RAIN empowers persons living
with HIV and those at risk to
be healthy and stigma free.

Busy Summer Look Back

This has been a busy but wonderful summer for RAIN in our 30th year. RAIN celebrated the accomplishment and finally had an opportunity to celebrate our founder, Debbie Warren, in person earlier this month. We are thrilled to begin several new adventures this fall including implementing our new Centers for Disease Control (CDC) grant for young men who have sex with men of color, preparing for the arrival of our new 30 foot mobile unit, and starting our strategic planning process. We will also be announcing something very special in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.

This summer has also brought new challenges as the Mecklenburg area grapples with rising monkey pox rates. Although monkey pox can potentially impact anyone, we are currently seeing the cases disproportionately impacting men who have sex with men of color. This presents yet another stigma for communities served by RAIN. We have been working collaboratively with Mecklenburg County Health Department and other community organizations to respond by conducting pop up vaccine sites at nontraditional venues to ensure access to the priority population. Recently, we vaccinated 170 individuals at one of these events. The vaccine allows us to respond to the outbreak and hopefully curve the rates of infections and stop the spread. To learn more about monkey pox by clicking the link below.

RAIN has been hard at work but it would be remiss to not take a moment to thank each of you. It’s because of the community support that we are able to make such a difference in the lives of those we serve. Your continued support is unparalleled. I often look around the room at our events, and I am so humbled and honored at the generosity and commitment of RAIN supporters. Your gifts of time, energy, resources, and expertise allow RAIN to continue to provide quality services to those who need it most.