Date: Thu, 31 Jul 1997 09:31:46 -0700 From: Eros Publishing Subject: Press release WORKING SOLUTIONS FOR PEOPLE WITH HIV/AIDS Positive Solutions Implements Workforce Re-Entry Services For Immediate Release Wednesday, July 30, 1997 Contact: Alex Hesse-Siegert Positive Solutions 322-8181 Seattle¾Positive Solutions, an all volunteer non-profit organization formed to address workforce re-entry issues in Washington State, is beginning to deliver services to individuals and organizations in the HIV/AIDS Community. “The time for cautious optimism is over. Current and anticipated drug therapies will continue to increase opportunities for independence. We must be ready to support those who choose to go to work.”, states Alex Hesse-Siegert, Executive Director of Positive Solutions. Many more people living with HIV/AIDS are living longer more active lives. A recent survey completed by the Northwest AIDS Foundation indicates 60% of respondents are “hoping/planning to return to work”. AIDS Service Organizations ranked job/re-training programs among the three highest gaps in the King County Continuum of HIV Care. Unfortunately, the decision to work while disabled is complicated by a number of factors. Many people in the system find themselves frustrated and stuck. Any person or organization must try to make sense of a puzzling array of programs, regulations, providers and training organizations in order to make informed choices. Positive Solutions will make the pieces of this puzzle fit together by educating and supporting individuals and service providers. A group of service providers is already at work organizing information about their programs into a narrative and graphical “road map” of the current system which will be presented in an interactive public forum “Making the Pieces Fit” scheduled for the latter part of September. Work group participants are: The U. S. Social Security Administration; Washington State agencies including the WA. State Health Authority, Employment Security Department, Department of Vocational Rehabilitation, Department of Social and Health Services; and the following local HIV/AIDS service providers I.A.M. Cares, N. W. AIDS Foundation, Bailey Boushay House, U. W. Medical Center - Roosevelt, The Madison Clinic, Group Health Co-op, and People of Color Against AIDS Network (POCAAN). Positive Solutions is currently developing Disability Benefit Education Services for individuals and service providers. The education services will clarify private and public insurance benefits as well as provide information and support necessary to navigate the systems, that confront the working disabled. More information about “Making the Pieces Fit” and Disability Benefit Education Services is available by contacting Positive Solutions at (206) 322-8181. POSITIVE SOLUTIONS 1122 E. Pike St. Suite 861 Seattle, WA 98122-3934