Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 23, No. 27, Ed. 1 Friday, November 17, 2006 Page: 17 of 68
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AIN
Continued from Page 1
president of the board.
Grace McFerren has volunteered as part of the
Care Team for AIN since 1993 and has served on
the board of directors since 2004. As a Care Team
volunteer, she provides in-house assistance to
clients living with AIDS. She socializes, cleans
and cooks for the people she works with.
She said although it's hard for her when clients
pass away, she knows she made a difference for
them while they were alive.
"It's wonderful to meet people who've lived
really interesting lives, and now they just happen
to be sick," she said. "They have a really out-
standing approach to meeting adversity and shine
in spite of what's going on in their bodies."
The center's seven vans travel 30,000 miles
each month to assist clients who are unable to
make the voyage themselves, officials said,
adding that AIN serves 18,000 meals annually to
more than 500 people with HIV.
People of color make up 82 percent of AIN's
clients, with more than 63 percent African
American and 19 percent Latino. Almost 95 per-
cent of the total clients served by AIN receive less
than $800 a month from Social Security, placing
them well below the poverty line. Nearly 46 per-
cent have substance abuse and mental health con-
cerns in addition to their physical ailments.
The center, which began in 1986, is a faith-
based nonprofit, but it is not affiliated with any
specific religion or denomination. The Church of
Transfiguration Episcopal, Metropolitan
Community Churches and the St. Luke
Community United Methodist Church have been
ongoing supporters.
The LGBT community has also been a long-
time partner with AIN. Although the group has
sometimes been criticized for its strong ties to the
LGBT community, it's been an invaluable rela-
tionship, Pace said.
"The GLBT community had been there
through the AIDS crisis in the 80s and 90s, and
they're still there now," said Pace. "They take an
interest and the GLBT community has never
restricted who their help goes to, like other
groups try to do."
Since its inception, AIN has added several pro-
grams to their original therapeutic services. The
Care Team, which sends volunteers to the homes
of clients, began in 1988. In an effort to provide
culturally sensitive material to underserved pop-
ulations, the African American Health Coalition
and Manos Unidas were developed in 1991. By
1993, a casework program ensured timely aid for
clients, and in 1995, an interpretation and transla-
tion program helped provide access to Spanish-
speaking clients.
Funding has been a continual obstacle for the
group, as it is for many non-profits.
Nearly 65 percent of funding comes from var-
ious government grants, while the remaining
funds are contributed by a variety of community
organizations.
Pace thinks part of the problem is maintaining
a sense of urgency in the public's mind.
''People draw back from a crisis that goes on
for this long," Pace said. "As a country, we do
well with short-term crisis, but not the long-term
problems.*"
E-mail freed@dallasvoice.com
GAY OFFICIALS
Continued from Page 6
The National Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund
reported unprecedented success in electing
openly-gay elected officials in 2006.
The group reported wins by 67 candidates it
endorsed in federal, state and local offices.
Some of the candidates won historic races that
made them the first openly gay or lesbian candi-
dates ever elected in their states or legislative
bodies.
John Marble, communications director for
National Stonewall Democrats, said the pres-
ence of five openly-gay elected officials in
Dallas is impressive.
"It's certainly a good concentration that we
don't see in other areas," Marble said.
"Dallas probably has one of the highest con-
centrations of openly-gay elected officials in the
country."
Marble noted that Minneapolis also has a
large concentration of openly-gay elected offi-
cials.
Marble said that while Los Angeles and New
York City probably have as many if not more
openly gay elected officials at the city and coun-
ty level, their populations are much larger.
That makes Dallas' gains more impressive, he
said.
"I would compare Dallas probably the same
as LA, San Francisco, New York and
Minneapolis," Marble said.
As regards electing openly-gay elected offi-
cials, Dallas has arrived, he said.
E-mail webb@dallasvoice.com
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Nash, Tammye. Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 23, No. 27, Ed. 1 Friday, November 17, 2006, newspaper, November 17, 2006; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth238935/m1/17/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.