Kansas AIDS Council To Close Because of Budget Cuts
The AIDS Council of Greater Kansas City will close after 18 years of providing advocacy and referrals for services because of declines in HIV/AIDS funding over recent years, the Kansas City Star reports. "It just wasn't feasible for us to go on to incur more debt waiting for grant money to come in," J. Dollie Rainey, the program's manager and sole employee for the last two years, said. At one time, the council received as many as 2,000 telephone calls a month from people seeking HIV/AIDS information, and it is considering keeping the phone line open. "We served as a clearinghouse," Rainey said, adding, "We were the only service agency with 'AIDS' in its name, so we were the first one people called" (Bavley, Kansas City Star, 6/30).
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