AIDS/HIV group to open Naples office

People with AIDS and HIV in the community endured the loss of a vital source year of food and transportation help, soothing massages and other assistance.

Now that help is returning when a Lee County AIDS organization, which has been providing case-management services to Collier County residents with HIV/AIDS for six years, opens an office in Naples next month.

The Fort Myers-based Island Coast AIDS Network, ICAN, will open its office July 6 in the French Quarter complex, Building D, Suite 4, on Goodlette-Frank Road.

Last year when Positive Outreach Services, formerly the Joe Logsdon Foundation, shut down its rental office in East Naples, ICAN took over the Naples group's struggling thrift store, Out of the Closet, at 170 10th Street N. Since then ICAN has focused to make the store a success while continuing to provide case management services to local residents with AIDS.

Officials with ICAN pledged last year to open an office locally and the organization now is living up to its pledge, aiming to assist more people with case-management services to help keep them healthier and at home, along with operating a food pantry and offering public bus tickets and conducting support groups. There are 20 clients in its case management program.

"We expect that to increase," said Executive Director Carolyn Moore. "We're not sure of a target yet."

In the past, ICAN received referrals from the Collier County Health Department, which operates an infectious disease clinic, and from private physicians in the community, said Peter Bright, director of programs for ICAN.

Having an office in Naples will bolster awareness of ICAN in Collier and should mean greater support for its programs, to help with thrift store donations, its food pantry program and to help with support groups, Moore said.

The nonprofit ICAN, which gets some of its funding from a state Medicaid waiver program, is able to do fundraisers and run a thrift store, which the health department isn't able to do. The group's Red Ribbon Ball last year in Naples raised nearly $30,000.

"We have volunteers who do massages, and support groups. The health department does not have volunteers," Moore said.

While the health department also offers case management to its clients, the department is supportive of ICAN's opening of a Naples office.

"What clients will have now is an option," Moore said.

Scott Tims, HIV/AIDS program manager for the health department, said he absolutely supports ICAN establishing a stronger presence in Collier.

"We are really excited. They will hopefully plug some of the gaps," he said, referring to what's been lacking in the community since the Joe Logsdon Foundation shut down.

The health department's infectious disease clinic is open daily during weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. where a nurse practitioner or one of two physicians see patients.

"It's very busy," Tims said. "We have 300 to 400 active clients and another 100 or so who don't come in regularly."

Incidence of HIV/AIDS is on the rise as the community continues to grow, he said. Last year, the clinic started treating 68 new patients, he said. ICAN officials say opening its own clinic in Naples isn't out of the realm of possibility someday.

"It could happen," Moore said.

ICAN is holding an open house for its new Naples office on July 6 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Volunteers are needed to help staff the new office. To volunteer, call the Fort Myers office at (239) 337-2391, ext. 211, and ask for Melissa Cofta.