On this episode, Julie Lewis returns to talk with Laura more about her book, Still Positive: A Memoir, and her experience as a 39-yr HIV survivor. Julie is a mom, advocate, and co-founder of the 30/30 project, which she created with the encouragement of her son, multi-grammy winner Ryan Lewis, of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. Julie was infected with HIV in 1984 but not diagnosed until the early 1990s when she was given three to five years to live. After years of silence about her disease, she found an unlikely community of friends to fight alongside and began using her story to make a difference. Her experiences as a woman living with AIDS offers insights about grief and loss, caregiving, spirituality, and the importance of community in the midst of tragedy. On today’s episode, we dive deeply into the work she did with the HIV Speakers Bureau and the community that she helped create to support her and the many people and their friends and families struggling with the effects of HIV and Aids.

You can learn more about Julie, her book, and her non-profit at stillpositive.com and 3030project.org.