Board of Directors

A Message from our Leadership

Greetings,

Together we have come a long way from the AIDS support group that was started in the spring of 1991 in the basement of the infamous Creamery Building in downtown Winchester. When 12 volunteers –including local clergy, representatives of the healthcare industry, and concerned citizens– sat around a room to form AIDS Response Effort, they probably never thought their dream would grow to be the organization it is today.

In the beginning ARE was able to raise awareness and show support to those in the local community living with HIV/AIDS with very little expense. But as healthcare costs rose, ARE needed to start looking for alternative means of funding, and in 1993, the organization was approved to administer a federal grant. Looking for a community partner, the organization collaborated with Valley Health Systems in 1998 and piloted a Medical Management Clinic, where clients of ARE were able to receive comprehensive case management and medical care, in a comfortable medical setting.

As the epidemic changed from a crisis to a manageable disease, the needs of ARE’s clients also changed. As a result, the pilot with Valley Health Systems ended, and ARE started to see a major shift from fighting the disease to helping clients manage it on a day-to-day basis. With the introduction of improved medicines and increasing numbers of positive individuals beginning to live longer, healthier lives, ARE and other AIDS service organizations around the country started to see funding from grants taper away. After drastic reductions, remaining funds were reallocated to more urban areas. Starting at the Federal level and trickling down to the state, funding became scarce.

With grant funding shrinking, ARE began looking at other ways of raising funds, more particularly, the agency looked at internal fundraising and events such as: In Living Color, ornament sales, theater nights, and Mardi Gras. These events have helped to offset expenses that grants would not cover.

Today, with over 120 clients, all from different walks of life and backgrounds, ARE is still trying to accomplish what the founders set out to do 20 years ago, by promoting community health and awareness while assisting individuals and families living with HIV/AIDS and related diseases. Yet with available grant funding getting smaller and smaller, it is more important now than ever before that supporters such as you help us keep that dream alive by calling your legislatures, volunteering, or making a tax-deductible donation to ARE. Together we can accomplish more.

Sincerely,

Brad Hodgson

Board President