Thank you so much for your support of Red Project! In these divisive times, Red Project remains committed to serving some of the most vulnerable individuals in our community, providing access to the tools and support that people need to stay healthy and to stay alive.
If you attended our Speaking Red event in May of this year, you may have heard Susan, Wendy, Katie or Steve talking about our Tools of The Trade:
Naloxone Rescue Kits: providing access to naloxone has led to over 700 individuals having their opioid overdoses reversed in our community. These are our brothers and sisters, our mothers and fathers. A gift of $250 can train 5 individuals to save lives in our community- train individuals to literally bring others back from the brink of death.
Sterile Syringes: Each year, through thousands of individual interactions, Red Project provides access to sterile syringes and safer shot supplies within Grand Rapids and the West Michigan community. This has led to the percentage of HIV cases related to injection drug use in Kent County decreasing from 25% to 8%. A gift of $500 to Red Project can enable 5 individuals to access all the sterile syringes they need for a year, effectively eliminating transmission risk for HIV or Hepatitis C, and also creating positive relationships through these interactions. This can enable these individuals to begin living healthier lives.
HIV Medications: Modern HIV medications not only help individuals live longer, healthier lives, they also benefit the community-in making it impossible to transmit HIV. This is the latest from the CDC: U=U, or undetectable equals untransmitable. Red Project helps over 70 people access HIV care and medications each year. A gift of $1,000 allows us to walk alongside an individual for a year, supporting them as they improve their lives, and the health of our community.
Each of these tools costs a specific amount of money, but their impact is unquantifiable. The real value of Red Project’s service delivery, and the real meaning of your support, is in showing people that their lives have value, that people care about them, and that they have the strength to begin making positive changes in their own life and that they can make a positive impact on our community. This is a powerful message, and it also puts power into the hands of people from whom it has traditionally been stripped.
If you attended our Walk To Stop HIV in September, you may have heard a message of anger and love. We are angry; about how we treat each other and how we are treated in this world. We hope you are angry too. Yet, we also have love. Love sustains us and helps us to envision a new world, which, with your support we will work to create each and every day- a world in which we all have access to the tools and support we need to stay healthy and to stay alive.
