Milwaukee AIDS Project (MAP)

In the early 1980s, as a new and poorly understood disease emerged, Wisconsin began confronting what would become the AIDS epidemic. In 1982, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) first used the term AIDS and established the first case definition for the disease. That same year, Wisconsin recorded its first AIDS case, involving a nonresident who had traveled to the state.

In 1983, the first Wisconsin resident was diagnosed with AIDS, and the disease became a reportable communicable disease in the state. As scientists gathered evidence that AIDS was caused by an infectious agent, communities began organizing their own responses to the growing crisis.

By 1984, researchers had identified the retrovirus responsible for AIDS, initially called HTLV-III and later known as human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV. A diagnostic blood test was developed to identify the virus, although the first commercial HIV-antibody test would not be licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration until March 1985.

The Brady East STD (BESTD) Clinic was on the frontlines of this emerging epidemic. During 1983 and 1984, BESTD volunteers began developing an emergency response to the growing crisis.

As the crisis intensified, it became clear that Milwaukee needed a broader institutional response. Although the BESTD Clinic and other LGBTQ organizations had begun the work, community leaders recognized that a larger organization would be better positioned to secure government grants and other resources needed to address an epidemic affecting the wider population.

In January 1985, the BESTD Clinic’s Board of Directors formally established the Milwaukee AIDS Project. With seed funding from the City of Milwaukee, the project provided AIDS education and training programs to the community.

That same year, a task force was formed to determine how Milwaukee could build a broader and more sustainable response. It included Nova Clite, president of the BESTD Clinic; Susan Dietz, director of MAP; Marc Haupert, president of the Cream City Business Association; and Don Schwamb, president of the Cream City Foundation and GAMMA.

Their work led to the creation of the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin (ARCW), incorporated in August 1985. The new organization was spun off from the BESTD Clinic’s Milwaukee AIDS Project, creating a separate corporate structure through where AIDS services could expand in Milwaukee and, eventually, throughout Wisconsin.

The organization’s founding leadership reflected the community coalition behind its creation. Marc Haupert became ARCW’s founding president, Don Schwamb its founding vice president, and Sue Dietz its first paid executive director.

In February 1986, the BESTD Clinic transferred the Milwaukee AIDS Project to ARCW, who eventually incorporated the project and its programs into their ever-growing operation.