The Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust is a community project, and registered non-profit organisation which responds to the needs of those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS within the community. The Centre was established in 1990 in response to the pending HIV/AIDS pandemic.

The project is situated in the Centre of Hillcrest but serves the community surrounding of about a 30 km radius. In the last 16 years it has become a model of comprehensive HIV/AIDS care and its projects include:

• Feeding scheme
• Counselling, testing (HIV and CD4 counts),
• Home based care
• Respite/hospice care
• HIV/AIDS education
• Income generation through craft
• Horticulture/food garden project
• School fee fund

All projects co-ordinate with each other forming a holistic model of care.

As the HIV/AIDS pandemic progressed in our province, despite a comprehensive home based care project being in operation, we still found many patients were dying alone in dreadful conditions. To combat this, a Respite unit was opened in February 2006 from rented space at the Hillcrest Provincial Hospital.

In October 2008 we moved into our new Respite Unit which we built on our premises.

The unit is a home from home run by 14 caregivers with registered nurse backup where patients can be cared for in a loving environment. Patients receive a bed, food and whatever medicines they have been prescribed and either recover from acute illness or die with dignity and in peace.

An unexpected outcome of the Respite unit is the amount of patients that have been admitted to die but with care and support have recovered enough to be enlisted onto an antiretroviral program and are now living fulfilled lives within the community.

We desperately need support to keep it going. The unit has a 24 bed capacity but sadly we have a long waiting list and many patients die before we are able to accommodate them.

We introduced two wonderful initiatives to help us finance the Respite Unit's operational cost to its full potential:

• Othandweni Dinner for Friends
• Adopt a bed scheme, a fixed financial commitment for a period of time to take care of the funding of a bed in our Respite Unit

To clarify the financial situation we have broken down the costs of keeping a patient in the unit per bed. This cost covers all the expenses accumulated during the patients stay in our unit.

Cost per bed	Per day	Per week	Per month	Per year
In Rand	150	1050	4500	54.000
In Euro*	12.50	87.50	375	4500

(*Exchange Rate E1/R12)

From previous years experience we are able to estimate the occupation rate of 15 -16 patients per bed/ per annum. We are calculating for a budget that allows us to accommodate those needs.

In simple math; if we could find 750 generous people/families/ businesses to pledge R150 per month we would secure the operation of all so desperately needed 24 beds.

Bank details of the Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust:
Registration Number: NPO 005-800

Account: Hillcrest Aids Centre Trust
Bank: ABSA BANK
Branch: Hillcrest
Branch Code: 631126
Account Number: 4054462606
Swift Code: ABSAZAJJ

For further information or if you have any questions regarding this scheme please do not hesitate to contact our financial manager Kerryn McIntosh for further assistance.

Thanks for your support!