THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, November 7, 1994 TAG: 9411070065
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B01 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
Since coming under the United Way umbrella about four years ago, the Tidewater AIDS Crisis Taskforce has realized growth on two fronts: funding and caseload.
While there's more money to help people with AIDS and HIV, more people are in need of help.
Last year, United Way contributors designated TACT as recipient of about $75,000, said Dr. Alan D. Wilson, president of the TACT board of trustees. That's a big part of the group's $450,000 budget.
``And the best part is there are no strings, no designations or restrictions on what you do with that funding,'' Wilson said. ``The United Way money allows you to have a little buffer and pay some of the overhead costs that are not covered by grants.''
The money is used to keep the organizational gears moving smoothly while grant money funds direct services.
And there are a lot of gears.
The task force's basic mission is to help sustain those with AIDS and HIV/AIDS education.
TACT provides counseling for those with HIV and financial assistance for those with AIDS. A housing program makes sure everyone has a roof over their head. And there's assistance for medical care and prescriptions.
On the education front, TACT has 12 full-time staff members, some of whom go everywhere, from the workplace, schools and garden clubs to the streets and back alleys spreading the word on the AIDS threat and the means for self-protection.
The full-time staff includes an executive director, bookkeeper, case workers and educators.
But the client base is more than 500 - and growing. About 40 percent of Virginia's reported AIDS cases are in eastern Virginia.
TACT is not directly funded by the United Way, unlike some agencies. Donors must specify on their pledge cards that they want some or all of their gift to go to TACT. But the United Way does help in other very direct ways.
``It's not like, `You got your X amount of money,' and then they disappear,'' Wilson said. The United Way provides a variety of organizational services.
For instance, the United Way is providing expertise in managing details of the pending merger of TACT and the Peninsula AIDS Foundation.
The United Way also was there two years ago when TACT faced possible closure because a previous official had vanished after mismanaging $60,000 in funds.
``When we got into our previous financial crunch, the United Way was very helpful in advancing some money that had been designated to us,'' Wilson said. ``That helped us get through some really rough times.'' by CNB