40 years of learning
As Lifelong celebrates four decades of service to our community this year, we remain dedicated to breaking down barriers that keep people from achieving their best possible health.
The lessons we’ve learned over the last 40 years have allowed us to expand our impact and reach those in our community who have not been given the opportunity to thrive.
‘Gay cancer’. That's what the community was originally told.
It was a disease the likeness of which had never been seen before. People were scared and overwhelmed, unprepared for what was to come.
In the beginning, many diagnosed with HIV had to navigate the crisis alone.
Our government, hospitals, schools — all the systems and institutions we've built to help people thrive — failed them by not responding quickly enough. And when the response finally came, they failed by responding without basic empathy and respect.
This lack of timely and empathetic response resulted in an pandemic that shattered lives, decimated the LGBTQ+ community and fostered an environment ripe for misinformation and stigma. So what have we learned?
The Movement for Health Equity
Neighbors caring for neighbors
We won't stand for this.
Throughout the whole country, there was outrage. From coast to coast, communities came together with care and support to fill the gaps where our systems and institutions failed us.
People like you raised your voice, pooled your funds, and started identifying what you could personally do to meet the needs of people living with HIV.
It was a stark reality check that we couldn't depend on systems to respond to this epic crisis. Instead it took neighbors caring for neighbors.
Northwest AIDS Foundation, Chicken Soup Brigade, Evergreen Wellness Advocates — in the Pacific Northwest these agencies these agencies were the backbone of the response. They were forged by activists who demanded that everyone have access to health services and treatment, accurate health information and the respect they deserve.
Volunteers cooked and delivered meals to people who were too weak to feed themselves. These same people cleaned homes, ferried clients between doctor appointments, and held the hands of those who were dying and had been abandoned by their families.
These volunteers also advocated. They protested and demanded swift justice so that HIV didn't have to be a death sentence.
Your Commitment is Vital
The activism of the 1980's and 1990's empowered us to evolve with the disease and grow our services to meet the changing needs of underserved communities responsively.
What does that mean for today?
HIV has changed dramatically since the beginning of the pandemic. While it's no longer a death sentence for many — Black, Brown and Trans communities continue to be let down by our systems and institutions. These communities are disproportionately affected not only by HIV but also by other chronic and preventable illnesses that often are a result of racism, discrimination and poverty.
We also see that the growing economic disparities in our state have created an ever-widening gap between those who have and those who have-not. The impact of poverty on their health and well-being is creating a tsunami of need that has never before been experienced in Washington State.
While decades of activism and specialized care services have made a huge impact, we still need activists like you to help disrupt systems and build new avenues to health justice.
So, four decades later, we continue to keep our eyes on the big picture, and we keep a pot of soup cooking in our kitchen. Because we know that even though people aren't dying in the same ways, in the same numbers or of the same causes, there are enormous injustices in our communities. So, we honor our legacy and our deep commitment to HIV by continually expanding our reach and scope to those who most need it, when they most need it.
We learned that people have different, complex reasons for not being able to reach their best health.
If you were asked for your next of kin in 1983, most likely that meant your spouse or parents. But for someone who was living with HIV, there was no guarantee that someone’s family knew about their diagnosis or that they hadn’t been disowned due to fear and stigma.
People were facing a new and uncertain situation on their own and deserved a sensitive, thoughtful touch when our historically one-size-fits-all healthcare system was not prepared to serve people living with HIV.
While many compassionate doctors rose to meet this new challenge, many other care providers continued to treat their patients using the same outdated model of care. Someone’s gender, ethnicity, or sexuality weren’t always taken into consideration. Too frequently, people were not seen as individuals and their health care suffered as a result.
We Still see the person (not the illness.)
Lifelong recognized from the beginning that every client has different needs and that this recognition was our key to helping them become as healthy as possible.
Our staff still don’t make assumptions but instead questions that come from a place of curiosity and empathy. We work together to find what keeps our clients from getting tested, finding medical care, or taking their medication.
People's lives, beliefs, fears, and barriers are different, and it became clear to us 40 years ago that the same type of intervention and treatment wasn’t going to work for everyone.
The lens we use today.
As we recognize 40 years of service to our community, we carry the early lessons forward in our work today. This individualized approach, based on authentic relationships, is more important than ever to helping reach the people who struggle to benefit from our health care systems.
Mainstream medical and social services are slowly catching up, recognizing the unique needs of marginalized communities, but thousands of people across the state continue to fall through the cracks.
We are proud to have been at the forefront of this model of care. Your support allows us to meet the growing needs of your neighbors who struggle to live their healthiest lives.