AIDS Walk Austin - one of the beneficiaries

by: BeckyH

Thu Aug 18, 2011 at 09:27 AM CDT

Last fall, I listened to Paul Scott, the new executive director of AIDS Services of Austin, talking about what your donations do & I wanted to pass this information on to you. Fifty dollars supplements food for 1 person for 1 month from the Helping Hands Food Pantry. One hundred dollars provides the Prevention Team with supplies to educate 370 people, a $250 donation assists 3 clients in financial crisis with support paying basic living expenses. A $500 donation provides 3 preventive oral hygeine visits at the Jack Sansing Dental Clinic. And when you - that's you people - have given a thousand dollars, you have: helped with more than 40 visits to the Food Pantry, a complete restorative treatment at the Dental Clinic and more than 20 hours of HIV Case Management to support clients living with HIV.

One of the organizations that benefits from donations to the Walk is:

The Wright House Wellness Center

Since 1988, The Wright House Wellness Center has offered care and compassion to Central Texans living with or at risk of HIV and other chronic illnesses and provided resources for support, education and empowerment.

come below the fold to find out more -- and for a matching donation challenge

if you don't want to read further, here's my donation page

Caring for Mind, Body and Spirit
Through hands on support and education, The Wright House Wellness Center assists people with getting into medical care, staying healthy and maintaining or increasing quality of life.

Mission
The Wright House Wellness Center offers care and compassion to Central Texans living with or at risk for HIV and other chronic illnesses and provides resources for support, education and empowerment through sustainable means.

you can help this and other wonderful agencies by donating at  my donation page

and this is from their "about us" page:

The Wright House Wellness Center was founded in 1988 by PLWAs (Persons Living with AIDS) and several complementary/holistic health therapy practitioners who believed that many of the symptoms of chronic illnesses could be effectively treated with holistic/complementary health therapies.

Although the initial program focused primarily on the needs of gay, white men infected with HIV/AIDS, The Center has changed over the past 23 years to include and serve those populations at greatest risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases as well as those who do not seek timely medical care - people of color (especially men who have sex with men and women) and recreational drug users in the lower income areas of Austin, Texas.

As medical treatment for HIV/AIDS has changed from a focus on delaying death to a focus on managing illness and improving quality of life and productivity, The Center's programs and services have changed as well to emphasize treatment adherence, disease prevention and personal responsibility. In 2001, The Center expanded complementary health therapy services to include hepatitis C (HCV).

During 2003 and 2004, The Center received new funding awards for HIV/AIDS prevention, case management, food bank, substance abuse, mental health and prison-based prevention/education programs.

I thought I had no pictures from the Walk, I'm not really a picture-taker. But I do have one from 2008. So here's me with my friend State Rep. Donna Howard -- they gave walkers who raised over $1,000 a crown, isn't that hilarious?

And here's one with me and the best Congressman in Congress - Lloyd Doggett:

.

Also raising funds for the Walk is my friend Lisa, she is raffling off a quilt for the 3rd (or is it 4th) year in a row, click here to see it, a picture of Lisa with her brother and the story of why she donates to the Walk. Donate there to be in the drawing.

please donate at my donation page.