The History of AIDS Niagara
Initially called the "AIDS Committee of Niagara," AIDS Niagara started in 1987 as an advisory committee to the Niagara Regional Public Health Service's AIDS Program. Examining the problem of HIV and AIDS in the Niagara Region, it quickly realized that more had to be done. People in the community were living with and dying of HIV and AIDS, and needed services to be provided.
In response to these needs, the committee evolved into an active, volunteer-run, community-based AIDS organization.
In late 1989, a Trillium grant allowed Joan Blanchard to be hired as the first staff person at our first office, which was located in Niagara Falls. We secured core funding through the Ontario Ministry of Health's AIDS Bureau in 1990, and moved to a larger office on the Shaver Hospital property in St. Catharines in 1991. We then hired staff to provide education and support services. In 1993, we moved to 50 William St., St. Catharines, and in July 2000 to our present location at the Normandy Resource Centre at 111 Church St., St. Catharines.
AIDS Niagara's services are provided at no charge to all individuals who reside in the Regional Municipality of Niagara. Services are provided to people who are living with HIV or AIDS, and to their friends and families who are "affected" by the disease.
As an active member of the Ontario AIDS Network (OAN) and the Canadian AIDS Society (CAS), AIDS Niagara has access to the resources of AIDS Service Organizations (ASOs) across Canada.
AIDS Niagara is a registered, not-for-profit charity incorporated in 1990.
