Okaloosa AIDS Support & Informational Services, Inc.

01/09/2024

Marking myself safe and thankful from this morning’s tornadoes along the beaches. There was no damage at my home but many others had a lot of damage. Keep them in your thoughts.

01/17/2018

It is with mixed emotions I report the passing of Gary Vos just before 10 pm tonight (1/16/18). Earlier tonight he was moved out of ICU to hospice. His sister Vicki had just stepped out of the room for just a couple of minutes and it was during that moment that Gary decided to let go. I feel that was by design, Gary being Gary, always thinking of others. I said mixed emotions as it is never easy to say goodbye to a loved one and that is how I defined Gary. On the other hand I am grateful to a loving God who called him home ending his pain and suffering. He had suffered for years with many health concerns. I really don’t know how to express what I feel at this moment, certainly loss. I have a hole in my heart tonight in need of healing. I will not sleep tonight as I will be reliving a lifetime of shared memories. We had been friends for 40 plus years. We had been through so much together during that time. Some good things and some not so good things were experienced. We were always there for each other. I was there for him when his former partner passed and I conducted a memorial service for his his partner’s brother. He was there for me when I lost my mother, my sister, my brother, and just last year when I lost Darrel. We were there for each other in the devastating age of AIDS when we buried friends weekly. Just as important we shared great fun times together. We were both football fanatics but pulled for different college teams. However when it came to the NFL we were united in our support of the New Orleans Saints. I am confident that St Peter greeted him this evening with a “WHO DAT”. We traveled together, partied together probably too much.. lol.

Below is a picture of Gary and his daughter at a happier time. Gary loved his family and felt privileged knowing they loved him as much as he loved them. This family embraced life and lived it to it fullest. They had fun and could put on a party like none other according to Gary. Of course Gary was the life of any party. I hope that they will continue to embrace life in honor of Gary.

I am not good with goodbyes so I will leave it with “I will catch you later Gary”. In the mean time I will miss you but promise to embrace life and enjoy it. You taught me so much. Thanks for an amazing journey my friend My heart travels with you.

01/09/2018

OASIS Florida encourages you to save the date of September 14-16, 2018 for our 21st Annual Positive Living Conference.

This largest and only remaining HIV conference geared toward the HIV+ community will be held Friday September 14 to Sunday September 16, 2018, at the beachfront Ramada Plaza Resort in Fort Walton Beach Florida.

We are fortunate to have creator and founder of the Positive Living Conference, Butch McKay, once again at the helm. While Butch retired from OASIS at the end of 2017 he remains committed to the success and continuation of Positive Living. Doug Landreth remains on staff and will be overseeing the logistics of the conference. For those who attended Positive Living 20 you have already met our new Executive Director, William Bedwell who looks forward to getting to know the Positive Living family better.

As expected, Positive Living 21 will once again bring together HIV+ persons from across the nation to attend workshops and presentations by a world class slate of experts knowledgeable in the latest treatments, medications, research, laws and policies, and maintaining a high quality of life while living with HIV.

As soon as we are ready to accept registrations, expected date is May 1, 2018, we will distribute applications. An agenda is not expected until mid-August, once it has been finalized it will be distributed.

We hope to see you in September!

If you have any questions please call me at 850 314-0950 or e-mailing [email protected]

Doug Landreth

01/08/2018

I (and other members of the OASIS Florida team) am raising funds for OASIS Florida during the Florida AIDS Walk, I’m breaking in my shoes, and seeking support.

Your donation to any of us will be doubled and remain local!

OASIS Florida continues to do much with little, but it is getting harder these days. In 2010, the rollout of the National AIDS Strategies greatly reduced funds dispersed to rural communities, despite a history of stellar evaluations from the Center for Disease and Prevention OASIS Florida had our overall governmental funding reduced by fifty percent.

Relying more on individual donations and corporate support, OASIS Florida continues to provide annually: 1,200 free rapid HIV tests. 8,200 hours of HIV prevention and AIDS education, 4,780 hours of case management services to HIV positive clients, 12,000 pounds of nutritional food to HIV positive clients and their families, 400 partial scholarships to attendees of our annual Positive Living Conference (the nation’s oldest, largest, and only remaining conference designed for the HIV positive person), 40 scholarships to our annual ManREACH Gathering (a drug and alcohol free gathering of gay/bi/trans men addressing self-identified issues affecting their physical, mental, sexual, and communal health), and 30 scholarships to our annual WomenREACH Gathering (a drug and alcohol free gathering of HIV positive woman addressing self-identified issues affecting their physical, mental, sexual, and communal health).

The latest news out of Washington does nothing to provide any hope of the return of what our federal funding once was. On December 29, 2017 our President disbanded the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS.

In a world of continued cuts in funding OASIS Florida has held fast to its mission “to prevent the spread of HIV and to support those who are affected by HIV/AIDS,” and vison “to live in a world without AIDS.”

On a daily basis, for over 28 years, I have seen firsthand, as volunteer, employee, and HIV positive client, the amazing work that OASIS Florida has done, is doing, and will continue to do with your help.

OASIS is not content to simply tread water, this year we are bolding expanding our services. OASIS will begin offering free HIV testing into more community locations, and increase our participation in area health fairs and festivals with a mobile unit. This will be a major step toward reaching more at risk for infection persons in non-traditional testing locations. A new mentoring program will pair youth in unstable living conditions who are at risk of HIV infection with adults who will establish meaningful and lasting relationship to offer assistance and guidance to this most vulnerable population.

Over the years I have been a part of various large scale fundraising efforts. A sixty mile hike for HIV vaccine research; a forty five mile walk for HIV community service organizations; and a relief trip to hard hit villages of Tanzania Africa. Thanks to strong support from my friends and family, I was top money raiser in each of these efforts. On a more personal journey I was also part of an HIV vaccine safety clinical trial, being the first person in the world to subject themselves to potential preventative vaccine, this trial was halted after less than promising results.

Today I am very excited to be participating in the Florida AIDS Walk to be held Sunday March 18, 2018. What is great about this event is that the moneys raised by each walker will be matched by a grant, doubling the dollars, AND each walker takes all their raised money back to their local organization. This is a rare opportunity to raise a substantial amount of funds for OASIS Florida.

For everyone who has so greatly support my fundraising efforts in the past, thank you and I look forward to you stepping up to the plate once again, not for me but for the community work that OASIS Florida does, service that would not be in our community without OASIS Florida. For everyone who has not been swayed to support past fundraising efforts, I hope the fact that your donation will be doubled and all the money you give will be put to use locally will persuade you that this is your time to help.
For over thirty years, HIV/AIDS has plagued men, women and children in all of our communities, and while advances in medicine and treatment have been made, the rate of HIV-related death and new infections is still far too high. I won’t stop this fight until HIV/AIDS is a thing of the past! To truly make a difference, I need caring people like you to sponsor my participation in the walk. To support me, please make a donation to my campaign right here on the Florida AIDS Walk website. Your gift to this worthy cause is fully tax-deductible.

The link to donate and more information is at the end of this message. Also, please bookmark this page if you're interested in keeping track of my progress as I approach the March 18th fundraising deadline. I encourage you to browse the rest of this website if you’d like to learn more about Florida AIDS Walk.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have. If you would be interested in setting up an event to raise awareness of this event and/or donations, please contact me. My phone is 850 685-2881, my e-mail is [email protected].

Thank you!
Doug Landreth

https://floridaaidswalk.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donate.participant&participantID=7205

09/18/2017

09/11/2017

MON SEPT 11th UPDATE: Positive Living 20 will be held as scheduled.

The hurricane has had no impact in the Fort Walton Beach, FL / northwest panhandle area.
IF you are unable to travel due to your local impact from the storm we are making an exception to the 09/01/17 cancelation deadline (noted on 1st page, and line 13 of the code of conduct page everyone was required to sign) and will review such requests for refunds. As we do not know the weather impact in all areas we will rely on those impacted to send us a request.
Doug Landreth

08/12/2017

This Sunday, August 13th at 2pm EST, Robert will have the pleasure of speaking with Butch Mckay the Founder of the Positive Living conferences that take place each year in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida. This September 15th-17th Butch and the OASIS family will be celebrating the 20th year Anniversary of…

01/26/2017

For an application to this 3 day conference for HIV positive persons, partners, family, and caregivers to be held in Fort Walton Beach, Fri Sept 15- Sun Sept 17 send an e-mail to [email protected] or visit our website: www.AIDSoasis.org. Partial scholarships for as low as $100 are available, space is limited.