Why We Walk

Trinity’s AIDS Walk team is lacing up their sneakers for the 22nd year in a row to work for an end to HIV/AIDS. 

On Sunday, May 17, rain or shine, Trinity’s AIDS Walk team will join thousands of people in Central Park for the 41st annual AIDS Walk New York to raise funds for New Yorkers living with or affected by HIV and AIDS. Led by parish groups and the Rev. Jorge Ortiz, priest and associate director of Community Engagement at Trinity, the team hopes to raise $25,000 for the cause. All are welcome to join by walking, donating, or spreading the word. 

“What’s amazing about AIDS Walk is how it brings people together, whether they have a passion for the cause or want to demonstrate care for others,” said Father Jorge. “We walk in solidarity, as a great reminder of God’s love for all of humanity.” 

Walking to demonstrate compassion for others resonates with parishioner Eric Von Stroh. Last year, he and his wife brought their three children — ages 7, 4, and 2 at the time — to participate in the AIDS Walk — strollers, scooters, and all. The couple hoped the event would help the children understand the importance of caring for others, and it also prompted a predictable volume of questions, which the Von Strohs were happy to answer. “We spent a lot of time fielding questions like ‘What is a virus?’ and ‘How do you get it?’” he said. “In the end, I’m not sure how much they fully grasped, but they understood we were there in support of others.”  

The AIDS Walk began in 1986 as the disease emerged as a leading cause of death among young adults in the United States; Trinity parishioners have been participating for more than two decades. GMHC, the world’s first HIV/AIDS service organization, originally founded as Gay Men’s Health Crisis in 1982, is the primary beneficiary of the AIDS Walk and it serves New Yorkers throughout the five boroughs. The money raised funds care services and prevention programs, wraparound supportive care, education, and advocacy for thousands of people living with and affected by HIV and AIDS. 

While treatment has made incredible strides since the 1980s with the development of live-saving medication and prevention drugs, there are still 136,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in New York City and nearly 1,800 new cases are diagnosed each year. No cure exists. Based on the most recently published report, HIV cases in New York City rose in 2024 for the second year in a row — an alarming trend attributed to setbacks from COVID-19 that is especially concerning when combined with budget cuts and threats to healthcare access for the community. 

While the walk stems from tragedy, it's a joyful experience.

Tapua Tunduwani

In this climate, protecting our neighbors feels even more urgent. Father Jorge described the importance of Trinity’s support: “As Christians, we are called to put our faith into action, to show care and compassion for all of our siblings,” he said. While HIV/AIDS disproportionately affects members of the LGBTQIA+ community and other marginalized groups like Black and brown New Yorkers, Father Jorge reminds us “it’s important to remember that this is a universal health concern that touches us all without regard to identity.”

Beni Dieujuste, a parishioner and member of the Trinity Young Adults group who is walking for the first time this year notes, “It’s important for Trinity to be a positive and inclusive voice in a world where faith is sometimes being weaponized to exclude others.” Joining the Trinity AIDS walk team is also a way to feel empowered when Dieujuste finds herself overwhelmed. “I feel like the walk is a pretty easy way for people to contribute and feel less powerless at the same time,” she said. 

For Tapua Tunduwani, a longtime Trinity parishioner originally from Zimbabwe — a country hard-hit by the virus and currently facing public-health funding instability — participating in the AIDS Walk is highly personal. Having felt the devastation of losing loved ones to HIV/AIDS, and now witnessing others close to him able to survive thanks to life-saving drugs, Tunduwani finds the walk stirs up mixed emotions. “While the walk stems from tragedy, it’s a joyful experience,” he says. “The diversity of people out there in Central Park is inspiring. It’s an opportunity to celebrate the fact that the virus is no longer a death sentence. I find that when I am walking, I reflect on my friends that have died, but the joy of knowing that people are able to live with it now, it’s bittersweet.” 

It’s not too late to join us on May 17! Sign up to walk with us or make a donation. 

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