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Project ReConnect Tool Kit

The Project ReConnect Program

What Project ReConnect Is

Project ReConnect is a program that helps those living with HIV/AIDS transform their lives. At the same time, Project ReConnect transforms the HIV/AIDS service system by moving HIV services beyond traditional AIDS service providers and out to mainstream services.

Project ReConnect advocates on behalf of HIV+ consumers to develop opportunities to re-enter local communities in volunteer and employment settings. The program supports the efforts of people living with HIV/AIDS to "ReConnect" with their community through education, volunteerism, community service and employment.

Project ReConnect advocates on behalf of HIV+ consumers to develop opportunities to re-enter local communities in volunteer and employment settings. The program supports the efforts of people living with HIV/AIDS to "ReConnect" with their community through education, volunteerism, community service and employment.

The program utilizes trained individuals to speak on behalf of HIV+ consumers to community-based health and human service providers, to educate providers on needs unique to the HIV+ community, to identify opportunities for shared resources across providers, and to reduce the potential for stigmatization of HIV+ consumers in community provider settings.

Project ReConnect Vision

Project ReConnect envisions a community where people living with HIV/AIDS are active, engaged members, who are leading more satisfying and meaningful lives.

Project ReConnect Mission

Project ReConnect is dedicated to the inclusion and equity of people living with HIV/AIDS by supporting them to explore new possibilities and by de-stigmatizing HIV through education and advocacy.

Project ReConnect Core Values

People living with HIV/AIDS:

1. Are the best advocates and the most credible voices to promote the changing needs of the HIV/AIDS community.
2. Must have access to fulfilling volunteer, educational and employment opportunities, which accommodate their needs.
3. Must play a central role in the design, operation, and monitoring of the support they receive.
4. Share the public responsibility to create inclusive communities.

The Development of Project ReConnect

Project ReConnect developed as a coordinated response to the changing needs of people living with HIV/AIDS. Project ReConnect carries on a tradition in Sonoma County of consumer driven, grass roots activism in developing services for the HIV/AIDS population.

The Sonoma County AIDS service system began to take shape in the 1980's at a time when medical treatment options for HIV were limited and social programs for HIV/AIDS clients did not exist. Encouraged by highly targeted funding from the state and federal government, programs developed that focused on end-of-life services. Services were highly concentrated with a small number of providers and medical services were provided almost exclusively by the community health centers. In the social services area, programs for HIV/AIDS were similarly concentrated in a small number of organizations that evolved to address the emerging needs of the HIV/AIDS population.

In recent years due to the advent of antiretroviral medications, HIV+ individuals can now expect to live for decades. HIV has thus evolved from an acute fatal disease to a serious but chronic condition that must be managed over a lifetime. As the nature of HIV and how it is treated has changed, so have the funding streams that supported the intensive end-of-life services that defined the AIDS service system. Funding for HIV-specific services for Sonoma County is decreasing and is expected to continue to decrease. In response to the two trends, the Sonoma County Commission on AIDS seeks new and creative ways to encourage clients to "ReConnect" with the community and leverage existing services in the community to support HIV+ consumers.

In 2006, the Sonoma County AIDS Commission coined the term "ReConnect" to describe activities that represent the new service paradigm. In keeping with the goal of promoting consumer independence and integration within the larger community, this shift transitions HIV services away from the traditional AIDS service providers to mainstream service programs. This is coupled with efforts to reach consumers directly to encourage reconnection with the community through education, employment, volunteerism and community services. The unique spirit of consumer empowerment and involvement that marked the planning of AIDS services in Sonoma County continues today.

Project ReConnect Advocates assist HIV+ individuals in forging new connections in their own communities and developing plans for positive futures.

• Project ReConnect mission vision, and core values (pdf)
• Project ReConnect history and accomplishments (pdf)
• HIV/AIDS timelines (pdf)
• AIDS funding fact sheet (pdf)
• The AIDS Leadership Academy (pdf)
• Managing Scarcity: Report on a Statewide Initiative to Build Skills and Enhance Collaboration Among Ryan White HIV Planning Councils in California, February 2008 (pdf)
  Source: AIDS Partnership California.

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