Working in collaboration, Hospice of Contra Costa and the Genard AIDS Foundation offer patient intake and assessment services.  Utilizing a team approach, patients have available symptom management, pain control, psychological and spiritual support, and respite care.

Also offered to life partners, family and friends in the months following the death are bereavement services including support groups, personal and telephone contact and counseling.  All joint services are available without charge to the clients.

The Genard AIDS Foundation has developed working relationships with a number of Bay Area convalescent hospitals and nursing homes.  Staff at these facilities receive specialized training to meet the physical and emotional needs of People with AIDS.  In these peaceful environments, personal dignity and independence are respected and preserved.  The Foundation utilizes its funds to bridge potential gaps in service which might otherwise be created by lack of patient or family financial resources.

Volunteers are utilized in many capacities.  You can volunteer to support persons with AIDS and their loved ones.  You do not need to have any special skills, only the desire to help and to work in a warm supportive atmosphere.  If you would like to volunteer in this capacity call the Hospice of Contra Costa and ask to be a volunteer for our program.  All you need be is willing, empathetic and wanting to do something to alleviate the suffering of the victims of this terrible epidemic.

Volunteers are also needed when the Foundation holds special events throughout the year to raise private sector funds.  Volunteer to march with the Foundation on December 1st in our annual candlelight march.  Bring a group of friends and help us to fight the growing complacency about AIDS education and prevention.

Genard Circle of Care provides respite, either in a facility or at home, to allow loved ones a brief vacation from the round the clock requirements of those approaching the end of life.

Genard Circle of Care provides care in facilities not only at the end of life, but along the way when there is a medical problem best treated in a skilled nursing facility.  When a hospital is too much but the home is too little, Genard Circle of Care provides the answer.

The Cry Help Hotline was created to fill the void in emergency information services to the community and has long been a staple of the Genard AIDS Foundation.  The hotline further serves to network the Foundation's resources and provides general public information.  The hotline dispenses information, education, solace and intervention to the public.

Effective April 1, 2001, the Cry Help Hotline was rolled into our main number.  You are encouraged and welcome to call our main number at (925) 943-AIDS (2437) anytime you'd like to contact the Foundation.  You may leave a message and someone will call you back as soon as they can.

The Genard AIDS Foundation trains caregivers and supports skilled nursing care for our clients in the home.  The goal is to allow persons with AIDS to remain in their home environments and independent for as long as possible.  In-home services are provided to any client, regardless of medical or insurance coverage.