Party For The People - Action Award Honorees
Portland, OR | February 5, 2020 - Cascade AIDS Projects appreciates each and every one of our volunteers and the many contributions they provide to the agency, but every year we recognize a number of outstanding volunteers with our Action Awards. They will be publicly recognized at our annual volunteer appreciation event, Party for the People, on Thursday, February 13. Here are our 2019 Action Award winners:
Maile Arruda
Maile began volunteering at CAP in September 2016 as a PrEP volunteer but switched to providing reception support to Pivot in July 2019.
She has also been an active member of the FLASH team. Maile has lived in Portland for 20 years and been an RN for 13 years. She currently works in the Emergency Room at a local hospital.
She started volunteering at CAP because “it’s such a heteronormative world out there that I realized I needed/wanted to share my time and passion helping out in the LGBTQIA+ community.”
In her nomination she was described as “an incredible addition to the Pivot volunteer line-up. She is incredibly funny and rolls with the sometimes-chaotic nature of running reception and participant registration. Due to her career as an ER nurse, nothing seems to phase her and she approaches everything with a beautiful sense of humor and composure.”
Maile says “These experiences have helped me learn and grow so much and I’ve also met and befriended some incredible humans in the process! Thank you CAP for existing!”
Macie Darden
Macie started volunteering at CAP in July 2018. Her first assignment was helping out at Camp KC. From April to November of 2019 she conducted HIV testing at Pivot.
Macie says she “got involved with CAP because I really wanted to support queers in my community and help fight the stigma of HIV and other STIs. I am passionate about HIV education, addiction medicine, transgender health and destigmatization of mental illness.
She was nominated because she “is an incredibly kind and intentional individual who has an inherent skill of putting our participants’ at ease. Her compassion and eagerness to provide an affirming healthcare experience is apparent in the quality of work she provides. Macie’s warmness and desire to connect with her clients on a deeper level facilitated a safe and non-judgmental space for testing and counseling.”
Someday, Macie hopes to practice as a physician and provide culturally competent care to those who need it most. Outside of work, she loves to work out, watch film, and play with her golden retriever, Otis.
Christopher Friend
Christopher is the former Vice-Chair and founding member of the CAP Junior Board. Christopher was introduced to CAP in 2016 through his day job as the Oregon Lobbyist for the American Cancer Society. As a founding member of the CAP Junior Board, Christopher has helped to grow the impact of CAP’s mission through fundraising and community engagement. His leadership has led to dozens of new volunteers to CAP through young professional mixer events and more than $7,000 raised for CAP’s mission. Christopher has been a AIDS Walk team captain and was instrumental to executing two Junior Board fundraising events which engaged new businesses and donors in CAP’s mission.
When asked why he initially began volunteering with CAP Christopher says, “I think most LGBTQ people have experienced the stigma of HIV/AIDS regardless of their status or experienced being uncomfortable for any reason in a medical setting. The critical work CAP is doing not only helps to reduce the impact of the virus, but also improve the health care experience for the entire community.”
After three years on the Junior Board, Christopher ended his board service at the end of 2019. Although he is now volunteer with Portland Street Medicine, a new Portland based non-profit, Christopher plans to be a CAP volunteer and supporter for years to come.
When Christopher isn’t working in the state Capitol or volunteering he can be found on his bike, in the kitchen baking or spending time outside with his partner Benjamin and their Irish Terrier, Fern.
Terrance Gravening
Terrance has been volunteering with CAP since at least 2003 and has served in a variety of roles including trainer, hotline volunteer, helping at AIDS Walk, participating in Pride Weekend, office and clerical work, serving on the Community Advisory Board, helping at Art Auction and serving as an assistant at Pivot. He has been involved with the Aging Well Program since its inception in January 2019.
Terrance’s volunteering doesn’t stop with CAP. He also volunteers at Quest Center and Multnomah County’s HIV Health Services Center. He is a member of the Multnomah County Client Advisory Council.
“It’s hard to imagine anyone who has given more to the community of HIV/AIDS Long-Term Survivors than Terrance. His non-stop commitment is legendary. He is one of the first people we at the Aging Well Program call when we need to coordinate CAP’s work with other agencies and advocacy groups, because he’s involved with all of them.”
Terrance has been open about having HIV for more than 18 years. He once lived at Our House and was able to build his health and move on to independent housing. What’s the secret to living well with HIV? He says that “it’s keeping calm and positive, and giving to the community. It’s easy to isolate he says, but by thinking of others we get a gentle push to get out and pursue positive activities with good people.”
John Henderson
John has volunteered with CAP since 2016 serving on the Community Advisory Board and as a receptionist at Pivot.
John “always goes above and beyond to make the patients feel welcome and works extremely well under pressure. He often has to inform people that we have run out of testing slots for the day, but always manages to do it in a way where people still feel encouraged to return. While John is staffing reception I can take my mind off the front and worry about the tasks at hand.”
According to John his “first introduction to CAP was during my Freshman year of High School, when a speaker came to talk to our student body. I don’t recall what was said, but I do remember feeling emotionally overwhelmed by the context. An out gay man coming to speak to almost 2,000 kids about his health and sexuality, while I hid my own. Years later I graduated college, suffered through some personal pains, and came to realize that a deeper connection with my community would have to be a component of my wellness. To me, being a volunteer at CAP has been as important as anything in keeping me connected and fulfilled.”
Jenn Klotz
Jenn has volunteered with CAP for almost a decade. She had a co-worker at Genentech who was HIV+ and out. He had a passion for CAP and it was contagious. When he left the company two years later he entrusted her with honoring the relationship he started. She has been volunteering ever since as the promoter of AIDS Walk at Genentech getting as many as 100 participants from Genentech the past few years. She joined the Board of Directors in 2017 and has served on the Nominating Committee.
Since volunteering with CAP “it has been with joy and conviction that I have had the opportunity to volunteer for CAP including joining the Board in 2017. I truly believe in the mission of CAP and will continue to advocate and volunteer for those being served by this powerful organization.”
Laurie McCluskey
Laurie began volunteering at CAP in January 2019 as a file clerk.
“Laurie comes in twice a week to tackle the unglamorous, but utterly necessary, task of continually processing client hard files. She both archives inactive client files, and reduces client “mega-files” so they aren’t physically unwieldy and taking up too much space. It’s not exciting work, but it is a vital volunteer role that keeps client files viable and prevents the CAP office from being overrun by paperwork. Plus, Laurie approaches the work with an inquisitive mind, and eye for detail, and great enthusiasm. She rocks!”
From Laurie: “About 5 years ago, I met a new resident in my apartment building, and we hit it off famously. He has grown to be my best friend. Early on, he told me that he was a client of CAP. I began to understand how many services and support he receives from Cascade AIDS Project. Quite simply, CAP has greatly increased his quality of life! I was looking for another volunteer opportunity, so he encouraged me to apply at CAP. The volunteer training was excellent and I truly believe in the cause. Little did I know how terrific the staff and peer support is. CAP has a lot of great volunteer opportunities, and I found my niche about a year ago as the Volunteer File Clerk. I want to thank my supervisor, Bevan Hurd, for the excellent job he did in training me and supporting me. The unexpected benefit that I receive from volunteering at Cascades AIDS Project is feeling useful and helpful and the boost to my self-esteem. Thank you staff and peers for the delightful interaction and the feeling of belonging. I feel so honored!”
Jenny Phillips
Jenny has been volunteering with CAP since June of 2016 mostly with prevention activities. She got involved when her partner tested positive for HIV. (Andy, her partner is a previous Action Award recipient). She wanted to learn how to support him better so that she could overcome the challenges of HIV together. She volunteers because she “want to make changes in the world so that generations to come aren’t bound by the same limitations that we are.”
In her nomination, it was noted that she “goes above and beyond in distributing hundreds of safer sex materials and educational materials to communities we have a hard time reaching, particularly folks who are houseless and/or injecting drugs. I’m inspired by Jenny and Andy’s passion for health equity! CAP is truly lucky to have them as volunteers.”
Kaelyn Rooney
Kaelyn volunteered in reception from March to October 2019 two or three days each week. Although she was only here a short time, she made an impression:
“To say that Kaelyn went above and beyond while volunteering at reception would be an understatement. During a period of time where there was some instability at the receptionist position, Kaelyn was a rock. On a typical day she helped to create a welcoming and caring environment for our clients and took initiative to answer phones and help walk-in clients. During weeks that were busy and/or stressful, this help was a godsend for me. When situations required crisis management and de-escalation she kept a cool head, doing her part to assist in managing these difficult situations. And on quiet days she took initiative and went out of her way to find projects to keep her busy—these included organizing the food closet, ordering more food when necessary, and, at times, chatting with all kinds of staff who wandered by the front desk, helping to create community amongst CAP staff.”
Kaelyn said that “CAP not only gave me an opportunity to engage in a community I feel so impassioned by, but it also gave me a safe space to explore my own identity. I loved every minute I was volunteering with CAP; whether it was working art auction, witnessing the magic that was Bat’n Rouge, or simply being a friendly face at reception, CAP sincerely stole my heart. I will take all of my beautiful memories with me on my current journey through the accelerated nursing program at Regis University in Denver. I want to inspire change in our predominantly binary healthcare system and advocate for all LGBTQ+ persons by being the sparkling rainbow unicorn in the back correcting gender and pronoun misuse and assumptions about our community.”
Daniel Wachenheim
Daniel began volunteering as receptionist in the Southwest Washington office in June 2018. He says that “since retiring in 2016, feeling relevant has sometimes been a struggle. I feel like I belong here. Everyone here is so enjoyable to work with. Like many clients here, I live in Vancouver. It would probably not be possible for me to drive to Portland each week for volunteering so it’s really wonderful that this office is near my home.”
From his nomination:
“Daniel has been consistently kind, reliable and trustworthy ever since the day he
started volunteering at CAP SW WA. He is excellent with clients and is one of the most detail-oriented volunteers we have ever had on our team (which is very important in a reception role!). He has covered many shifts when we were down volunteers, which makes a huge difference in the capacity we have during testing hours. Beyond being very good at his job, Daniel has also built rapport with our staff. He makes us laugh, he brings us delicious homemade treats and it is always a joy to work alongside him!”
Daniel “loves being a part of this organization. Each week I look forward to making clients feel equally welcomed, and easing their way a little bit as well. I try to live a life of mindful gratitude, and volunteering at CAP makes that attitude much more relevant.”
