Who We Are

Providing compassionate and non-judgmental service to those affected by HIV/AIDS

Our Mission & Vision

Mission: TIHAN provides community resources and caring support so that people with HIV can live well. Through education, we work to encourage everyone to get tested, get involved, and reduce the stigma of HIV.

Vision: Creating a community where everyone knows their HIV status, and where every person – regardless of status – is supported and affirmed to live as well as possible and stay healthy and engaged in the community.

   

1,000

CarePartners with HIV

48

Participating Faith Communities

A Little About Us

Education

We provide HIV awareness, education, and prevention programs to help address the stigma of HIV and to build knowledge, understanding, and support.

Give Support

We offer numerous and unique support services for people living with HIV, providing classes, resources, and services to help people with HIV to live well.

Work with Faith Communities

We engage faith communities to learn and serve the needs of the HIV community in Southern Arizona.

Provide Resources

We are committed to finding and creating resources for education, awareness, and community engagement.

Who We Serve

TIHAN serves a diverse population of people living with HIV — women, people of color, members of the LGBT community, those from all walks of life and backgrounds. Although medications are helping to keep people with HIV alive longer than ever, there are still thousands of people in Pima County with HIV, and TIHAN serves to help them live well.

%

of people living with HIV that TIHAN serves who are women

%

of people living with HIV that TIHAN serves who are people of color

%

of people living with HIV that TIHAN serves met the 2019 poverty guidelines set by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

HIV Numbers, National and Local

In the US today, there are 1.2 million people living with HIV, and that number continues to rise, especially among people of color. In Arizona, there are 17,349 cases of HIV as of 2015. In Pima County, there are approximately 3,000 people living with HIV. You may not hear about it because the death rate is much lower, but HIV is still with us and an important public health issue.

%

1 in 7 Americans with HIV do not know they have the virus

Estimated HIV cases in the US per year

%

of people living with HIV in Arizona are linked to medical care

%

of people living with HIV in Arizona have an undetectable viral load

  • 1 in 7 Americans with HIV do not know they have the virus 14% 14%
  • of people living with HIV are diagnosed late in their illness 24% 24%
  • of all people living with HIV in the US are women 25% 25%
  • The percentage of Black Americans to be diagnosed with HIV in their lifetime 5% 5%
  • Even though African Americans make up 12%of the US population, they represent 45% of all persons living with HIV in this country 45% 45%

Full Details and Citations

  • 14% 1 in 7 Americans with HIV do not know they have the virus.   (Citation)
  • 25% of all people living with HIV in the US are women.   (Citation)
  • 24% of people living with HIV are diagnosed late in their illness.   (Citation)
  • 37,800 Estimated HIV cases in the US per year.   (Citation)
  • 1 in 20 The percentage of Black Americans to be diagnosed with HIV in their lifetime.   (Citation)
  • 45% Even though African Americans make up 12% of the US population, they represent 45% of all persons living with HIV in this country.   (Citation)
  • 55% Gay and bisexual men comprise 55% of the 1.1 million HIV cases in the US.   (Citation)
  • 50% of people living with HIV in Arizona are linked to medical care.   (Citation)
  • 11.3 Rate of black females in Arizona living with HIV is 11.3 times higher than that of white females.   (Citation)
  • 48% of people living with HIV in Arizona have an undetectable viral load.   (Citation)
  • 38% Of new HIV infections in Pima County occur in those under 30 years old.   (Citation)
  • 15% of all cases of HIV in Arizona are found in Pima County.   (Citation)
  • 15th Arizona ranks 15th among the 50 states in the number of people living with HIV.   (Citation)
  • 47% Of new HIV infections in Pima County occur in people of color.   (Citation)

Our History

In times of trouble, people have traditionally looked to their communities of faith for guidance and support. Because of stigma about HIV, faith communities have not always been a source of awareness and education and support relating to HIV. TIHAN was formed to engage and activate faith communities and other caring groups and individuals to become part of the solution.

Today, there are 36 million people living with HIV around the world, including 1.1 million people living with HIV in the US. Right here in Southern Arizona, an estimated 3,000 people are living with HIV.

In the 1980’s, a small group from one faith community began organizing a compassionate response as the disease began impacting members of its congregation. Saint Francis in the Foothills United Methodist Church responded by caring for those who were sick. And they also responded by providing HIV education and advocacy. This effort increased understanding and support within the congregation, throughout other faith communities, and the greater Tucson area.

As people of faith, we believe that God’s reassuring and embracing presence reaches out to all those who are alienated and oppressed. We serve God and humanity by striving to emulate divine compassion, to seek justice and to provide service. This is our prophetic task.

—AIDS National Interfaith Network

As the church’s AIDS ministry grew and expanded beyond St. Francis, a steering committee was formed with representatives from other faith communities and agencies, and in 1994, the group formed the Tucson Interfaith HIV/AIDS Network (TIHAN).

The group proclaimed a vision for reducing HIV stigma and increasing the level of support in Southern Arizona. “AIDS is a challenge, but it also represents an opportunity for communities of faith to respond with ministries of healing and hope, of concern and compassion. This disease challenges us to be healing communities, to respond from our deeply-rooted belief systems of caring for and affirming the dignity of all people. We are called to reach out with compassion rather than judgment, to foster awareness and education rather than fear, to support those living with HIV, to comfort the dying and the grieving, to respond in the face of suffering and pain, to act on the tenets of our faith.”

In its early days, TIHAN was supporting people with HIV in the end-stages of their disease. Like a hospice program, TIHAN supported people in being supported to die with love and dignity, training volunteers to provide a host of support services.

Since 1994, as additional treatments and medications for HIV became available, TIHAN’s mission of HIV education and support has continued, but its programs have grown and adapted to respond to changing needs. Today, TIHAN’s programs and volunteers provide support to help people living with HIV to live well, as well as continuing to work to end the stigma of HIV, increase understanding and dialogue, and engage more people, organizations, and faith communities to a compassionate response.

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25 Years of TIHAN Milestones and Memories

Please click on title (above) to view Milestones & Memories

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Our Board Of Directors

Officers

Leslie Kahn, Ph.D. (Board President)
Mathematics Teacher Educator (retired)

Dan Uroff (Board Vice President)
Accounting Manager, Western National Parks Association

Carol Schneiderman, PharmD, BCACP, AAHIVP, CDE (Board Secretary)
Pharmacist (retired)

Arlan Colton, FAICP (Board Treasurer)
Planning Director, Pima County (retired)

Members

Rick Franco
Research and Contracts Project Manager, University of Arizona (retired)

Fr Peter Helman, SCP
Associate Rector, St. Philip’s in the Hills Episcopal Church

Denise Nagy, MS
Speech-Language Pathologist and Certified Optometric Vision Therapist (retired)

Sam Parrish, MD
Medical Educator (retired)

George Vissichelli
Owner, English Salon Spa

 

Job Openings

There are no Job Openings at TIHAN at this time.

 

Participating Faith Communities