H.E.R.O. & AIDS Awareness
In our society, 50.4% of people still believe you can get AIDS from being coughed on by a person with AIDS.(UC-Davis Psych.,1999) With more than 9,000 children suffering from the effects of HIV/AIDS in Georgia, there is a critical need for community intervention, yet no way to facilitate it while overcoming these stigma.
H.E.R.O. functions in accordance with the aphorism, "If you see something you will forget it, if you do something you will remember it, but if you experience something you will understand it." It is unreasonable to expect citizens to truly understand or empathize with HIV/AIDS without ever having a personal interaction with someone affected. A 2001 Horizons Program report found that "inducing empathy for people affected by AIDS through direct contact has proven successful in reducing stigma and increasing positive attitudes." It is also unreasonable to expect affected children to enjoy a high quality of life, given their unfortunate economic circumstances, without community intervention.
Hearts Everywhere Reaching Out (H.E.R.O.) for Children was created to serve as the structure in Georgia to solely focus on increasing the quality of life of these children. This will occur by allowing Georgia community members to connect with the children of their state affected by HIV/AIDS.