Incorporated in 1996 as a tax exempt 501(c)(3) corporation in a grass roots effort led by Herbert W. Perry CPA/EA of Las Vegas, Nevada TII CANN was intended to be a legal entity to act as a voice and platform for the people and communities affected by the federal funding streams of Title II of the CARE Act. No such entity existed except one which represented State Health Department employees and this was deemed inadequate to the necessary ability to act quickly in Washington, DC on matters of great importance particularly to HIV+ people. The founding Board group embodies unusual HIV/AIDS experience in numerous ASOs & CBOs in many different States. Many of the group were (and are today) HIV+. Many had experience in national AIDS advocacy organizations, such as Project Inform, AIDS Action, National Association of People with AIDS. We also had experience among us in political campaigns, Congressional staff work, political appointments, pharmaceutical industry public policy work, and a broad history of HIV/AIDS related work with hospitals, AIDS clinical trial groups, State and local governments, and with federal government agencies and national government leadership. Even today between Board members, staff and volunteers TII CANN personnel are active with the following organizations and efforts:

For a new AIDS organization with a national focus TII CANN was very quickly swept up in the excitement of emerging HAART therapies as more and more new medicines became FDA approved and the race to get successful treatments into HIV+ Americans was on. Functioning as a completely volunteer organization with no paid employees and relying on volunteer time and energy much of 1996 to 2000 was consumed in efforts to establish the ADAP Working Group and address the critical issue of funding for ADAP. That funding level has grown from about $50 Million for palliative drugs in 1995 to almost $1 Billion in resources now.

The ADAP Working Group model proved VERY effective and we helped and supported setting up similar efforts at the state level in CT, NY, Fl, ID, NE, GA, and elsewhere. Our news letter The Voice of TII CANN quickly went from a mailing list of 3,000 to 20,000. TII CANN was soon working on Reauthorization of the Ryan White CARE Act, working on Congressional and White House briefings, starting national discussions on HIV/HCV co-infection issues, presenting posters at international AIDS conferences on cost effectiveness of HIV treatment.

We founded the National ADAP Educational Forum, which has become an annual conference of major importance. Now in it’s 9th year we continue to be the lead sponsor and to Chair the event. We organized dozens of regional meeting and conferences, both with an ADAP, but also with a broader AIDS/HIV focus. Our board leadership has stayed constant. Many founding members are still board members. The board majority remains HIV+. We have lost Board Members to AIDS as recently as 2002. Our budget has stayed small, and even today we have only two full time paid staff.