Sonny Bartz
    Sonny grew up in New York City in an emotionally and physically abusive family. As a teenager, Sonny turned to alcohol to relieve his inner anguish and later, heroin. He was nearly 40 years old and a successful Lockheed Martin employee when he stopped using drugs and began a spiritual life of self-examination. His new life was short, however; he soon learned he had contracted HIV through years of drug addiction.

Sonny decided in the last year of his life that he had had enough of living in shame and fear because he had AIDS. Although his health was declining, he began to speak out publicly, telling the story of his life and his struggle with AIDS in order to educate the people of his community. His work began what would become The Catalyst Foundation’s Speaker’s Bureau. Sonny died on July 25, 1993, but his legacy lives on through Catalyst, which enables other Antelope Valley residents living with HIV/AIDS to receive help and support that was unavailable during his lifetime.