(Image from Hope and Help’s Facebook page)
ORLANDO | Hope and Help Center’s AIDS Walk Orlando, an annual event to raise funds in order to help combat HIV/AIDS in Central Florida, will be held virtually April 30 from 10-11 a.m. due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“Out of an abundance of caution for our supporters, patients, donors, community partners and sponsors, and everyone who participates, we just want to keep everyone safe,” says Joshua Myers, Hope and Help’s Development and Communications Director.
Since its start in 1995, the AIDS Walk Orlando has raised more than $1 million for the not-for-profit health center — which offers HIV/STD/HEP C testing, treatment and primary medical care.
The virtual event, which will be held on Zoom and will not feature a walk this year, will be “a live presentation with remarks from elected officials and media partners, reflections from HIV experts who will share about the HIV epidemic through the lens of the coronavirus pandemic, poetry and testimonials from Hope and Help patients.”
Myers says the event will also highlight Hope and Help’s mental health services launched last year during a time when the nonprofit was figuring out what care and treatment would look like in the middle of a worldwide health crisis.
“By having mental health services through our telehealth program, we were able to connect with people on mental, social, emotional levels and through powered medicine,” he says.
While Hope and Help’s reimagined services, programs and events due to COVID provided Hope and Help the opportunity to reach more people, Myers says in the early days of the pandemic saw a significant drop in HIV testing.
“In March, April and May [of last year], our testing numbers took a nosedive,” he says. “But as the year went on and we paid attention to our elected officials and public health leadership, we were able to increase our testing again safely.”
Myers also shared that the organization is not expecting to return to pre-pandemic levels in terms of funding in the organization until 2023.
For more information on the 2021 AIDS Walk Orlando, get signed up or to find the Zoom link for the event, go to AIDSWalkOrlando.org.
