CALL TO ARMS | John Loza, center, heads the new board of AIDS Arms. Also shown, from left, Jesse Garcia, Ken Morris, Loza, David Pass and Dennis Felhman (courtesy AIDS Arms)

Agency focusing on capital campaign to fund new clinic,  continue to provide client services

From Staff Reports
editor@dallasvoice.com
Officials with AIDS Arms this week announced the hiring of a new director of development and the election of officers for the agency’s board of directors for 2011.
Attorney and former Dallas City Council member and former Deputy Mayor Pro Tem John Loza was elected as chairman of the AIDS Arms board. Other board officers are David Pass as vice chair and Ken Morris as second vice chair. Dennis Felhman was re-elected as treasurer, and Jesse Garcia was re-elected as secretary.
The board officers are tasked with overseeing the funding and stewardship of the agency during the expansion of medical care services, including a new clinic that is expected to open this summer.
Loza, who works as a criminal defense attorney, holds a degree in government from Harvard University and a law degree from Southern Methodist University.
Pass has a bachelor’s degree in science from Indiana University, and a master’s degree in health administration master’s degree in information management from Washington University in St. Louis. He is a senior account executive with Aetna.
Fehlman, serving his third year as treasurer, is a senior vice president at Comerica Bank. He has a bachelor’s degree in business administration and accounting from Grand Valley State University in Michigan.
Garcia, a public affairs specialist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service, has a bachelor’s degree in communications arts from Our Lady of the Lake University, and a master’s degree in communications arts from St. Mary’s University.
The new development director is Don Macey, a native Dallasite who recently returned to the area after holding senior development positions with the American Cancer Society, the Arthritis Foundation and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra.
“We are very pleased to have Dan Macey join AIDS Arms. His knowledge of health care, the needs of HIV-positive people and a close connection to the Dallas area will be beneficial to our vision and goals for increasing access to quality HIV care and support for our community,” Loza said.
“We have much to accomplish in combating the HIV epidemic on behalf of our clients, and we know Dan will add great value to that effort,” he added.
According to a statement released by AIDS Arms, Macey is tasked with “increasing awareness for the needs of both HIV-positive and high-risk individuals in the community by building the resources required to continue providing medical care, case management, HIV prevention and testing and many other programs.”
Macey’s primary focus will be the Call to Arms Campaign to pay for the new 15,000-square-feet outpatient medical care clinic for people with HIV. He will work with his team, including Sheila Bryant and Karen Campbell, and with the board of directors and
AIDS Arms Executive Director Raeline Nobles toward that goal.
AIDS Arms provides HIV testing and prevention services, case management, community education and support services to more than 7,000 people a year within a 10-county area in North Texas.
The agency also operates The Peabody Health Center, which is the only private, nonprofit HIV outpatient medical facility in Dallas, and the only community-based AIDS clinical research site in Texas for the National Institutes of Health.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition Jan. 28, 2011.