In the early years of the AIDS crisis, when our government refused to acknowledge the epidemic and thousands were dying, activists created the iconic Silence=Death poster that read, “Turn anger, fear, grief into action.”

Decades of collective advocacy raised awareness, ultimately leading to bipartisan support for comprehensive HIV programs that include testing, treatment and wraparound care through housing and case management. Alongside investments in scientific research, these programs resulted in a 70% drop in annual infection rates in the U.S. since the height of the crisis.

Communities throughout Maine are healthier today because public health programs were strengthened. These integrated resources presented a model of care for chronic disease management. They showed that when we address basic needs such as housing, nutrition, transportation and health care, people can live healthy lives, prevent disease progression and transmission and work toward independence.

Over 1,800 people in Maine are living with HIV and while national infection rates are declining, about 32,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed each year. The epidemic is not over, but we are on the right path to ending it.

Now, that progress is at risk. The federal government is threatening every stage of what we call “the care continuum” — the pathway from diagnosis to sustained health. HIV testing and prevention programs through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have already been severely cut. The Senate has released its plan to slash Medicaid. Research has halted.

The president’s budget proposes an elimination of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s only HIV housing assistance program, as well as portions of the Ryan White Care Act. First authorized in 1990 and reauthorized four times by Congress, the Ryan White program remains a critical component of HIV care in the U.S. More than 50% of people diagnosed with HIV access the program each year.

These cuts are especially alarming at a time when Maine is actively responding to an outbreak in Bangor. When we need more investment in prevention and care programs, the federal government is instead considering their elimination.

For 40 years, Frannie Peabody Center has worked on the front lines of this epidemic. We serve individuals of all ages, from infants to people in their 80s, across every county in Maine. We know that access to HIV testing, case management, stable housing and medical care are essential tools in managing and preventing HIV. These services help people live healthy lives and reduce the impact of the virus. But they are only effective if the resources remain in place.

When proven public health systems are dismantled, our communities become less safe. We must ask the same urgent questions we did in decades past because the crisis we face now goes beyond HIV and AIDS. Why is the administration turning its back? Why are they abandoning proven strategies? Why are they treating people as though they are expendable?

These programs have served as a model of care. Dismantling them now would create a dangerous model of failure. Turning our anger, fear and grief into action has set us on the right course in the past. We must remain resolute.

Now is not the time to be silent. Contact your elected officials. Express your support for access to health care, housing and the life-saving public health programs that our communities depend on.