My name is Nicki Turk and I’m CAP’s Director of Housing & Support Services. I have worked at CAP for 14 years, but this year has been unlike any other in my time here. It has been, and continues to be, so incredibly hard. And yet, I’ve never been prouder of the work CAP does for those living with and affected by HIV, and for the LGBTQ+ community.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve seen an increased need from our community in all aspects of care we provide in the Housing and Support Services department, and we stepped up to respond.

• To meet the needs of the exponentially increased amount of people requiring rent assistance and medical motel vouchers, we cross-trained staff and raised hundreds of thousands of additional funds that went directly back into our services.

• We converted our Peer and Aging Well support groups to virtual platforms so that we could continue to provide social support and recovery care during this difficult time.

• Housing Case Managers and Navigators helped many additional people experiencing homeless- ness find and retain safe and affordable housing.

• We delivered food, masks and hand sanitizer, and other essential supplies to program participants who needed them.

We also reached out to participants however we could--to let them know we were still here and, maybe most importantly, to listen. Many of the long-term survivors of HIV/AIDS that participate in our programming have been re-traumatized by COVID-19, the second pandemic that they have had to face. We listened to people’s fears around the virus, feelings of sadness and loneliness, and we offered much-needed support, connection, and hope. Time and time again this year, we’ve seen how powerful human connection can be.

As we move into winter, we expect to see an even higher need for services among our participants than in the first part of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly for those experiencing homelessness or housing instability. Our participants will continue to need access to shelter beds, eviction prevention assistance, and medical motel stays so they have a safe place to recover from illness. They will continue to need mental health and peer support to get through this enormously challenging time.

Any donation you are able to provide to CAP will help ensure we can continue to provide these critical and life-changing services. With your help, we can get through this winter and, hopefully, the final months of this pandemic.

Will you make a gift today so that our communities can thrive tomorrow?

Nicki Turk
Director of Housing & Support Services

P.S. Thanks to federal legislation passed earlier this year, you can deduct any donation to CAP, up to $300, on your tax return this year, whether or not you itemize deductions.

P.P.S. If you want to learn more about CAP and the full services available for those living with and affected by HIV and the LGBTQ+ community, including HIV/STI testing, prevention, and primary care, please visit capnw.org.

About Cascade AIDS Project

Founded in 1985 as a grassroots response to the AIDS crisis, Cascade AIDS Project (CAP) is now the oldest and largest HIV-services and LGBTQ+ health provider in Oregon and southwest Washington, with more than 100 employees working across four locations. Our organization seeks to prevents new HIV infections; support low-income people living with HIV; and provide safe, welcoming, and knowledgeable healthcare for the LGBTQ+ community. Through our vital health, housing, and other social services, we help ensure the well-being of more than 15,000 people each year.  More information can be found at www.capnw.org.