Ozarks Profile: Lynne Meyerkord

What is your job?

Executive director, AIDS Project of the Ozarks, 1901 E. Bennett.

Tell us about your organization.

AIDS Project of the Ozarks offers HIV testing and primary medical care and counseling to those diagnosed with HIV or AIDS. The organization also provides HIV and AIDS education services to the area. AIDS Project was started in Springfield in 1985 by a group of concerned family members and friends of local AIDS sufferers. "People were coming back to the Ozarks who had been living in other places and were very ill, and people in the Ozarks were also beginning to be diagnosed with AIDS at that time," Meyerkord said. "The Springfield-Greene County Health Department has always been very supportive there was an initial city grant, and then the organization received some state grants. Things really changed here in 1991, when we got our federal grant." The project now has 15 full-time employees and one part-time employee. Meyerkord began her involvement with AIDS Project in 1987 as a volunteer, then became a member of its board of directors in 1990. She served on a few of the organization's committees, then joined the AIDS Project staff as a client services director in 1994. She became the project's executive director in August 1998.

What is your educational background?

Meyerkord received a bachelor's degree in social work and therapeutic recreation from Southwest Missouri State University in 1983 and a master's in social work from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1985.

What jobs led you to your current one?

After receiving her master's degree in 1985, Meyerkord joined the Burrell Center as a counselor for its inpatient unit, then began counseling people with HIV and AIDS on an outpatient basis when she began her master's program. She also worked in the Transitions program at Burrell, which is a program for the severely mentally ill. Meyerkord left Burrell in 1994 to join AIDS Project, where, she said, she had wanted to work since it was founded.

What is the best part of your job?

"Definitely working with the clients and staff. I'm in a position where I get to work with a variety of people, and I really appreciate that opportunity."

Give us some personal information.

Meyerkord is 38, single and from St. Louis. She said she stayed in Springfield after college because she prefers the Ozarks to her hometown. Meyerkord has a Sea-Doo and enjoys spending time at Table Rock Lake in the summer, as well as playing tennis and spending time with friends and her dogs. She also enjoys reading mystery novels and wants to read "Tuesdays with Morrie" when she gets time.