The Southern Time Foundation: Ending AIDS and Building a Sustainable Future

Southern Time Productions (STP) founded the Southern Time Foundation (STF) in February 2020 as a non-profit organization with a clear mission: to help achieve UNAIDS’s 2030 goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat. Beyond that milestone, STF is committed to tackling other pressing health, social, and environmental challenges for as long as it exists.

Our fight against HIV/AIDS—and our pursuit of a better, more just world—will never stop. We believe that true sustainable development must begin with human dignity, equity, and access to life-saving healthcare.

Structure and Collaboration

Once initial funding is secured, STF will apply for charitable status in Canada and retain legal counsel to formalize its collaboration agreement with STP. This agreement will outline how STP, including its flagship music project The Promise, will support the Foundation through donations, merchandise sales, and concerts dedicated to HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention.

Leadership with Lived Experience

STF is led by T, who has lived with HIV since 1996 and nearly died from AIDS in 2009. His survival was possible only because he lived in a country with universal healthcare and had a family who fought to keep him alive. Millions around the world aren’t so fortunate. Nearly one million people still die of AIDS every year, despite proven scientific truths such as U=U (Undetectable = Untransmittable), which confirm that nobody should die of AIDS in the 21st century.

Why does this crisis persist? Corruption, profiteering, and inequities in healthcare access. It is a profound injustice that must be corrected.

Pilot Projects in Canada

STF’s first goal is to launch a pilot project in Canada, focusing on communities where HIV and AIDS remain alarmingly prevalent. For example, HIV infection and mortality rates in some Indigenous communities in Saskatchewan and Ontario mirror those in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Beginning with open dialogue and collaboration with local health services, people living with HIV, and community leaders, STF will identify the root causes of HIV’s persistence and fund practical, community-driven solutions. Lessons from this pilot will inform adaptive models that can be replicated in other communities worldwide.

The Role of Music and Storytelling

Music is central to STF’s approach. The Promise, STP’s HIV-positive-led band, will perform concerts (in-person and online), give interviews, and host Q&A sessions in communities where HIV and AIDS are still widespread. Through their music and lived experiences, the band members will encourage testing, adherence to effective treatment, and the dismantling of stigma.

Proceeds from all STP projects—including The Promise—will help fund STF’s work, ensuring a cycle of impact: art supporting action, action supporting life.

Overcoming Challenges

The COVID-19 pandemic delayed STF’s charitable registration and slowed its early fundraising efforts. Despite these obstacles, STF has opened a dedicated bank account to hold donations in trust until it can cover legal fees and secure charitable status. While tax receipts cannot yet be issued, every contribution directly supports STF’s mission to save lives and create a sustainable future.

Call to Action

The world has the science, the resources, and the knowledge to end AIDS—but inequality stands in the way. The Southern Time Foundation exists to bridge that gap.

We invite you to:

• Share our mission and spread awareness.
• Support our work through donations and partnerships.
• Join our upcoming online community forum, where people worldwide can collaborate on solutions to end AIDS and advance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.Together, we can make AIDS a story of the past—and build a healthier, more sustainable world for generations to come.