GUILFORD — The Vermont Department of Health's Agency of Human Services has awarded Twin States Network a $45,000 grant to fund one-on-one counseling for Vermonters living with HIV.
CLEAR, which stands for Choose Life: Empowerment, Action, Results!, is a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention HIV intervention. The project's goals are to support people living with HIV in:
• Achieving their short- and long-term goals;
• Dealing more effectively with problems;
• Developing daily routines that support and maximize physical and mental health work in partnership with medical providers;
• Addressing substance use; and
• Developing ways to consistently practice safer sex.
Through the CLEAR program, Twin States Network provides one-on-one counseling for Vermonters living with HIV with a trained service/registered mental health provider. Meetings can be in person, over the phone, or via Skype.
CLEAR lasts from six to 28 sessions, as determined by the client and the CLEAR provider based on the client's goals and preferences.
In choosing to participate in the program, clients will have an opportunity to express themselves through discussions and various structured activities.
Twin States Network, a community AIDS service and prevention organization, began serving families and children affected by HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C in 1991.