willfully ignoring the i.r.s. 990 forms of
aids charities continues with the following story about n.a.p.w.a's fiscal
woes.  the blade maintains a silence about an issue if certain aids activists
are bringing it to the community's attention.  it would have been an opportune
time to bring in whatever fiscal info is in napwa's most recent  990.  the
blade mentions in paragraph six that napwa's revised budget calls for cuts in
things like salaries. period.  why did the blade fail to report, 'according to
the 1996 i.r.s. 990 form, cornelius baker, e.d., made $77,000; jeff crowley,
dep. e.d. made 53,375; and mke shriver, dir. of policy made 50,833.  that's a
total of $181,208 for three salaries.' but, none of those >facts< made it into
to blade!  also, the same 990 shows napwa's braintrust hired medisolutions,
inc., of new york to do some scientific writing for them.  the cost?
$151,110.  i guess going to napwa's headquarters for of a copy of its 990 form
at 1413 k street in washington is too much of a schlep for a blade reporter.
lastly, and this is a minor point for napwa, not a single spokesperson for
napwa or the board was i.d.'ed as a p.w.a.!?  and to think the napwa board
chair is jim graham, the e.d. of whitamn walker clinic in dc.  graham is
negative and makes a hefty salary, which napwa does not object to.  finally,
why didn't the blade bother to get a quote from some pw.a.'s outside of napwa
to ask their views of this group and its new fiscal audits?  --mp]

NAPWA’s lower debt puts it on ‘stable ground’ 
AIDS group releases audit showing debt of over $500,000 reduced to $109,000 

by Lou Chibbaro Jr. 

<Picture: Cornelius Baker>NAPWA Executive Director Cornelius Baker said the
latest figures show the group is on a path of steady financial recovery. (by
Clint Steib) 

The National Association of People With AIDS, which faced a debt of more than
$500,000 in October 1996, lowered that debt to $109,175 as of September 30,
1997, the end of its last completed fiscal year, according to an audited
finance statement released by the group last week.

The statement shows that the $109,175 debt, or "total current liabilities,"
represents a decrease of $169,719 from a debt, or "total current liabilities,"
of $278,894 which NAPWA had on Sept. 30, 1996. 

Cornelius Baker, NAPWA’s executive director, said the latest financial figures
show that the group is continuing on a path of a steady incremental recovery
over the past year and a half. It was at that time that Baker assumed NAPWA’s
executive director’s post and helped put into place a number of changes. Among
them, Baker said, were an improved system of financial management, a reduction
in staff, and a restructuring of the group’s operations.

Baker and other NAPWA officials said the changes, while resulting in cutbacks
in some programs, have not diminished NAPWA’s role as the nation’s leading
advocate for people with HIV.

"We now have a national organization that’s on stable ground," said Jim
Graham, chairperson of NAPWA’s board of directors. "We’re not out of the woods
yet, but we’re on our way."

In keeping with efforts to avoid a future deficit, Baker released a budget
statement showing NAPWA officials revised the organization’s fiscal year 1998
budget in February. The revised budget calls for reducing spending from
$1,917,097 proposed in October 1997 to $1,762,499. NAPWA’s fiscal year runs
from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30. The revised budget calls for cuts in spending in a
number of areas, such as printing, salaries, employee training, and meetings
and conferences. Baker said the salary reductions came about by staff
attrition for administrative and support-related positions, such as computer
technicians, and a decision not to replace those staffers in the near future.

Founded in July 1988, NAPWA, among other things, serves as an information
referral service for people with HIV on a number of fronts, including the area
of new drugs and treatment regimens for HIV. The group also advocates for
programs in Congress, the executive branch, and state and local governments,
and advocates for legal and privacy rights for people with HIV.

NAPWA officials said the group’s financial problems stemmed from a decision in
1995 to link NAPWA’s programs to projected income from MedExpress, a non-
profit, mail-order pharmacy that NAPWA established that same year as a NAPWA
subsidiary. MedExpress provides prescription drugs, vitamins, and food
supplements to people with HIV at a cost considered competitive with or lower
than most other commercial pharmacies. NAPWA officials said they created the
mail order pharmacy in part because people with HIV in some areas of the
country have expressed a reluctance to buy AIDS-related drugs in neighborhood
pharmacies out of fear of being publicly identified as a person with AIDS.

By 1996, NAPWA had established a budget based on a projection that MedExpress
would pull in $1.9 million in revenue. However, the mail order pharmacy
yielded only $1.3 million, according to information released by NAPWA, leaving
the group with a deficit of more than $500,000. According to Baker, NAPWA has
since restructured its operations so that NAPWA and MedExpress are run as
separate entities. Baker said NAPWA no longer relies on any revenue from
MedExpress for its budget other than reimbursement for rent and bookkeeping
expenses.

Baker also said he does not consider the $109,175 "total current liabilities"
figure listed in the NAPWA audit to be an accurate representation of NAPWA’s
debt. The financial statement shows that when all of NAPWA’s assets are taken
into account - including the value of its office furniture and equipment - the
debt drops to $11,786. Baker said he considers NAPWA’s "true" debt to be just
$11,786, the figure listed by the auditors as reflecting the group’s debt
after all of NAPWA’s assets, including office furniture, equipment, and stock,
is taken into account. However, Baker’s assessment differs from normally
accepted accounting procedures, which would consider the $11,786 figure as an
accumulating operating deficit and the $109,175 figure as the debt that must
be paid within 12 months or less.

Nevertheless, Baker and Graham, NAPWA’s board chair, said NAPWA’s current
financial status represents a major improvement over the group’s status one
year ago. The two said the group is carrying out its mission and expects to
reduce and retire the debt in the near future.

Baker said NAPWA will soon release its new national policy agenda which will
include, among other things, advocacy for reauthorization and adequate funding
for the Ryan White CARE Act; improved prevention and treatment programs for
substance abusers, who are considered at high risk for contracting and
transmitting HIV; improving access of people with HIV to health care
providers; and improving the quality of care for people with HIV through
access to the best possible treatment options. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

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This article appeared in the issue of: 
April 3, 1998