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Our Mission
We
of the Tucson Interfaith HIV/AIDS Network offer our hearts and
hands to provide compassionate and non-judgmental service to
those affected by HIV/AIDS. Through education and support,
we—as individuals and faith
communities —work to build
bridges, reduce stigma and sustain hope.
We invite the religious community to
join us in an informed, sensitive and compassionate response
to those affected by HIV/AIDS. We are called to care through
education, service and advocacy:
- working within our faith communities
to promote education and prevention of HIV/AIDS
- educating clergy and laity in offering
support to those affected by HIV/AIDS
- assuring the availability of spiritual
care, respecting each individual's faith and tradition
- advocating in the community for those
affected by HIV/AIDS
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Address/Contact
TIHAN's mailing address is:
TIHAN
1011 North Craycroft Road, #301
Tucson, AZ 85711
TIHAN is located in Craycroft
Plaza, which is on the NW corner of Craycroft Rd. and 2nd St.
(One block south of Speedway on the west side of Craycroft).
Suite 301 is in the NE corner of the plaza.
TIHAN's regular business hours are
8:30
- 4:30 p.m.
Monday - Friday
You can contact TIHAN at (520)299-6647
or via email at:
friends@tihan.org
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Member Congregations
TIHAN’s
Member Faith Communities
Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church
Bodhisattva Institute (Tibetan Buddhism)
Campus Christian Center
Episcopal
Lutheran
Methodist
Casas Adobes Congregational Church (United Church of Christ)
Carondelet Health Care Corporation of Southern Arizona
Catalina United Methodist Church
Church of the Apostles (Episcopal Church)
Church of the Painted Hills United Church of Christ
Congregation Ner Tamid (Reform Judaism)
Congregation Or Chadash (Reform Judaism)
Cornerstone Fellowship
First Congregational Church (United Church of Christ)
Grace St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Green Valley Community Church (United Methodist)
Lutheran Church of the Foothills
(ELCA)
Mosaic United Methodist Church
Newman Center/St. Thomas More Catholic Parish
Prince Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME)
Our Mother of Sorrows Catholic Church
Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church (ELCA)
Rincon Congregational Church (United Church of Christ)
Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church
Santa Cruz Lutheran Church (ELCA)
Shalom Mennonite Fellowship
Southside Presbyterian Church
St. Andrew's Episcopal Church
St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church
St. Cyril Catholic Church
St. Francis in the Foothills United Methodist Church
St. Mark's Presbyterian Church
St. Mark's United Methodist Church
St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church
St. Philip's in the Hills Episcopal Church
St. Pius X Catholic Church
Temple
Emanu-El (Reform Judaism)
Tucson Multi-Faith Alliance
Unitarian Universalist Church of Northwest Tucson
Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson
Water of Life Metropolitan Community Church
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Services
CareTeams
One of the most vital direct non-medical services which the
Tucson Interfaith HIV/AIDS Network provides to people living
with HIV/AIDS is our CareTeams. CareTeams are made up of
several volunteers (usually four or five) who are assigned
to one CarePartner (a person who is living with HIV or
AIDS). Team member take turns meeting with and supporting
the CarePartner.
Our CareTeams perform a variety of supportive activities
for and with our CarePartners. Some of these are:
- Emotional and Social Support
- Friendly visits
- Accompanying the CarePartner to appointments and social
events
- Telephone contacts and reassurance
- Errands
- Shopping
- Transportation and companionship for appointments
- Cooking
- Light housekeeping
- Family Support
- Emotional support for family members in the home
- Respite time for primary caregiver
- Community Connections
- Referrals to other available support services in the
community
- Referrals to supportive faith communities and HIV-knowledgeable
clergy
- Our volunteers DO NOT provide these services:
- Dispensing medication
- Supplying nursing care, e.g., start IV's, clean catheters
- Rendering personal care, e.g., bathing, changing bedding
- Providing professional counseling
- Our volunteers DO NOT subject CarePartners to evangelizing
nor promote any specific religious beliefs.
Poz Cafe
Monthly Lunch for People Living with HIV
Poz Cafe is an opportunity to get out of the house,
take a break, meet other positive people and enjoy!
On the third Thursday of each month, volunteers from local
Tucson congregations provide a fantastic, delicious and nutritious
lunch for people living with HIV. This is followed by time
to "hang out",
chat, participate in a game or two of bingo, enjoy our raffle
of fun and useful gifts or even "shop" in the Poz
MarketPlace. People living with HIV and their guest are invited
to join in this wonderful opportunity. All attending the cafe are asked to honor the
highest standard of confidentiality. A guest may be a partner,
spouse, relative, friend or volunteer.
The cafe is open from
11:30am to 2:00pm at St. Francis in the Foothills Church,
located at the corner of Swan and River roads. It's a beautiful
setting, somewhat away from the hustle and bustle of life
in the middle of the city. Limited transportation may be
provided, as available.
Poz MarketPlace
Another component
of TIHAN's successful Poz Cafe lunch is the Poz MarketPlace.
After lunch, participants can pick up needed items from a table stocked with donated toiletries and personal care items.
Items available at the marketplace include but are not limited
to:
Disposable
Razors
Toilet Paper
Skin Lotion
Bar and Bath Soap
Toothpaste
Tooth Brushes
Shaving Cream
Dish Detergent
Ensure
Poz Breakfast at Mother
Hubbard’s Restaurant
Free weekly
Wednesday breakfast for people living with HIV. Mother Hubbard's
warms the stomach and heart. Drop-in for a friendly breakfast
with friends. Vouchers are available to CarePartners living
with HIV.
Memorial Fund
Assisting families with the costs of burial and cremation
after the loss of a loved one due to the effects of HIV/AIDS.
This fund, established in memory of Bill Ellsworth, provides
limited financial assistance to offset the costs of burial
and cremation.
Information, Referral, and Advocacy
Offering as-needed assistance and support, ranging from advocacy
with case managers and other medical and social service
providers. TIHAN works closely with other service providers
and social service agencies to advocate for people living
with HIV/AIDS, and works to make sure that people living
with HIV are aware of the other options for support available
in the community.
CarePartner Support Programs
TIHAN provides emergency financial support to persons living
with HIV/AIDS, assisting with living expenses such as rent,
electricity, phone, and food costs on an emergency basis.
Additional support includes assisting persons living with
HIV/AIDS with donations of furniture and other needed household
goods donated to the organization. The holidays are made
brighter through donations for Thanksgiving and the December
holidays for our CarePartners living with HIV/AIDS. HIV+
persons and family members are served as part of our holiday
season “family day” for children and parents
in which they can chose gifts to give to their loved ones
for the holidays, and then a dinner and dance to brighten
their holidays as well. Full turkey dinners are delivered
to a limited number of CarePartners living with HIV and their
families for the holidays, and there is a free Thanksgiving
dinner at Mother Hubbard’s Restaurant.
Clergy
Referral Network
The Tucson Interfaith HIV/AIDS Network not only offers
compassionate care and support through our CareTeams and
healing services throughout the year, but we also offer pastoral
care and spiritual support for those who request it.
The Clergy Resource Referral Network
is composed of more than 60 area clergy from a wide array
of different faith religions and denominations. You do not
need to be a TIHAN CarePartner or even someone who is HIV-positive
to speak with a member of the Clergy Resource Referral Network.
If you are affected by HIV/AIDS and would like to speak with
a member of the clergy, we would be glad to put you in touch
with a member of our referral network. As with all TIHAN
volunteers, there will be no proselytizing, or any attempts
made to convert you to that clergy member’s religion.
For more information about the Clergy
Resource Referral Network, please call the TIHAN office at
(520) 299-6647 or send an e-mail to scott@tihan.org
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Make “someday” today
TIHAN gratefully accepts credit card donations to support
our work. You can donate right now by clicking on the link below
which will take you to a secured site where you can safely enter
your donation information.
https://payments.auctionpay.com/
ver3/?id=w011392
If you would
prefer, you can call the TIHAN office (520-299-6647) and we will
be happy to take your credit card donation over the telephone.
Thanks for your support of TIHAN!
Tucson Interfaith
HIV/AIDS Network (TIHAN)
1011 North Craycroft
#301
Tucson, Arizona 85711
(520) 299-6647
www.tihan.org
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History
In times of trouble, people have traditionally
looked to their communities of faith for guidance and support.
Today, we have another crisis demanding a response. It is
estimated that 1 million people in the U.S. have been infected
with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. That translates to
about 1 in every 250 people in the United States.
AIDS is currently a leading cause of
death in the U.S. among people aged 25 to 44 years. And the
number of people infected and affected is growing exponentially.
The demographics of the disease are changing quickly, with
increases in rural areas and among youth, women, people of
color and heterosexuals. One in every four new HIV infections
in this country are estimated to occur among people under the
age of 20. Each hour, two more teenagers become infected with
HIV in the United States. There is no known cure, and the treatments
developed so far are only partially effective.
In Pima County, Arizona, it is estimated
that more than 6,500 people are living with HIV. There is a
great need for the people of Southern Arizona to respond with
greater compassion, generosity and concern for all affected
by HIV/AIDS. And what people are more called to respond than
people of faith?
As people of faith, we believe that God's
reassuring and embracing presence reaches out to all those
who are alienated and oppressed. We serve God and humanity
by striving to emulate divine compassion, to seek justice
and to provide service. This is our prophetic task.
—AIDS National Interfaith Network
Our communities of faith must be able
to deal with the growing number of members who will be seeking
support and guidance as this pandemic grows to touch more of
our homes, our families, our congregations, our hearts. AIDS
is found in every segment of our community, and it affects
every faith community. For each person infected there are countless
friends, families and co-workers affected.
Many faith communities in the Tucson
area are stepping forward to respond to this crisis, discovering
that there is tremendous value in gathering together, sharing
ideas, supporting each other, and linking people of faith together
to respond as one people of care and compassion for those living
with HIV/AIDS.
AIDS is a challenge, but it also represents
an opportunity for communities of faith to respond with ministries
of healing and hope, of concern and compassion. This disease
challenges us to be healing communities, to respond from our
deeply-rooted belief systems of caring for and affirming the
dignity of all people. We are called to reach out with compassion
rather than judgment, to foster awareness and education rather
than fear, to support and minister to those living with HIV,
to comfort the dying and the grieving, to respond in the face
of suffering and pain, to act on the tenets of our faith.
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Board
TUCSON INTERFAITH HIV/AIDS NETWORK
BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2008
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Tom Muller, AuD (President)
Aimee L. Graves, MA (Vice President)
Cathy Davis (Secretary)
Melinda Sims (Treasurer)
MEMBERS
Dave Fredricks
Kris Marsh
Terri McCormick, RN BSN CHPN
Heather Moroso, NMD
Tom Murray, MA
Deborah Van Sant, RPh
Peggy Williams
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Staff
Scott Blades
Executive Director
scott@tihan.org
With
a wide-ranging background in education, law, counseling,
media, GLBT issues, and volunteer management, Scott helped
found TIHAN in 1994 as a means of supporting the religious
community to address the growing crisis of HIV affecting
our community, and the accompanying issues of religious homophobia.
With his passion for equality and justice issues, Scott is
active in many groups and organizations in community, advocating
and working to build bridges of understanding. He has
been featured in many print and television stories, and was
awarded the TORCH Award for Community Leadership.
Scott’s position with TIHAN involves overall day-to-day
management of the organization, along with working with
the board of directors, and development and community relations
responsibilities. As TIHAN’s only
full-time employee, Scott also works closely to support
TIHAN staff with their responsibilities.
Ari Kelly
Director of
Education and Community Relations (part-time)
ari@tihan.org
Ari (rhymes with "Mary") was born in Tucson and has
lived here most of her life. She comes from a large family that
values education, hard work, and community service. She
graduated from the U of A and volunteered at TIHAN for about a
year before applying for the position. She is married to a youth
minister, and in her spare time she enjoys playing soccer and
babysitting.
Ari works part-time coordinating HIV/AIDS awareness and education programs
for faith communities, training and supporting TIHAN volunteers,
working closely with congregations and their liaisons,
coordinating agency publicity, and building upon TIHAN's
relationships with other agencies, service providers, and the
general community.
Erin Strange
Director of CarePartner Support
erin@tihan.org
Erin hails from the cold winters of Wisconsin. She moved to
Tucson in May of 2007 and has been loving it ever since. She
is a graduate of Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin with a
degree in sociology and a concentration in human services.
Erin’s parents instilled in her, at an early age, the
importance of giving back to the community, thus leading to
various volunteer commitments throughout her life. Erin has
been involved in the social service realm for many years and
has held various positions within non-profit organizations.
Before coming to TIHAN, Erin worked at Emerge! Center
Against Domestic Abuse (a merger of Brewster Center and Tucson
Centers for Women and Children), where she was the Outreach
and Prevention Supervisor. She is a dedicated advocate,
compassionate listener, and understanding leader.
In her role as TIHAN’s Director of CarePartner
Support, Erin oversees, supports, and coordinates TIHAN
volunteers providing direct support services for people living
with HIV, as well as working closely with other medical and
support service providers in the community.
Job Openings
Administrative Assistant - job
description and instructions for applying
Poz Cafe Menu/Kitchen Supervisor
- job description and instructions for applying
AmeriCorps VISTA placement for
TIHAN's Volunteer Coordinator - job description and
information about registering with VISTA
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Studios|Maintained by Phil Moul
©1998-2009 Tucson Interfaith HIV/AIDS Network
A 501(c)3 Non-Profit Organization
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