Christmas Project Gives Texas AIDS Patients a Brighter Holiday

Cilicia Valdez found out she had HIV at one of the worst possible times -- when she was seven months pregnant. Valdez is grateful for the Coastal Bend AIDS Foundation's annual Christmas Project in which volunteers can adopt clients and help them have a better Christmas. But Joe Garcia, the foundation's special events committee chair, said participation has dropped off by at least 25 percent. "I think it's because we're seeing so many improvements in people's lives with new medication treatments and regimens, people don't see it as such a great need anymore," Garcia said.

Garcia's clients might pay from $500 to $1,000 a month for HIV medications, and more counting doctor and laboratory bills, he said. Valdez takes four different medications a day for HIV and treatment side effects. She doesn't work and is trying to get on disability. After making house payments and buying food, there isn't much left for gifts. "The agency always seems to pull through. It may be at the last minute. The tree is bare until the very last minute, at least [the kids] know something will happen," Valdez said. "Financially, it's been wonderful because without it I wouldn't have been able to do it."

Each year the foundation asks its clients to fill out a needs list and a wish list. Fewer clients get helped each year, Garcia said. "We do what we can with the funding we get, but we have a high number of clients who are indigent and can't afford [Christmas] as it is," Garcia said.

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