Portland Area GlobalAIDS Coalition
Featured organization of the month:

Mission Statement:
To prevent HIV infections, support and empower people affected and infected by HIV/AIDS, and eliminate HIV/AIDS-related stigma.

Screw Stigma / Positive Force, AIDS Walk Portland 2009

Description of Organization:

Cascade AIDS Project is the oldest and largest community-based provider of HIV services, housing, prevention, education and advocacy in Oregon and Southwest Washington.

Here is an overview of a few of CAP’s programs:

• With 75% of all new infections in Oregon among men who have sex with men, Pivot, a space by and for gay and bisexual men, provides education, prevention, social programming, HIV and STD testing and more.
• Last year, the Oregon AIDS/STD Hotline fielded over 2,500 calls requesting information about HIV and STDs. This year we’ve expanded with a new online searchable database and live chat features.
• Last year, CAP provided housing services to 485 people. Support included emergency rental assistance, life skills training and allocating over $670,000 directly to clients for stable housing.
• CAP’s Youth HIV Education program, including Teen2Teen and agent trainings, reached out to 875 youth through youth-facilitated workshops, and served an additional 2,862 youth through outreach. 
• CAP’s Kids’ Connection programs, encompassing youth and family support and education, Camp Starlight, and Teens. Recreation. Education. Community., served 122 HIV-affected and -infected children by offering programs such as teaching kids about HIV and a week-long residential camp for children.

Teen2Teen

Contact information:

• Donate: Michael Sorensen, msorensen@cascadeaids.org, 503-278-3850
• Volunteer: Marc Kochanski, mkochanski@cascadeaids.org, 503-278-3814
• Become a client: Bevan Hurd, bhurd@cascadeaids.org, 503-278-3845
• Other: Eowyn West, ewest@cascadeaids.org, 503-278-3811

Upcoming events:

• What’s New in HIV Conference, September 11, 2010, http://www.cascadeaids.org/HIVConference/
• AIDS Walk Portland, October 3, 2010, http://www.aidswalkportland.org

The Portland Area Global AIDS Coalition is an alliance of local organizations and individuals, united on behalf of the millions impacted by the global AIDS pandemic. The PAGAC seeks to strengthen the work of its members through the sharing of ideas and resources, to engage the local community in the fight against HIV/AIDS, and to advocate for policies that respond to the needs of those affected both locally and globally.

We do this by maintaining:

1. An e-mail mailing list connecting interested individuals and organizations with current local events.
2. A directory with links to the over 100 organizations in the Portland area working on global AIDS issues.

MAILING LIST
To learn what is happening and how you can get involved, or to list an event, send an e-mail to Ann Pickar at apickar@cs.com.

DIRECTORY OF ORGANIZATIONS
To make it easier to find out about organizations which work in a specific area, organizations are listed under the following headings :

• Direct service
• Education/Awareness/Advocacy
• Faith -Based
• Other Notable Organizations

Check the appropriate link to find out who is active in each area.
In addition, as a way of sharing the amazing work being done by the  local grassroots community, each month we will be spotlighting a local organization. See below for our current “Organization of the Month.”

Facts:
4.3 million people were infected with HIV in 2006-the highest ever in one year.

Every 15 seconds, AIDS kills a mommy or daddy.

2.3 million children are infected with HIV/AIDS.