The world is filled with uncertainty, but the staff and volunteers at the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation are working to ensure at least one thing: They want you to know your HIV status.
So they are offering free testing at three locations throughout the city from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. today, which is National HIV Testing Day.
"We encourage everyone who is sexually active to be tested," said Vera Bowlby, who coordinates the peer-counseling program for the foundation. "I had a normal life and was dating the wrong person for two years, and that is how I got infected. Even if you have had only one or two partners, you don't know who they have been with."
Bowlby became infected with the human immunodeficiency virus at age 37 and discovered it four years later during a physical examination as a newlywed applying for a Green Card.
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"It was devastating, of course. I had been married for only three months, and thank God my husband was very supportive. We've been married for 11 years in December, and he remains HIV-negative, so it is possible to have a normal life after diagnosis," she said.
Bowlby's personal experience, combined with her background in counseling, gives her unique insight into the feelings of the 1,200 clients who seek services from the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation annually. The nonprofit agency also reaches 18,000 to 20,000 people each year communitywide through prevention and outreach.
Bowlby said she believes outreach is vital in Southern Arizona, which has followed national trends and has seen an increase in HIV rates among youths, heterosexual women, blacks and Hispanics.
A study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that about 25 percent of people infected with HIV in Pima County are unaware they're infected.
"When you are diagnosed with HIV, there are two things that come together: shame and fear. And the stigma is still there. People are still afraid of being rejected, and some people are still afraid of having a relationship with people who are HIV-positive because they don't really know how it is transmitted.
"Someone asked me the other day if mosquitoes can transmit the virus, and I didn't think in this day and age that people would still think that. That is where education comes in," Bowlby said.
Education is a cornerstone of the foundation's mission to prevent spread of the disease and support people living with and affected by HIV and AIDS through services and programs that enhance quality of life.
The foundation provides services ranging from support groups and case management to financial support through subsidized, affordable housing and emergency assistance with rent, mortgage payments and utilities.
A medication-assistance program is available, and food-assistance and mobile-meals programs provide foods tailored to special nutritional needs of those infected with HIV.
The Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation also provides referrals for dentists, optometrists, psychologists, physicians and other health-care professionals, as well as complementary alternative and pain management therapies such as acupuncture, massage and Reiki.
The organization's Travis Wright Memorial Buyer's Club offers access to vitamins and supplements for general wellness and HIV care. All services are designed to help clients take charge of their situations, said Dave Martinez, the foundation's prevention-program manager.
HIV testing is the first step toward empowerment, Martinez said, but people avoid it for a multitude of reasons, ranging from cultural and religious beliefs to language barriers and lack of access to services.
"HIV becomes a very social disease. The two main ways you get it are through things people don't want to talk about, which are sex and shooting up drugs," he said. "But you have to know you have it to prevent it from spreading and to get care and treatment to control the disease so you can live a somewhat normal life."
IF YOU GO
• Know your HIV status: Get tested for free on national HIV testing day.
• When: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. today. No appointment necessary.
• Where: Testing will take place at the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation, 375 S. Euclid Ave.; Cope Community Services, 101 S. Stone Ave.; and Native Images, 3045 N. First Ave., Suite A.
• Cost: Free.
• For more information, go online to www.saaf.org or call Dave Martinez at 628-7223.
• Help: The foundation needs peer counselors to connect clients with resources that will help them address physical and emotional needs when they are diagnosed with HIV. For more information, or to make a donation to support the foundation's services, see the Web site or call 628-7223.
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