Last year, the Sussex County AIDS Committee (SCAC) provided financial, nutritional, or transportation assistance to 150 individuals living with HIV or AIDS in Sussex County. Direct payments for these supportive services totaled $94,640. Both are record numbers for the local non-profit agency.
At the February meeting of the SCAC Board of Directors, executive director Steve Twilley reported that 2000 had been an unprecedented year in the level of support provided by SCAC to individuals in Sussex County who are HIV positive or living with AIDS.
The number of clients served by SCAC grew by 32 percent over 1999, while payments for client services increased by more than 65 percent over the previous year.
Twilley says, "It is sometimes difficult to get a true picture of the number of people in Sussex County who are HIV positive or AIDS-defined. However, Delaware consistently ranks as one of the leading states in AIDS cases per capita. SCAC's high levels of service in 2000 reflects the extent of the AIDS problem and need for services in southern Delaware. We're committed to meeting those needs through a variety of grant-funded and self-funded client services."
SCAC provided $64,701 last year to pay for 127 clients' emergency financial needs, such as housing, utilities, prescriptions, and medical supplies. Twilley says that the number of clients receiving emergency financial assistance was more than 50 percent higher than in 1999. All clients are HIV positive or living with AIDS and meet additional eligibility criteria including residence in Sussex County and financial need.
SCAC receives some funding for emergency financial assistance from the Delaware HIV Consortium through the federal Ryan White CARE Act, but most monies used for clients' emergency needs are not reimbursed or funded by any grant.
According to Twilley, more than $48,000 of the emergency financial assistance provided to clients last year came from the many private donations SCAC relies upon. While payments funded by the Ryan White grant increased by approximately 30 percent over the previous year, SCAC-funded payments were more than 150 percent greater than in 1999.
"Through the generosity of our many supporters, we were able to provide three times as much financial assistance for our clients as the Ryan White grant provides. Looking at these numbers reminds us that, just as our clients rely on us for support, SCAC also relies upon our countless friends whose support enables us to meet this increasing level of need."
Other support programs provided by SCAC in 2000 also showed similar levels of growth. 95 clients received supplemental food packages during the year, more than twice the number of recipients in 1999. Each month, SCAC provides at least two groceries bags of nutritionally balanced non-perishable food to clients of this program.
Most of these nutritional food packages are delivered by SCAC staff and volunteers directly to the homes of clients throughout Sussex County. SCAC's nutritional food program is the only one in Delaware receiving Ryan White funds that provides home delivery of food.
SCAC's Ryan White funding provides $8,000 annually for food which is purchased from the Delaware Food Bank. SCAC provides more than $2,500 in its own funding for food which is also supplemented by many community contributions.
Another SCAC client program, "Wheel Take You There," provided 536 rides to 46 different clients in 2000. SCAC volunteer drivers logged in more than 28,000 miles last year, taking clients to doctors' visits throughout Sussex County, and as far away as Wilmington and Philadelphia. More than $22,000 was provided in mileage reimbursement for the program's drivers.
SCAC also operates the SHARP Center, which provides numerous resources on HIV and AIDS. In 2000, nearly 300 people visited the SHARP Center, located at 107 South Street in Rehoboth, seeking information and an additional 850 people called or sent e-mail inquiries requesting information.
SCAC offers free and anonymous HIV testing at the SHARP Center and, last year, 53 people received this testing and counseling. Numerous workshops were provided by the SHARP Center on topics including an overview on AIDS and AIDS prevention, legal issues, grief and loss, holistic healing, healthy diets, disability benefits, and many others.
Board President Murray Archibald says this level of service is at the core of SCAC's mission. "For more than a decade, SCAC has sought to meet the needs of individuals living with HIV and AIDS in Sussex County. Last year's statistics dramatically reaffirm the extent of that need and of our commitment to provide whatever services our resources will permit."
For information about SCAC, its services, or opportunities to volunteer or offer financial support, call (302) 644-1090.
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 11, No. 2, Mar. 9, 2001