Each year, North American Bear Weekend donates all of the proceeds (after expenses) to local charities within the LGBT community. Since the event was founded in 2011, we are very proud to announce we have donated over $250,000 to these charities. We are excited to be partnering with the following charities in 2024:
CATHOLIC ACTION CENTER
Founded in June, 2000, in Lexington, KY, the Catholic Action Center is based on the Catholic Worker Movement, began by Dorothy Day. The center is a house of hospitality that welcomes ALL who are in need. It is a faith-based outreach of volunteers who strive to provide all guests a welcoming place to receive their basic needs with dignity. The mission of the center is to “fill in the gap” of services for our brothers and sisters in need with no government funding by providing an opportunity for people of faith to connect with and serve the marginalized of our community. Three meals a day, shower and restroom facilities, mail receipt, a telephone, clean clothing and a place to gather are all a part of the hospitality offered. Caring ears to listen and connections with social service agencies are also available. Daily prayer services are held for those who hunger spiritually.
Over 5.5 million meals served. Over 890,000 nights of shelter provided. Over 2.5 million items of clothing given. Over 225,000 showers taken. Over 95,000 loads of laundry cleaned. Over 90 funerals for souls who had no one. Millions of prayers raised to the heavens. Unlimited offerings of dignity, compassion, forgiveness, mercy by over 200,000 volunteers. No government funding; no paid staff.
AIDS VOLUNTEERS, INC (AVOL)
AVOL’s mission is to collaborate with communities to End HIV in Kentucky. This bold mission for AVOL aligns our work with many “calls to action” recently emerging in communities throughout the Nation. We encourage people, organizations, formal and informal groups, elected officials and others in the community to do whatever it takes to get Kentucky’s numbers to specific levels in five key areas by 2024.
- Increasing to 90%, the number of people living with HIV who know their status.
- Decreasing by 50% the number of new HIV infections
- Increasing to 90%, the number of people living with HIV connected to, reconnected to, and maintained in medical care
- Increasing to 90%, the number of people living with HIV who achieve and maintain viral suppression
- Work to eliminate health disparities and HIV stigma
Never before since we began our work in 1987, have the tools available to us been so effective. We now know that people living with extremely low levels of HIV will not pass the virus along to others. This “viral suppression” involves many factors, most important of which is that persons living with HIV remain engaged in medical care and medication adherence. Our housing, support and empowerment services have proven to reinforce adherence leading to viral suppression. PrEP, an effective once daily pill taken to prevent the transmission of HIV, is becoming more and more accessible.
Through these elements and traditional tried and true approaches like increasing access to testing, advocating condom use, education, reducing barriers, and raising awareness, together we can End HIV in Kentucky.
CARACOLE, INC
Caracole is Greater Cincinnati tristate region’s nonprofit AIDS Service Organization, devoted to positively changing lives in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Founded in 1987, we started as a small, non-medical hospice for people dying of AIDS. Today, while treatment and prevention are available, the HIV epidemic has not gone away. It remains a significant humanitarian, public health and economic issue.
Today, Caracole works to end HIV/AIDS by providing:
Prevention: preventing the spread of HIV through community outreach, education, HIV/HCV testing, PrEP assistance, safer sex, safer injection and overdose prevention supplies, syringe services and treatment referrals
Housing: offering a variety of permanent housing support to prevent homelessness and to stabilize individuals and families living with HIV
Care: helping individuals living with HIV access the health care they need through medical case management and pharmacy services.
Who we serve
Currently, we serve more than 1,500 clients living with HIV/AIDS and provide more than 1,700 free or anonymous HIV tests annually.
Our service area includes:
Ohio counties: Adams, Brown, Butler, Clermont, Clinton, Hamilton, Highland and Warren
Kentucky counties: Boone, Bracken, Campbell, Gallatin, Grant, Kenton, Mason and Pendleton
Indiana counties: Dearborn, Franklin, Ohio and Union Counties in Southwest Indiana
HOUSE OF RUTH
The mission of House of Ruth is to provide housing and support services for people living with HIV and their families who are homeless, at risk of losing their homes, or need financial help.
It goes without saying that housing is critical for all of us. Without a home, that’s all any of us would be thinking about – finding a safe place to live for ourselves and our families. The last thing on our minds without a home would be taking our HIV medication as prescribed or making it to our doctors’ appointments needed to manage our HIV and be healthy.
Without a home the only thing you’d be thinking about is finding a home. That’s why “home” is so important for our clients. Its’ the first step toward managing their HIV and being healthy.