Texas is helping provide free medications for persons living with HIV who lost their medications and insurance documents during Katrina.Refer anyone in need to Texas Department of Health site. Excellent news that some drug companies are giving the medicines free to Katrina survivors, or at deeply discounted prices.
Some survivors cannot wait for the necessary processing time and agencies like the Montrose Clinic are providing the medications then and there, immediately.
Please donate to organizations that reach people overlooked by the larger relief organizations.
Now if we can just get over discriminatory attitudes. Sharli'e Vicks, from New Orleans, was arrested in a shelter in College Station, Texas because she showered in the ladies room. Sharli'e is transgendered and in the transition period. Police officers in College Station called her "it." Her bail was set at $6,000 and she spent five days in jail before a journalist reported her story and the heat was on the Sheriff's Department to release her, which they finally did. There are too many depressing stories about Gay and Lesbians being harrassed in shelters. The Montrose Counseling Center provides life-saving emotional and housing support for GLBT persons who are being rejected at shelters and service agencies. If you know of anyone in need, call the Gay & Lesbian Switchboard in Houston: 713-529-3211.
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