Lifelong-Health For All

Programs: Insurance services - lifelong's focus is on improving the health of our clients. In addition to food and housing, we help people access health insurance and the medications needed to get healthy and stay healthy. During the fiscal year, lifelong's insurance program provided premium support to approximately 1,820 clients, totalling $13,238,124 in premium payments which allow them to receive the medical care they require. Without this insurance, these clients would have to pay between $2,000 and $5,000 per month for their medications.

chicken soup brigade - our food program provides medical nutritional therapy to people living with hiv/aids and other chronic conditions. Services include grocery bags, prepared meals and nutritional consultations with registered dietitians. During the fiscal year, chicken soup brigade distributed more than 161,400 meals tailored to the medical and cultural needs of clients, along with 37,000 bags of nutritious groceries to 1,640 clients living in king, snohomish, and pierce counties.

housing - lifelong serves as the central housing referral and placement service for people living with hiv/aids in king county. During fiscal year, we provided over 410 clients with emergency rental or housing assistance to eliminate or prevent episodes of homelessness. We paid out over $1,338,800 in some form of housing assistance payments.

medical case management - lifelong's case managers supported the health of over 1,000 hiv positive clients by connecting them to health care resources including comprehensive oral health services, mental health services, and/or substance abuse and chemical dependency support programs. The in-person assistor program supports health by helping individuals and families enroll into affordable health coverage through the washington health plan finder. The care coordination program enrolled individuals with serious medical conditions to provide them access to medical, mental health, and chemical dependency services required to get and stay healthy. Prevention & education - our program combines outreach to both high risk individuals and communities in hopes of preventing new infections. During the fiscal year, we distributed approximately 97,500 condoms; made 4,800 youth outreach contacts including 1,400 homeless and street youth; had 160 one-on-one counseling or mentoring sessions; held 19 sexual health workshops and five hiv focused community forums with over 220 participants and 2 large events with over 260 participants. Advocacy for change - lifelong is the only aids service organization in the pacific northwest with a full-time advocacy program, engaging elected officials at the local, state and national level on issues of importance to people living with hiv/aids. Every year, on aids awareness and action day, lifelong sends community advocates to talk with legislators about how state funding decisions affect people living with hiv/aids. Creating community - lifelong continues to build a network of support, within the framework for our programs and services. Through media contacts, printed materials and targeted advertising, lifelong strives to engender accurate public awareness of hiv/aids and all related issues with our community.