AIDS/HIV

The AIDS Council of Greater Kansas City served as a catalyst for the community response to the HIV crisis in metropolitan Kansas City for more than 18 years. Services included public policy advocacy, coalition building, a speakers bureau and a center for networking between AIDS Service Organizations. Due to funding cuts, the Board of Directors decided to close the AIDS Council in mid-2005 . The Board of directors of Southwest Boulevard Family Health Care recognized the significant work that was being done for the community through the AIDS Council and invited J. Dollie Rainey, the Program Manager at the AIDS Council, to continue to provide the advocacy, information and networking services through a new AIDS INFORMATION CENTER (AIDS Information-KC.) The AIDS Information-KC has established an advisory committee made up of volunteers from each of the major AIDS Service providers in KC. The goals of the AIDS Information Center are: 1) To provide information about AIDS services in the KC metropolitan area. 2) To provide a point of contact for people who need advocacy within the HIV/AIDS systems. 3) To maintain a network of communication with the ASO's and with the community about events and important changes in services.

AIDS Project of the Ozarks (APO) is a non-profit community-based organization serving a 20 county region in southwest Missouri. APO currently serves over 600 clients with HIV/AIDS and their families. Concerned families and friends established the organization as a grass roots entity in 1985. Services include: medical care, case management, education to the general public, and services to persons with HIV infection, their families and significant others in a confidential, caring environment.

We are a Skilled Nursing Facility providing care to HIV-positive residents who are 18 years of age or older. Our facility doesn't treat HIV & AIDS like a terminal disease. A trained staff of medical professionals has years of experience treating this illness. At Hope we create an environment that is more like home than an institution. We're a non-profit, and our small size allows more individual attention, more smiles, and much more hope. Hope Care Center is unique - there are only a few centers in the United States that provide the same service we offer. The responsibility is huge, but we're up for it. In just over a decade we've served over 200 residents and have dreams of expanding so we can serve more people. We're continuing to learn, to provide the best care, and to get our residents well and on their own.