CAP, Our House, & Prism Health have decided to suspend use of our Twitter accounts immediately due to Twitter quietly removing its longstanding policy aimed at protecting transgender folks from targeted misgendering and deadnaming, both of which are considered as forms of hate speech. It is our belief that Social media companies must commit to fostering safe environments for LGBTQIA+ folks rather than eliminating policies which protect them.

We are excited to share that we’ll be bringing back the Winter Survival Kits that we’ve done in years’ past at CAP and Prism Health, and will be accepting donations starting today, January 10, for any and all winter survival items (see list below). These items will be collected at Prism Health and the three CAP social service locations in Portland, Vancouver, and Longview through March 18, 2022.

My name is Hollis Kinner (he/him) and I am CAP’s new Equity and Inclusion Advocate. I am beyond thrilled (and humbled!) to be in this important position and to be part of a nonprofit that’s been a decades-long staple in the region for people living with HIV and AIDS. HIV work has been dear to my heart for several years…

The past year living with COVID has created some incredible logistical and service challenges for nearly everyone, and we at CAP are no exception. With many of our services being client-facing, we have worked to navigate the complexities of continuing to provide these critical services in a way that is safe for both us and our clients.

CAP and Our House have been working in partnership for over 30 years. Together, our two organizations have been exploring how an integration of our programs, services, and administrative operations might maximize our collective capacity to serve people living with, and affected by, HIV in every stage of life, throughout Oregon and SW Washington.

With COVID drastically impacting many of our direct client services, such as HIV + STI testing, we wanted to take a moment to provide a quick update about testing at CAP and how you can find testing opportunities near you!

On May 25, 2020 Minneapolis police officers arrested George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, after a convenience store employee called 911 and told the police that Mr. Floyd had bought cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 bill. Seventeen minutes after the first squad car arrived at the scene, Mr. Floyd was unconscious and pinned beneath three police officers, showing no signs of life. This was not a new moment or scenario in our nation’s history. Countless Black and Brown bodies have been inappropriately profiled, wrongly accused and lost to police brutality before and after this moment. However, it was those 8 minutes and 46 seconds that sparked a racial awakening and literally took the breath from our nation.

My name is Déja Fitzgerald (She/Her) and I am incredibly excited to be CAP’s new Equity and Inclusion Advocate. In the past few weeks, I have been often asked why I chose to pursue this particular role with this particular organization. As a Black queer woman, my lived experience serves as the foundation that guides my work as an equity practitioner, community advocate, and educator…

We wanted to take a moment to say thank to you all for your incredible support of CAP and AIDS Walk Northwest. AIDS Walk Northwest (formerly AIDS Walk Portland) is a cornerstone event for CAP and helps raise awareness for HIV and AIDS as well as critical funds to support CAP and our Community Partners as we fight to end HIV transmission. Thousands of you rallied over the past few months and helped us exceed our fundraising goal; because of your generous support we raised over $178,000 during this year’s event to support healthcare and HIV services for both CAP and our Community Partners!

Hello Everyone, It’s Tyler TerMeer – CEO of Cascade AIDS Project and Prism Health!

I’m reaching out today with an important update about AIDS WALK Northwest.

As I’m sure you can imagine, we have been keeping a close eye on the wildfires this week and due to the increased smoke and fire safety concerns in our local area, we have made the tough decision that AIDS Walk on September 12th will be a virtual livestream event only.

CAP is excited to announce that we are currently hiring a full-time Equity and Inclusion Advocate. This position was made possible thanks to a generous grant from The Collins Foundation for $115,000 over two years.

In our last letter, we shared our commitment to providing you with updates on how our system is adapting in the pandemic, and taking the necessary steps to ensure that you have access to the services you need, while staying safe and healthy. You are always in the forefront of our minds, but in these past few weeks, amid community uprisings it becomes even clearer how important it is for us to stay connected.

We wanted to take a moment to thank you all for your commitment to supporting CAP and Prism Health during this unprecedented time. Together, we have raised over $250,000 to support CAP and Prism Health’s COVID-19 relief effort. Some of the work we have been able to accomplish includes:

We wrote to you a couple of weeks ago to let you know that all of our HIV organizations remain open and able to provide the services that you need and deserve. We are all available in different capacities and we encourage you to visit our websites, social media pages and call us. Our plan is to remain open during the Stay Home: Save Lives order and to continue to be here for you. We hope that you are finding ways to take care of yourselves during this time.

We are reaching out to you in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic to let you know we are here for you. We understand that social distancing, while a necessary part of stopping the spread of coronavirus, has a real impact not only on the services we are able to provide at this time, but also the lives of you and your loved ones.

At CAP, the well-being of our community is a top priority and we are aware that the populations we serve are often the most vulnerable during a public health crisis. We will be staying open with essential services so that our clients can receive the care they need, while also protecting our members, visitors, volunteers, and staff while they are here.

Next time you visit us on the web, you might notice that things have changed up a bit! Starting February 5, CAP will be launching our brand new website to our community!

Thirty five years ago CAP incorporated as a nonprofit under a mission designed to support men, women, and youth affected by HIV and AIDS, prevent the spread of HIV in populations at highest risk, and advocate for an effective community response to the epidemic. We were a reflective light for many in the darkest of days. A time where diagnosis for most meant a death sentence. Today, an individual’s journey with HIV has transformed from dying from, to living with, to now thriving despite.

Ms. Curtis is a Regional Bank President for Wells Fargo & Company. As an Executive Vice President, she is responsible for managing the customer service, sales and community involvement activities of nearly 800 team members at 74 bank branches in northern Oregon and Southwest Washington. A native of England, she began her Wells Fargo career in 1988 as a teller.

CAP is proud to announce that it has adopted a paid family leave policy which will provide every qualifying employee with 12-weeks of paid leave to allow them ample time to care for family members including the arrival of a new child or to deal with a serious health condition.