In 1986, a small group of gay and lesbian Vermonters watching friends pass away quickly due to a still-mysterious illness, realized they had to take a stand where others wouldn't. When family wouldn't sit by the bedside, they would. When medical providers wouldn't research competent treatment, they would. When neighbors wouldn't prepare meals for the sick, they would. Taking shifts and delegating tasks to comfort and care for friends and loved ones, these friends started a group that has evolved into what is now Vermont CARES.

Today, Vermont CARES (Vermont Committee for AIDS Resources, Education, and Services) is a strong and vibrant nonprofit organization of clients, staff, and volunteers. Together we prevent HIV infection, care for Vermonters with HIV and AIDS, and advocate for social and policy change relative to HIV treatment and education. Our larger vision is a world of compassionate neighborhoods where people live free of the stigma, poverty, and oppression associated with the HIV/AIDS epidemic; people of Vermont make informed decisions about HIV prevention, services, and treatment; and there isn't a need for Vermont CARES.

HIV is still treated differently from other chronic infections. The behaviors that spread HIV infection are still highly stigmatized because HIV is spread through sexual contact, blood-to-blood contact, from mother to child, and through breast milk. Many of the behaviors that spread this virus are intimate, undisclosed, ostracized, or misunderstood. For instance, injection drug use is the primary means of transmitting HIV through blood, but acknowledgement and discussion of drug use is still taboo in many Vermont towns.

In the early years of HIV's discovery, when Vermont CARES was founded, HIV was perceived to be only a disease for gay men, hemophiliacs, Haitians, and heroin users - the groups most impacted by HIV in the early 1980's. Much of the social stigma connected with HIV remains. Although it is widely known that anyone can "get" HIV, those with the virus are often blamed for their infection, and do not get the care and treatment they deserve for full health and recovery.

To combat this stigma, and to fill the medical and social vacuum many people with HIV experience, organizations like Vermont CARES provide comprehensive, non-judgmental, culturally competent care and prevention. We promote that human-focused model for HIV care - holistic health and wellbeing along with social connections - and believe this should be a model for care of other illnesses as well.

Vermonters with HIV or an AIDS diagnosis are still - more than 25 years into this pandemic - let go from employment, discriminated against in housing, discouraged from proper medical care, and scorned by families. Consequently, HIV/AIDS has a high correlation with homelessness, poverty, reduced medical access, substance abuse, mental health complications, and hunger. We work with our clients to resolve all these aspects of HIV infection and more.