Local Organization Spotlight: Columbia CARES
Columbia CARES is proud to be one of the founding organizations on the Support Local platform. Users of the platform will be able to donate directly or via receipt donations within the App. Stay tuned for when Support Local Launches in 2020!
We took some time this week to sit down with Columbia CARES’ director, Tim Jones. he’s been with this amazing organization since 1993. Needless to say Tim and his team are Columbia veterans and have seen a lot of big changes in the small town of Columbia, TN over the years.
Tell us a little bit about Columbia CARES to those who may not know
Columbia CARES was chartered in 1992 and opened doors in 1993. CARES was formed as a collaborative relationship between a newly formed HIV clinic. CARES is an AIDS Service Organization, meaning that all of our core services focus on HIV/AIDS. We offer social services including case management, transportation, food resources, housing assistance, and support groups for people living with HIV disease. We also provide HIV testing and education services. I began at CARES as an admin staff and prevention educator in 1994.
What’s one reason you chose to be in Columbia?
I moved to Columbia from Lawrence County in late 1980 for work. I’ve stayed in Columbia because it quickly welcomed me as home.
What’s something really challenging with running CARES?
Stigma. Over my 25+ years at CARES there have been tremendous advances in medicine and services to improve the quality of life for the person living with HIV, but I believe the social stigma of HIV disease just hasn’t caught up. Many people we serve still experience real or perceived stigma; fearing job security, housing loss, or family ostracism from an HIV status disclosure. HIV doesn’t have to be a death sentence any longer, but with all that a person living with HIV must do to stay healthy, fear and stigma should not have to be one of those battles.
Where do you see Columbia CARES headed in the future?
I would love to see Columbia CARES not needed in our community because there is no more AIDS. Until then, we will always grow and follow the needs of those we serve to provide the best service we can offer. The CARES of 2020 is so very different than in 1994. When I first started at CARES we were often the service provider for the dying. Now we are the service provider for living with HIV, with totally different needs than even 10 years ago. My goal is that we always respond quickly to the changing needs of those we serve.
In 2020, we will also begin a new venture of serving our community as a PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) Navigation provider. Helping HIV negative folks access PrEP as a prevention method.
What’s your favorite thing about being and supporting folks in Columbia?
There are too many exciting things going on to pick just one favorite. Combined, my most favorite thing about being in and supporting Columbia is to watch the wonderful growth we are experiencing, especially around the downtown area. It is exciting to see the crowds on First Fridays, and then see more folks on Saturdays and Sundays, walking around and loving Columbia.
Where do you see Columbia in the next 5 years or more?
I look at old pictures of Columbia and see the throngs of people attending events and thriving businesses, our golden years perhaps. I see our revitalization ushering in a new and better golden age for our community. Columbia is rich with a culture of history and pride. I think that we are building on that culture for generations to come.
Why is it so important to support local, we like to say, “love where you live”?
Supporting local is so much more than just shopping, it’s supporting our local government, investing in our United Way and the non-profits who serve the most vulnerable of our community, it’s supporting our schools so that our young folks are safe and can flourish, it’s volunteering at The People’s Table, it’s being kind to our fellow Columbians, and yes, it’s shopping in our local businesses and making sure they succeed. T.S. Eliot wrote, “Home is where one starts from.” We are so fortunate to get to live where so many things have started from, and even more fortunate to be in a community where we can ignite the start of things to come.
Columbia Cares’ annual fund raiser, the Winterfest Beer Blast is happening Friday, January 17. Tickets are still available!