When Michael Hellman began volunteering with the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force in the early 2000s, there were still very few people who were willing to share their stories about living with HIV and AIDS. As part of PATF’s speakers’ bureau, Hellman went to local schools to present “HIV 101” sessions and talked about his own experience with the disease.
“Not many people were doing that openly at that time,” Hellman said.
Now, Hellman is being presented Allies for Health + Wellbeing’s annual Kerry Stoner Award for his work with people living with or at risk of HIV/AIDS. Stoner was one of the founders of the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force and died of complications of AIDS in 1993. The Kerry Stoner Award is presented annually by Allies for Health + Wellbeing to someone who has shown commitment to Stoner’s legacy and vision. The award will be presented at a luncheon in Hellman’s honor on Sunday, March 2, and he will be recognized at Allies’ 40TH Birthday Party on Friday, April 11.
“It is a true pleasure to honor Mike Hellman with the Kerry Stoner Award,” said Mary Bockovich, Allies CEO. “Hundreds of students in our community have a better understanding of HIV because of his willingness to share his story and experiences, and he has made a lasting impact with his advocacy work.”
Over the 10 years he visited local schools, teachers would tell him he needed to share his stories to a wider audience.
“A number of the teachers, a number of people I’d gone out with said, ‘You really need to start writing down these stories,’” Hellman said. “For years, I wrote down pieces of these stories, and then I used the stages of grief as kind of that process to describe what people go through when they have an HIV diagnosis, how they have to live with the diagnosis and learn and how to be a better person.”
After he retired, Hellman finally had the time to organize his writing, and in 2024, he published his first book, “A Journey of Acceptance: When Some Days Are Best Forgotten.”
Hellman’s support of those living with HIV didn’t end with his involvement with PATF. He served on the consumer advisory board for the AIDS Coalition of Southwestern Pennsylvania and on the state HIV planning commission in addition to other advocacy work. Hellman worked for Shepherd Wellness Community, an HIV service organization known for its community dinners for those living with HIV, until his retirement.
“Shepherd Wellness Community is proud of Mike Hellman for his many years of advocacy and work for the HIV positive community at state and local levels,” said Richard Krug, executive director of Shepherd Wellness Community. “He ably served as SWC’s coordinator of administration before he retired in 2024. We are pleased he is being recognized with the 2025 Kerry Stoner Award. Well done!”
Today, Hellman, who worked for 30 years with PNC Bank, writes for H-I-V.net and is a certified patient health leader who does speaking engagements about HIV on behalf of pharmaceutical companies.
Hellman met Stoner in the early 1990s after moving to Pittsburgh and said he is honored to be recognized for carrying on Stoner’s work.
“I tend to look back at all the other recipients and say, ‘Wow. I’m a part of that group?’” he said. “I still can’t believe I’m a part of that group, because they have been exceptional people through the years who have been honored through his legacy.”
Michael Hellman is a certified patient health leader and author living in the North Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh.
