Columbia CARES

Columbia CARES was established in 1992. Its mission statement is “…to respond to the AIDS epidemic by providing social service case management, support to those affected by HIV and their families & loved ones and to educate our community regarding HIV.” The grant requested in this application will be used to support a portion of salary and taxes for one rapid HIV/HCV testing specialist. The project offers free testing with accurate results available in 20 minutes.  The testing process for both HIV and HCV include pre and post test services. 640 (80%) of 800 HIV/HCV program participants will be able to identify a minimum of two behaviors which place them at risk for HIV/HCV infection.