The “Care Fund” was founded in 1990 when it became evident that AIDS patients were unable to access the usual financial services available to other sick and terminally ill persons, mainly due to stigma. In the early 1990’s the clinic population totaled approximately 400 persons and more than 25% of the clinic’s patient population died each year. Now, the patient population has grown to more than 1,800 people in Durham, NC.

While medications have improved the lives of many patients, there are those who remain in tremendous need.  Oftentimes, a patient’s first visit is filled with shock and fear and, even for longer-term patients, stigma continues to haunt them. Their emergency needs are many and there are even fewer programs designed to help them in a time of crisis. 

Below is an example of how the CARE Fund has filled the gap when no other program will pay:

Rhonda lived in a drug-infested neighborhood and asked to relocate to a safer location because she was worried for herself and her daughter.  Her own history of substance abuse tormented her as she struggled to remain clean.  Rhonda found safe housing, but her disability check could not cover the required deposits.  She came to the CARE fund for help.  No other organization provides deposit assistance, and the HIV social workers were able to make those deposits through the CARE Fund. Rhonda remains drug free, her daughter is doing well in her new school, and Rhonda is training to become a nursing assistant. She never misses a medical appointment or her medication regimen, and her CD4 count has increased.

Since 2005, over 2,250 people like Rhonda received assistance from the CARE Fund. We need your help so that we don't have to turn people away due to lack of funding! Please click the donate button below to give to our patients who are fighting to survive, who are working part-time with no benefits, and who are still struggling with the on-going stigma of HIV/AIDS.