AIDS Foundation Houston Inc.
Preventing HIV in the community, serving the HIV community.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Despite the advent of Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART), HIV/AIDS is not over. The disease takes a toll on the long-term health of even those who are living longer lives thanks to ART. The only way to end this disease, beyond finding an outright cure, is to prevent new transmissions of the virus. Helping people living with HIV/AIDS and preventing new infections both hinge on overcoming the stigma that often accompanies the disease and the barriers that allow the virus to thrive. These barriers include homelessness, hunger, substance abuse, access to health care and preventative measures, and cultural attitudes among others. (As many as 1 in 12 homeless persons are believed to be HIV-positive.) The aforementioned barriers work to prevent those at risk from getting tested for HIV, becoming educated about how to avoid the virus and, if they already carry the virus, how best to preserve their health.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Housing Programs
Housing is health care. A safe and stable home is essential to individual health and well-being. For persons living with HIV, housing provides the "home base" that allows for all other services to become readily accessible. Attending doctors' visits, becoming compliant with medications and learning to manage their illness now becomes the individual's priority instead of just finding a bed. AFH offers permanent housing programs to provide safe affordable living and supportive services to individuals and families impacted by HIV. To engage individuals in developing a stable, healthy and productive future, all AFH housing programs provide intensive case management, community and social support. Our comprehensive service model includes creating individualized plans to address financial stability, family issues, basic needs, mental health and substance abuse treatment and how to link to needed medical and social services.
Camp Hope
Established in 1996, Camp Hope was the first camp for HIV-positive children in Texas. Camp Hope is first and foremost a chance for campers to escape the burdens of living with a debilitating disease. For an entire week HIV-positive children ages seven to 16 engage in traditional camp activities, sing songs, ride horses and just enjoy being a kid. They face their fears by singing karaoke in the talent show or swimming to the deep end of the pool. They conquer their uncertainty and build self-esteem by climbing to the top of the rock climbing tower and sliding down the zip line. Year after year, timid, hesitant kids arrive, but by the end of the week they have an increased sense of confidence, rejuvenated hope for their futures and the knowledge that they are not restricted by their illness. Our hope is that Camp Hope is not only a place for campers to have fun, but also a place they can begin setting the groundwork for stable and fulfilling lives.
Wall Talk
Offender Peer Education Program AFH's Prison Initiative provides HIV/STD education to incarcerated men and women in over 100 prisons across the state of Texas. Through over 1,100 trained peer educators, over 74,000 incarcerated men and women receive life-saving information and skills each year, reaching half the Texas prison system population. Through powerful peer education, individuals among the nation's highest at-risk population learn to combat the spread of HIV.
Stone Soup
For persons living with HIV, access to nutritional foods is of dire importance. Proper nutrition strengthens their bodies’ ability to fight infection and maximizes the effectiveness of anti-retroviral medications. Because of this, AIDS Foundation Houston created Stone Soup, the only food assistance program designed to meet the needs of HIV positive clients in the Houston area.
Where we work
Awards
Governor's Criminal Justice Volunteer Service Award 2014
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Affiliations & memberships
American Humanics - Partner 2000
Elton John AIDS Foundation 2001
National AIDS Funds 2001
Better Business Bureau 2019
External reviews
Photos
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
AIDS Foundation Houston seeks to 1) reduce the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS, 2) overcome the barriers that prevent people from protecting themselves against the virus or preserving their health if they have already been exposed.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
AFH Programs provide stable housing for persons with HIV who are homeless, a free food pantry, linkage to health care services, mental and substance abuse counseling (or referrals to same), employment skills training, and help in applying for public assistance. These measures are designed to relieve existential threats to daily life so that clients can focus their attention on getting care and remaining medically adherent (i.e., on their medications as prescribed). This not only benefits the client, but because having an undetectable viral load means a person cannot transmit the virus, it also benefits the health of the entire community by reducing new cases of HIV.
The agency also operates a summer camp for HIV-positive youth where youth aged 7-16 learn important life skills, the importance of medical adherence, and enjoy a week of traditional summer camp activities in a safe environment with others who share their burden.
We operate peer-education programs to help Texas prison inmates avoid HIV and preserve their health if they are already living with it.
AFH does HIV testing, as well as testing for other Sexually-Transmitted Infections (STIs) including syphilis and provides education to the community about HIV/AIDS.
Recently AFH started a clinic to help HIV-negative clients obtain Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), which is a medication that prevents transmission of the virus more than 90 percent of the time. When used with condoms, it can virtually eliminate the possibility of transmission.
In 2017, AFH opened its food pantry to all Houston-area residents affected by Hurricane Harvey to help alleviate hunger in the wake of the storm and extensive flooding that occurred in its aftermath.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
AFH operates five housing complexes, a food pantry, a summer camp for children, on-site and mobile testing facilities, and a PrEP Clinic. (Our Stone Soup food pantry is a distribution point for the Houston Food Bank.) On staff are case managers, mental health and substance counselors, HIV testing and educational personnel, prison peer educators, benefit navigators, and community health workers who go into the field to educate and offer testing.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Between October 1, 2017 and September 30, 2018, AFH accomplished the following:
TESTING
1,202 persons tested for HIV
13 (1.0%) were HIV positive
87% of those who tested positive were linked to care
100% educated about PrEP and how it can prevent transmission of the virus
HOUSING
AFH operated five housing facilities
100% of residents were linked to medical care
81% of residents had income < $10K and 19% had income < $20K
35 clients (and families where applicable) “graduated” to their own home
FOOD PANTRY*
3,337+ clients were provided food
200,470 lbs. of food were distributed
(5X increase over the previous year due to Hurricane Harvey)
YOUTH
99 participants attended Camp Hope, our summer camp for HIV-positive youth
29 of the older children took an HIV class
At the end of the class, 83% understood HIV meds and 83% plan lifelong medication adherence
PRISON PEER EDUCATION
AFH operates in 100 Texas prisons/jails
436 new Peer Educators were trained
The program currently has a total of 1,000 peer educators inside prisons
83,002 inmates were educated on HIV/AIDS
What's Next: Getting to zero new HIV transmissions depends on two things: getting the viral loads of persons living with HIV to an undetectable (and thus untransmittable) level and preventing new transmissions of the virus. To this end, AFH will continuing the above programs. In addition, AFH seeks to increase its use of Community Health Workers to take our programs into underserved areas. Community Health Workers are recruited from these areas and trained, making them a trusted source for information and guidance. AFH is also increasing its PrEP Clinic capacity to serve more clients in the year ahead. The agency is also participating in research studies to determine the best means of reaching and educating at-risk populations and to establish the most effective way to help homeless persons return to productive and healthy lives where they can be self-sustaining and medically adherent.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
AIDS Foundation Houston Inc.
Board of directorsas of 07/14/2020
Ms. Leslie Nagy
Waste Management
Term: 2019 - 2021
Leslie Nagy
Mark Roth
Russell Cotton
James Young
Michelle Pisklak
John Paul Arellano
Jan Leger
Karra Marino
Craig S Miles
Kyle Pierce
Jennifer Simons
Caroline Starry
Ali Dhanji
Rev. Leslie Jackson
Thomas McDaniel
Cwanza A Pinckney, MD
Tiffany Scales
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes