About Us
Mission Statement
AIDS Outreach Center of Greater Tarrant County is the leading organization in Tarrant and seven surrounding rural counties serving men, women and children with HIV and their families, educating the public about HIV prevention and advocating for sound HIV public policy.
Agency History
AIDS Outreach Center (AOC) is a 501(c)(3) community-based organization founded in 1986 as the Fort Worth Counseling Center. The agency was founded by Tarrant County's gay and lesbian community to help provide mental health and legal support for those suffering from HIV/AIDS. For the first two years, the agency was staffed solely by volunteers with no funding. In 1988, the agency received its first grant from the Texas Department of Health (TDH) for the provision of HIV/AIDS services, which enabled the agency to hire its first two staff members.
Since its inception, AOC's budget, staff and client base have grown substantially. Today, AOC operates with an annual budget of $4.5 million with almost $750,000 raised through private resources and special events. The 38 full-time member staff, along with hundreds of dedicated volunteers, is responsible for providing a wide range of social services, outreach activities, testing and counseling, prevention education programs and public policy advocacy. AOC serves men, women and children living with HIV, and their families.
Due to its long-standing history of quality and comprehensive support services, AOC has become the most highly utilized non-medical referral destination for more than 1,900 persons per year living with HIV/AIDS in Tarrant County and the surrounding areas. Current services include: mental health counseling, support groups, the Sandy Lanier Nutrition Center and nutritional counseling, the Geisel-Morris Dental Clinic, youth services, minority outreach, case management, legal assistance, transportation, housing, emergency assistance, insurance continuation program, information line, community education and prevention services, including confidential and anonymous testing for HIV and Syphilis, HIV negative and HIV positive prevention programs.
Along with traditional services, AOC continues to adapt and meet the emerging needs of the community with an agressive outreach to all sectors of our service area. Individuals with HIV are living longer due to advances in both medical treatment and drug therapy. Many individuals are returning to work, and as a result, greater advocacy for these individuals is needed in the workplace and in housing sectors. As such, our legal advocacy services have grown. In addition, due to medical advances AOC provides clinical trials with medical institutions and/or major pharmaceutical companies to offer our clients the newest medications. The face of HIV/AIDS has shifted, affecting minorities in greater numbers. AOC is successfully intervening in our communities of color with targeted outreach, prevention and educational programs along with client social services.
On September 1, 2009, AOC experienced another milestone in its history with the acquisition of Tarrant County AIDS Interfaith Network (TCAIN) and relocated its offices to 400 North Beach Street in Fort Worth, located in one of the county's highest HIV infection rates. This has allowed us to concentrate all essential social and medical programs under one roof to better serve those with HIV/AIDS in the great Tarrant County area.
2009-2010 Program/Agency Accomplishments
AIDS Outreach Center stands alone as the lead HIV/AIDS agency and the major point of outreach, testing, and education in the eight county areas of North Central Texas we serve. Our goal is to aggressively educate the general population about behavioral “risks” associated with HIV infection, identify target populations already “at-risk” for HIV infection, and to bring those already infected with HIV into our medical care and treatment services program to assure their access to quality of life and medical care services.
Over all, the last fiscal year was very successful despite the downturn in the local, state, and national economies. While funding appeals to communities of faith, fraternal/social/community organizations, local business and national corporations have seen increases of as much as 300% over the last fiscal year, annual giving from individuals and foundations has dropped. Special events both cause and destination related, have continued to draw dedicated and enthusiastic crowds, outperforming anticipated growth projections.
All direct service programs continue to perform with outstanding results. The Sandy Lanier Nutrition Center, Geisel-Morris Dental Clinic, Medical Case Management and Mental Health Counseling programs have all seen major accomplishments achieved in addressing clients access to vital medical care and treatment. Prevention and HIV Testing programs have out preformed last year's results in select "at-risk" communities. With the addition of a full-time licensed dietician/nutritional counselor, AOC has been able to expand its Nutrition Center Counseling program to help clients better manage their health through nutritional planning.
AOC continues to research, study, attend technical training and business planning seminars, and seek out legal counsel to explore and potentially launch entrepreneurial ventures or “social enterprises” to create self-supporting revenue streams by building business enterprises along side its social service programs. Essentially, there exists a number of opportunities to implement business entities that return revenue in support of the existing services provided to clients. AIDS Outreach Center is currently looking at its current and future board and advisory committee recruitment and appointments with these goals in mind.
2009-2010 Annual Report and Agency Financials
2010 Annual Report: Cover, Pg1, Pg2-3, Pg4-5, Pg6-7, P8-9, Pg10-11, Pg12-13, Pg 14-15, Pg16, Back Cover.
2010 IRS Form 990
2010 Audit Report
2010 Board of Directors:
OFFICERS:
President
Anthony Powell
Advanced Neuromodulation Systems
Vice-President
Kelly Smith
Tommy’s Hamburger Grill
Treasurer
Keanan Matthews-Hall, JD
Cotton Schmidt, LLP
Secretary
Cheryl McDonald, M.D.
Tarrant County Infectious Disease Clinic
Past President
Michael Cinatl
Tarrant County College, Southeast Campus.
MEMBERS:
John Corpus
Community Volunteer
Paul Geisel
Tarrant County Transportation Authority
Professor Southern Methodist University
Louis Lambert
Owner, Lambert's Restaurants - Fort Worth/Austin
Loc Ly
Merck - HIV Division
Michael Matthews
Tarrant County College - Northwest Campus
Mike Reynolds
Workers of America
Damon A. Schranz, D.O.
UNT Health Science Center
Larry Totty, CPA
Tax Analyst
Rev. Carol West
Celebration Community Church
DIRECTORS:
Allan Gould Jr.
Executive Director
Shannon Hilgart
Associate Executive Director
Michelle Barefield
Director of Prevention, Education and Outreach
Jim Downing
Director of Development / Marketing
Rosie Guel
Manager, Geisel-Morris Dental Clinic
Shawna Stewart
Director of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services
Boone Taylor
Director of Medical and Social Case Management
Tom Berwanger
Director of Nutritional Services
