Labor Day Getaway Creates Family

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Despite being brand new to Labor Day Getaway, “Asha” had banked several experiences with REACH over the last year. She first met us at our Thanksgiving celebration in Tacoma, despite her drive being much longer than the event itself! Later that month she joined a wreath-making connection event that REACH hosted at her case management site. Three of the participants that day joined REACH staff for lunch afterwards and Asha was the life of that party, talking about all the foods she loves from her home country, cracking jokes, and playfully teasing her new friends. Throughout the following months she joined many ladies zoom chats and positive adults support groups. She naturally took the role of caregiver within each group, often starting comments to fellow participants with the phrase, “Josephine, my dear…” or “Martha, my dear…” offering encouragement and support.

This summer Asha made sure to request the necessary days off of work to attend Labor Day Getaway. She bonded immediately with another first-time participant, and they trekked to the pool every day for a refreshing swim and enjoyed attending the groups and breakouts together. She loved dancing at the “Boogie Woogie Round-up” Sunday evening, and learning the silly campfire songs. When she was called on to demonstrate a dance move at campfire, she laughed heartily while showing off her move. After all this joy and enthusiasm it caught us by surprise when she took the mic during the closing campfire on our final night and began to weep. She choked out her grief, saying, “I haven’t seen my babies in two years!” Then, “Because of REACH I now have family in America. I have never felt so loved by people I never met.”

For most of the year with us, Asha effectively hid the anguish of leaving her young adult children back home as she seeks asylum in the U.S… but in the safety of a REACH getaway, she let down her guard. No doubt she will continue to be the nurturer at group, but she also understands that she can safely be vulnerable and continue to be loved and accepted at REACH.

 

Pray for Labor Day Getaway

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The annual REACH Family Labor Day Getaway is Friday, August 30th through Monday, September 2nd. Will you please pray with us for a weekend of acceptance, safety, respite, fun, and good fellowship?

Sign up here

We have moved!

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The REACH offices have moved … we’re only a few blocks from our old location. Come visit us at:

310 N K St, Suite 200
Tacoma, WA 98403

Our phone is still 253-383-7616.

So many NEW (& amazing) REACH participants

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In the last two years, REACH has welcomed 30 new participants with HIV. Of course this means we have also welcomed their numerous family members. REACH is growing!

The stories behind the referrals are as diverse as the people themselves — brand new diagnoses, long-term survivors who just heard about REACH, immigrants, adoptees, and more. Whether the person is reeling from their recent HIV test, or feeling long-term lonely because no one “gets” their journey with HIV… we are confident that unconditional acceptance and safe community — the essence of REACH — will meet them where they need it most.

What a joyful privilege it is to introduce a new acquaintance to the community of REACH. The relief, friendship, and healing we observe is a constant reminder that what REACH offers is unique and needed.

To our supporters — thank you for keeping REACH going for 28 years and beyond. Safe community never ages, no matter how demographics or specific needs might shift.

To our referral partners — thank you for entrusting us with your precious patients and clients. Your enthusiasm for sending them our way shows how much you care about the whole person.

REACH Campers Speak Up About Camp

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Parents:

“REACH has been transformative and life-giving to each of my kids.”

New parent: “This is definitely a community. No wonder there are campers coming back every year.”

“REACH Camp is my sanctuary. As a single parent, it is hard to be able to put down responsibility and let my nervous system relax and recalibrate. When I’m at Camp, I feel my defenses come down and I can take a deep breath.”

“Next week I am having several conversations with the school and others to put together a wrap-around team for my daughter. I will be sure to keep ‘Works in Progress’ as a central guiding principle and remind myself she (and we) are doing the best we can.”

“[I had] deep one-on-ones with other parents going through the same stuff.”

“One of my favorite parts, and a time I feel I can share, is guy group. It’s a unique place with a group of guys with families and lives similar to mine. I look forward to these conversations.”

“During group I felt safe to show my emotions.”

“I felt support for my family … knowing that my kids are safe, and the worth my kids and I felt.”

“I received understanding and love.”

“People looked out for me – they encouraged me to rest, to keep holding boundaries, to keep hoping.”

“In the adult breakout groups, it felt good to share my truth and also hear the ideas of others, which can be quite different from mine.”

“In parent group several parents nodded in agreement when I described my struggle.”

“I love knowing it is only months away to face-to-face see each other. But we have Zooms to fill in the gap!”

Teens:

“I was accepted all weekend.”

“When I performed my act at the talent show, everybody clapped and celebrated me.”

“I saw many people be inclusive of the Spanish-speaking families by making an effort and offering their own skills for communicating.”

“At night when we discussed the theme, I felt safe from judgment when I offered my own thoughts in the conversation.”

“Whenever I am feeling overwhelmed by life’s expectations or unaccepted, I remember that I have a REACH family; someone who loves me and wants the best for me always.”

“If I am ever feeling frustrated or upset about all of life’s problems and expectations – and like I won’t ever be able to get myself together – I know now that there is nothing wrong with admitting that I am slowly coming together. What amazing grace is in the phrase ‘a work in progress.’”

“I felt like I could be myself and people would accept me.”

“In every group I hung out with, I could easily flow into their conversations.”

“Though I may not feel comfortable in my body and with how I look, I know that I am a work in progress. I’m not perfect, and I’ll never be, but Jesus is still making me.”

Single Adults:

“I don’t want to leave.”

“I really needed this weekend.”

“Everyone was very welcoming.”

“I was included into every group activity.”

REACH embraces new Labor Day campers

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Welcoming first-time participants into the REACH community is always a highlight. This year at camp we welcomed a Kenyan-American mother with her adult daughter, a local family of five reeling from a recent move, an Ethiopian-American college student, a young Latin American immigrant, and a young adult who brought her sister and family for support. These are incredible individuals filled with joy and hope and we had so much fun with them – playing games, laughing, singing, dancing, and having deep discussions.

Also, as trust was established, these new participants felt safe enough to voice their pain. Foster care, HIV stigma, finances, separation from family, mental health, and more. It is a profound privilege to welcome each one into a community that cares for them, shows genuine interest in them, and walks alongside them for the long haul. No matter what age or stage of life, Camp (yes, a simple summer camp!) is a powerful experience of unconditional acceptance, safe community, joy, and trust.

Will you join REACH in prayer during our Labor Day Camp?

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Our annual Labor Day REACH Camp is coming up September 1-4, and we rely on your prayers to make the time fruitful — replacing isolation with safe community, replacing stigma with unconditional acceptance, and filling hearts up with joy and trust. These lofty goals can only be accomplished through the power of the Spirit! Thank you for partnering with us in this.

 

REACH is featured on global podcast

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Last week our Director, Dan Stoehr, was the U.S. representative on “Think Orphan,” a globally-focused Christian podcast. The conversation focused on the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the world today, the challenges care providers face, and how leaders are working to overcome stigma and other obstacles. Dan emphasizes how vital unconditional acceptance and safe community are to people living under the shadow of unfair stigma. The title of the podcast is “The global HIV/AIDS Conversation.”

Access the audio or video versions by using the links below.

Listen to the podcast
Watch the podcast

Labor Day REACH Camp is coming! Calling volunteers!

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Q: What kind of Camp volunteers is REACH looking for?

A: Ones who…

  • make people feel safe
  • care about making a difference for people marginalized by stigma
  • do more listening than talking with their camper
  • enthusiastically participate in the next activity on the schedule
  • see the whole person in front of them – gifts, personality, strengths and quirks – not just the HIV
  • love campers wholeheartedly
  • are energized by providing 4 days of freedom for their camper in a judgment-free zone
Sign up to volunteer

Highs and Lows Embraced at Spring Retreat

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Our third and final installment of stories from the spring retreat:

A grieving REACH child-turned-adult arrived feeling physically and emotionally unwell. In the middle of the night her struggles intensified, and by morning she had decided she needed to find a ride home as soon as possible, despite the disappointment of missing the retreat. Friends and staff encouraged her to give it time, stating how she was loved and needed and appreciated, and we could wait patiently until she was ready to re-engage. Can you see her emerging from her cabin for Saturday’s lunch? Settling in with her tray of food between friends? Can you see her smile and talk with a twinkle in her eye that was notably absent the evening before? If you can picture all of that, then you recognize the healing touch of unconditional acceptance and safe community. REACH is a place where stigma doesn’t exist – around HIV, of course. But also around any other physical, mental or emotional struggle (or anything else) that the world would rather push to the margins.