Grass-roots AIDS Project reaches 20-year milestone

The Ozarks is not immune.

This harsh reality built AIDS Project of the Ozarks 20 years ago, when family members and loved ones of locally infected individuals banded together to offer help. It was a grass-roots effort to combat a disease creeping into the Ozarks, organizers say.

Today, 23 staff members and some 60 volunteers carry out that mission for AIDS Project of the Ozarks. Armed with a million-dollar-plus budget and even bigger hearts, the group offers direct medical care, prevention education and some financial assistance for more than 475 people with HIV/AIDS in 29 southwest Missouri counties. More than half those people are Greene County residents, said AIDS Project Executive Director Lynne Meyerkord.

“That’s more than we’ve ever served,” Meyerkord said, noting a 40 percent increase in clients from 2003 to 2004.

The numbers this year indicate it’s truly a local epidemic: More people tested positive in the AIDS Project’s office during the first quarter than all of 2004.

“That’s very alarming,” Meyerkord said, attributing the rise to complacency and misconceptions about a cure.

“People think it’s not a big deal anymore,” Meyerkord said. “They think there are medications to cure you and it’s not a big deal if they get infected. That’s not true.”

The truth is that health professionals recently determined prescribed treatments add more than 10 years to life expectancies for someone with full-blown AIDS; it used to be two years, Meyerkord said. However, treatments are very hard on the system, have unpleasant side effects and must be strictly followed.

Meyerkord describes treatments as a “cocktail of medications akin to chemotherapy.” These medications, which require 95 percent adherence to work effectively – “not a very forgiving medication regimen” – often bring about very high cholesterol levels, diabetes and joint degeneration, Meyerkord said.

In an environment that is always changing, this type of information is exactly what AIDS Project works to make known through HIV testing, counseling, educational forums and literature.

The group also works directly with the infected, offering medical care/clinic services, case management and nutrition services.

Changing perceptions

These efforts were not always well received – and sometimes still aren’t. Meyerkord remembers the early days, when people negatively acted out based on personal perceptions about AIDS. Hate letters were all too common. People wanted to know who was positive and do harm to them, she said. The organization even struggled to get its name hung on its first office.

“(The landlord) was concerned that the other tenants would be nervous knowing that there were people with AIDS in the building,” Meyerkord said. “There are all sorts of horror stories, which is really part of the reason the AIDS Project started.”

Meyerkord said public perceptions have improved considerably over the years. However, a stigma still exists. For instance, an AIDS Project client says he lost his job last year because he became HIV positive.

“There certainly is still stigma and fear,” Meyerkord said. “It’s not near the degree it used to be.”

Fund-raising ride

An example is the public response AIDS Project received last year in its first bicycle ride fund-raiser. Called the Red Ribbon Ride, the event returns May 21, when 120 to 200 bicyclists will pedal for AIDS Project’s cause.

The first event had more than 80 participants and 30 business involved. It raised $5,300; at press time, sponsorships exceeded $10,000 and organizers hoped to raise more than $15,000 during the 2005 ride. The cost is $20 for individual riders and $30 for a family.

“Everything that we get from this ride will go directly into client services funds,” said Lauri Massey, client services director.

The fund helps those with AIDS pay rent, utilities and medication costs.

“We feel like this is an opportunity to help individuals that we haven’t reached before and help develop more community awareness of HIV and AIDS,” Massey said.

While AIDS Project is overwhelmingly funded with state and federal grants, local fund-raising is an “ongoing necessity,” Meyerkord said.

The group raised $65,000 locally last fiscal year.

“It is all raised locally and stays local,” she said.

The operating budget for 2005-06 is $1.4 million.

Meyerkord said the community has been instrumental in getting AIDS Project through its first 20 years and must continue to get involved.

“We know this is a preventable disease. People need to talk,” she said. “I know it’s difficult, in terms of the issues associated with transmission, but it really is a community issue.”

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