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A Dozen Questions & Answers
Q. What is The Actors' Fund of America? A. The Actors' Fund of America is a national, nonprofit organization serving all entertainment professionals through comprehensive services and programs. In addition to providing emergency grants for essentials such as food, rent and medical care, The Actors' Fund provides counseling, substance abuse and mental health services, senior and disabled care, nursing home and assisted living care, an AIDS Initiative, The Actors' Work Program, the Phyllis Newman Women's Health Initiative, the Artists' Health Insurance Resource Center, and supportive housing on both coasts. Q. Does The Actors' Fund only serve actors? A. The Actors' Fund provides for the social welfare of all entertainment professionals--designers, writers, sound technicians, musicians, dancers, administrators, directors, film editors, stagehands, electricians--as well as actors. Professionals in film, television, radio, theatre, dance, and music all turn to The Actors' Fund in times of need. Q. Where is The Actors' Fund located? A. The Actors' Fund headquarters and The Aurora residence are located in New York City, with regional offices in Los Angeles and Chicago. The Nursing Home and Assisted Living Care Facility are in Englewood, New Jersey. For addresses, telephone, and e-mail information, click on the How To Reach Us button. Q. Is The Actors' Fund part of Actors' Equity? What is the difference? A. The Actors' Fund and Actors' Equity are entirely separate organizations. The Actors' Fund is a social service organization for the entertainment community nationwide. The Actors' Equity Association is a union representing live stage performers and stage managers. The Executive Director of Actors' Equity is a member of The Actors' Fund Board of Trustees. The Actors' Fund receives funds from the Actors' Equity Foundation. Q. How is The Actors' Fund different from the Motion Picture and Television Fund? A. The Motion Picture and Television Fund provides assistance to people in the film and television industries in Southern California. Programs and services include health clinics and a hospital, a retirement and nursing home in Woodland Hills, California, child care and pre-school educational services, health education and information, social services and financial assistance. The Actors' Fund is a national organization serving all entertainment professionals with a wide range of services. In 2000, The Actors' Fund provided nearly $2.9 million in financial assistance. Q. Do you have to be a member of an entertainment industry union to get help from The Actors' Fund? A. Clients do not have to be members of entertainment industry unions/guilds. Eligibility guidelines vary by program, and in some cases, requirements may include documenting the amount of earnings derived from entertainment industry employment, the number of years of employment and other criteria. Q. Does The Actors' Fund of America help persons with AIDS? A. The Actors' Fund of America has a comprehensive AIDS Initiative to help entertainment professionals who are infected with HIV/AIDS learn how to live with and manage the disease. Services include counseling, support groups, educational seminars, supportive housing, a resource library and financial assistance. In response to the changing needs of our clients who are responding favorably to protease inhibitors, The Actors' Fund and The Actors' Work Program are collaborating on a new program, the AIDS Training and Education Project (ATEP), designed to assist people with AIDS who are considering returning to the workplace. ATEP combines the expertise of the two organizations to provide people with AIDS in New York and Los Angeles with the counseling, retraining, tuition, and technical assistance they need to prepare to return to work. Q. What is the relationship between The Actors' Fund and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS? A. Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and The Actors' Fund are entirely separate organizations. The Actors' Fund's Executive Director is a BC/EFA Board member and the BC/EFA Board President is on The Actors' Fund's Board. BC/EFA is a fundraising organization that provides grants to AIDS-related organizations nationwide. The Actors' Fund's AIDS Initiative is the largest recipient of funds from BC/EFA. In 1998, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS awarded a grant of $2,300,000 to The Actors' Fund's AIDS Initiative to underwrite social services and financial assistance to persons with AIDS. Q. How does The Actors' Fund collaborate with other entertainment industry organizations? A. Actors' Fund social workers work closely with a broad network of industry unions, guilds and other organizations to ensure that the needs of our colleagues are met with equity and compassion. We have developed contract arrangements with the Motion Picture Players Welfare Fund to manage social services and financial assistance for SAG members; with the Directors Guild of America Producers Pension and Health Plan to manage their chemical dependency and mental health services plan (with EIRAC); with Cable Positive to provide services for people with AIDS; and with the American Federation of Musicians Local 802 to administer social services through their Musicians Assistance Program. We have strengthened our alliances with the Professional Dancers Society and Career Transition for Dancers. We have incorporated the Actors' Work Program as an official program of The Actors' Fund. We participate in monthly Entertainment Industry Consortium meetings, on both coasts, where entertainment industry relief organizations share information, coordinate workloads and ensure that we complement rather than duplicate services. These consortia include representatives from the Motion Picture and Television Fund, the Episcopal Actors Guild, the Society of Singers, MusiCares, Sweet Relief, and the Actors Equity, AFTRA, AGVA and SAG Relief Funds. The industry is known for its committed response to the AIDS crisis, and The Actors' Fund works closely with - and receives significant support from - organizations such as Season of Concern, Cable Positive, Classical Action, the Video Industry AIDS Action Committee, LiFEbeat, and our closest and most generous partner, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Q. Does The Actors' Fund have a Retirement Home? A. The Actors' Fund Nursing Home and Assisted Living Care Facility, located in Englewood, New Jersey, provide a comfortable environment for 109 entertainment professionals to enjoy their later years, regardless of their ability to pay. Among the famous residents were Joseph Sultzer and Charles Marks, better known as the comedy team, Smith and Dale, who were the inspiration for Neil Simon's hit play and movie THE SUNSHINE BOYS. Q. What is The Actors' Fund budget? A. The Actors' Fund's 2000 budget is $17 million. The Annual average increase since 1999 is estimated at 8%. In 2000, the organization served over 6,200 individuals nationwide. In addition to providing social services, supportive housing and vocational training, The Actors' Fund disbursed nearly $2.7 million in financial assistance grants. Q. How did The Actors' Fund get started? A. A century ago, there were prevailing feelings of prejudice against people in the theatre. When actors and others engaged in the theatrical professions needed help, they had nowhere to turn. The more successful members of the entertainment community decided to assist those who were less fortunate in the industry by collecting money from their peers in an organized fashion. Thus, The Actors' Fund was founded with a tradition of "taking care of our own." The organization served as a catalyst in the process of reducing discrimination and integrating individuals in the theatrical profession into the social, political and economic aspects of community life. It worked diligently to improve the image and quality of life for entertainment professionals. An early purpose of The Actors' Fund was to pay for proper burials, and this service continues. Today, The Actors' Fund continues to serve all entertainment professionals through comprehensive services and programs. For more information about The Actors' Fund, please call or email: New York City programs and services: Barbara Davis, Chief Program Officer Tamar Shapiro, Managing Director of Human
Services Ellen Celnik, Director of Social Services, The
Aurora Publicity contacts: Sara Meehan, Public Relations Andrea Kotuk West Coast contact: Brian McDonald, Director of Human Services, Western Region (323) 933-9244 - bmcdonald@actorsfund.org Midwestern Region contact: Don Towne (Chicago) |
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