History

HIV Alliance has been a united professional agency since 1994, the result of a merger of HIV/AIDS Resources and Lane County AIDS Hospice Services.

Before 1985, there was no place in Lane County for an AIDS-affected person to turn: no education, no support, no emotional care, no advocacy within the medical provider community. People began to organize to respond to the ravages of this terrible disease:

  • 1985: Shanti in Oregon organizes volunteers for emotional support and practical care for people with AIDS and their families and friends.
  • 1986: Willamette AIDS Council focuses on prevention and education. Carper House provides an early residential program for AIDS/HIV patients.
  • 1991: Lane County AIDS Hospice Services establishes Acorn House hospice.
  • 1991: Shanti in Oregon and WAC merge to form HIV/AIDS Resources.
  • 1994: HIV/AIDS Resources and Lane County AIDS Hospice Services merges to become HIV Alliance.
  • 1996: Building for Hope fundraising campaign gave the agency the support it needed to move out of the rental market for the first time in over 12 years of providing AIDS-related services, and buy its own building. Grand opening for the building was in March 1997.
  • 1997: Acorn House hospice closes as new treatments reduce the numbers of deaths. Acorn Center began in January 97, out of the Acorn Club program, as a support center to clients.
  • 1999: SANA Needle Exchange is started to provide education, treatment referral, and new needles to people who inject drugs in Eugene and Springfield.
  • 2001: HIV Alliance begins to offer HIV Testing and Counseling Services for people at risk for HIV/AIDS.
  • 2006: HIV Alliance applies for and is awarded a Federal Health Resources and Services Administration grant to provide dental care to people living with HIV/AIDS.  The program proposal originally spans a 15 county region and is the first step in HIV Alliance moving from a local organization to a more regional organization.
  • 2009: HIV Alliance expands case management services to people living with HIV/AIDS in Coos, Curry, and Josephine counties.

Today: HIV Alliance continues to meet the challenges of this incurable disease through community education and prevention programs and support to people living with HIV/AIDS.  Currently, we provide care coordination, nursing case management and pharmaceutical support to 750 people living with HIV/AIDS in 11 counties stretched across Southern Oregon, the Willamette Valley and the Coast.  In partnership with Lane Community College and other agencies and organizations, we provide dental services to over 300 people living with HIV/AIDS in 21 counties in Oregon.  We provide HIV and targeted HCV prevention services in Lane, Douglas and Josephine Counties and education programs in Lane, Douglas, and Marion counties.  Our main office is based in Eugene and we have a satellite office in Roseburg.