Because of a decrease in state funding, a downtown non-profit serving patients with HIV has had to limit services to students because most of them do not meet the high-risk criteria for infection.
The AIDS Project, located at 141 W. Beaver Ave., has provided prevention information, free condoms, counseling and support groups, and free HIV testing to Centre and Clinton counties since 1988.
Last year, the project spent $99,000 to help 44 HIV-positive community members and their families. The project spent an additional $162,285 to provide education and prevention materials to the counties.
Now, many of its services will be limited if state funding does not increase, said Becky Schrope, executive director of the AIDS Project.
Project administrators are unsure about the exact amount of funding it will receive under the new state budget, but they "understand that there will be cuts in state prevention money," Schrope said.
The project can still give free HIV tests but only with materials supplied by the Pennsylvania Department of Health for people who meet high-risk criteria. People at a high risk include men who have sex with men, intravenous drug users and anyone who has had sex with an HIV-infected person. The majority of students are not considered at risk, Schrope said, but the project would still like to be able to provide services.
HIV testing used to be available weekly for free at the University Health Services, but UHS began to charge students this past summer.
Becky Rockey (senior-economics and French) has volunteered for the project for eight years and believes it desperately needs more funding.
"We have experienced massive cuts in funding, and we have to rely on donations from people, which are hard to get when they are experiencing the economy as well," Rockey said.
She said that 50 percent of the people who use the project's services are students, but because many are not high-risk, it can cost between $40 and $200 per HIV test.
"At this point in time, we just don't have the funds to provide those types of tests to students if they don't hit the high risk criteria," Schrope said.
To supplement the limited funding they do still receive from the state, the project is looking for other ways to raise money.
On Dec. 13, the project will hold its 12th annual "Taste of the Town" fundraiser. But the fundraiser attracted only 400 guests last year, a lower number than usual, which Schrope believes is "indicative of the economy."
The project will also hold a raffle for students who raise at least $50 for the project on Dec. 1, hoping to gather $100,000.
Claire Gonyo, assistant director of the LGBTA Student Resource Center, said many students appreciate the services offered because they are confidential and free.
"If we experience any more cuts in funding, the extent of our services is going to decrease greatly and maybe even disappear," Rockey said.
