Posted April 15,, 2025
DOORWAYS | 1101 N. Jefferson Avenue | St. Louis MO 63106
HIV Advocacy In Action – April 7 – 11, 2025
DOORWAYS hosts week of outreach to defend federal funding for HIV and housing.
St. Louis, MO – This past week, DOORWAYS launched its first Advocacy Week—a powerful opportunity to come together to raise our voices as a community united in support of life-changing housing and wrap-around services to support people with HIV. Federal funding to support the needs of those we serve is under threat. Along with HIV program funding, affordable housing, services for the homeless, food security, and more are also being considered for cutbacks or elimination.
Donors, volunteers, program participants, and staff united to write postcards, make phone calls, and connect with elected officials to ensure that the vital work delivered by DOORWAYS–and other organizations like it–are able to remain in operation to assist all those individuals and families affected by homelessness, illness from HIV, and other chronic conditions associated with poverty.
To kick-off advocacy week, DOORWAYS staff wore red–a color associated with HIV through the use of red ribbons–to show unity and raise awareness. During the phone-a-thon, participants completed 436 phone calls to a list of 187 federal, state, and local elected officials. Community members also wrote personal notes on the agency’s advocacy postcards, which DOORWAYS mailed to the entire list of elected officials.
This mass effort was recognized by media. The DOORWAYS Advocacy Week received coverage by KSDK, KPLR, and KMOX radio. The latter aired a live interview with President & CEO, Opal M. Jones, during the Chris and Amy Morning Show. Listen to it here.
Active advocacy has been part of the DOORWAYS history since it began in 1988,” explained Opal M. Jones, the President & CEO at DOORWAYS. “Before HIV received national attention, DOORWAYS and other agencies on the frontlines relied on advocacy efforts to secure funds to allow continued operations. We know advocacy will always be a central part of our mission, and this Advocacy Week reminded us just how powerful the collective voice can be.”
Jim Timmerberg, Director of Advancement, expressed his gratitude to all who participated in Advocacy In Action. “A huge THANK YOU to everyone who helped make this week possible. Your passion and action can help protect essential funding towards building a healthier, more just future for those we serve.”
If you’re interested in advocating to retain federal funding for HIV housing and supportive services, please visit our website where you’ll find a sample script, a list of elected officials, and language pulled directly from our advocacy postcards to help guide your outreach.
ABOUT DOORWAYS
Founded in 1988, DOORWAYS provides housing and 360 degrees of wrap-around services to people at the intersection of poverty, homelessness, and illness from HIV. Each year, we serve approximately 3,000 clients and family members in 124 counties spread across Missouri and Illinois. Expanding over the years to meet growing depth and breadth of need, DOORWAYS evolved from a hospice caring for the dying to an agency building lives for the living. We currently own 11 buildings with 219 apartments offering five housing platforms—emergency housing, flexible housing, assistive housing for those too ill to live independently, permanent housing, and, to prevent homelessness for people in their own accommodations, rent/utility subsidies.
Housing is supplemented by empowerment services to build the social determinants of health (housing, health, food security, employment/income, education, community, etc.) that are needed to advance towards a life of opportunity and independence. We use individualized case management, resource referrals, self-development programming, employment support, behavioral health counseling, and psychiatric care. To remove barriers to essential resources, we have arranged to have a BOCA Pharmacy and a Key Clinic on campus. Both are open to anyone in the community who wishes to use these services. Pairing a clinic next to a pharmacy strengthens the circle of care.
Through this mix of services to stabilize housing, health, and hope, clients begin their journey toward a more self-directed life. Once housed and linked with their care coordinator, clients are encouraged to comply with an HIV-medication regimen that can help them attain undetectable status. When HIV is undetectable, life span and quality of life improve for the individual. Additionally, undetectable means untransmittable (U=U), stopping new cases–opening the door to ending HIV in future generations.
For more information, please review this website or contact the agency at info@doorwayshousing.org
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