Positive Support
Association
Providing Support, Mentorship and Friendship for People in our Community
who are affected by HIV/AIDS
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Our Mission The mission of the Positive Support Association is to assist and support person's and their families who have been affected by the HIV/AIDS disease. This includes support and assistance for caretakers, partners or spouses. Until a cure is found for HIV/AIDS disease, our mission is to make this a better 'positive community' by providing friendship, support and care. Unfortunately, having HIV/AIDS often leads the infected person to get other opportunistic infections and diseases which generally shorten the lives of members in our community. Because this disease is incurable at the moment, those diagnosed with the disease are living on borrowed time. The PSA is here to help lesson the suffering by empowering those infected with up-to-date knowledge and information regarding local care and support. Part or the PSA mission is to help to support newly diagnosed people with the disease by assigning a trained Peer Mentor to act as a friend and support 'station' for each Positive person. Our Peer Mentors are usually themselves HIV Positive and or living 'close to the disease' in some form or another. Our people are in the best position to help guide and support others. The PSA Peer Mentorship program has been designed to educate and enable newly diagnosed persons to ask the many tough questions that will arise as they come to terms with their diagnosis. The PSA provides direction to resources to help manage a members disease. We do this because we recognize that many newly diagnosed persons have difficulty accepting their status, while many more people are in a state of denial about their disease. Far too many newly diagnosed persons get upset & depressed over their diagnosis and many cannot help themselves during their initial diagnosis period. Our goal is to empower the newly diagnosed person, their partners or families, with the ability to follow easy and straightforward steps to undertake during the initial diagnosis period. We feel that by following some easy and basic steps right from the start, many newly diagnosed people will be able to more accurately handle on their own HIV care. With the added support and friendship of a Peer Mentor, most newly diagnosed persons can more fully control their disease. The PSA Mentor program helps all persons affected by HIV or AIDS to have better access to resources they immediately need or require. In working with our community partners, the PSA is able to allow users expanded access to increased services, disease care management, and better overall mental, spiritual and physical care. "Our commitment is to heal by way of comforting the client and others in our community who are affected by this disease. We believe in being considerate and respectful of personal values and beliefs and to be informed about and participate in decisions regarding others care, as well as provide our clients with security, personal privacy and confidentiality." -Marc Peterson, Director, PSA Northwest Five things you ought to know about the PSA 1- The PSA offers Support and Peer Mentorship directly to any newly diagnosed individual. Gay, Straight or Transgendered. We offer actual HIV Positive Mentors to each newly diagnosed person to help assist them right from the very beginning. Other than providing basic privacy notices, there is no cost or obligation to participate and nobody will ask you to sign any contracts or agreements to be part of the program. 2- The PSA provides Doctors, Clinics and HIV testing sites with easy to read and understand cards to help those who just tested Positive for HIV. As part of the 1st Annual Postcard Project, the resource cards educate newly diagnosed persons with HIV. The cards are written by actual people who live with HIV and then are edited by real Doctors who specialize in HIV Care. 3- The PSA provides a 'to the point' card for those people who test negative and tells them how to stay that way As part of our ongoing Postcard Project to educate our community, the 'negative' resource card helps to educate the reader with current CDC guidelines on how to stay negative by reducing risky behavior. 4- Since 2008, we have offered a free 'non agency specific' on-line HIV/AIDS Resource Guide for your Area. Our On-line Resource Guide covers your area and helps all people living with HIV/AIDS find every local Resource, Group, Club and Health Agency available to them. The guide is 'unbiased' and not agency or group specific. This means that you will be able to find direct services in your area without getting the 'big agency' run around. 5- The Positive Support Association Mentors and Resource Counselors are themselves living with HIV or AIDS or have an intimate knowledge of the disease. We understand where you are at! If you are tired and completely worn out by not getting the help or support you need from other groups or feel let down by their support services (by folks that themselves are NOT Positive) we are here to bridge that gap. |
