The Regeneration Project Completes Project Serving Children of HIV Positive Parents

The Regeneration Project recently completed a 40 week project partially funded by a $20,470 grant from Employees Community Fund of Boeing Puget Sound. These youth are a much neglected group immediately impacted by the growing AIDS crisis in this country.

The Regeneration Project's Coaching For Life program works to help children of HIV/AIDS positive parents (or who are themselves HIV positive) to discover and focus on their strengths in order to be equipped for life. The majority of these youth are children of color with a single parent struggling with both life-threatening illness and the daily issues of living in poverty. This program helps children stay in school, plan for post-secondary education, resolve family conflicts, and learn to set and achieve weekly goals. Regeneration calls these services "The Gift of Hope."

There are currently 60+ youth enrolled in Regeneration's 40 week program and a second list of youth ready for Phase II of Coaching For Life. Children are referred to Regeneration from private and public social service agencies, doctors, faith-based agencies and from other local sources. All services are provided in complete confidentiality.

In addition to Coaching For Life, Regeneration provides post-secondary scholarship assistance and mentoring, leadership development, adoption assistance for children orphaned by AIDS, and family support services including hospice support. Once a youth becomes involved with Regeneration, staff and volunteers are committed to coming along side the child in the multiple need areas that arise when a family member suffers from AIDS.

The Regeneration Project was established in 2000 by Ron and Connie Lewis of Seattle, Washington who saw first-hand the devastation that AIDS has upon families (including their own family). Extensive research led the organization to focus upon children of HIV/AIDS positive parents because services for these children are not readily available, even though their futures are highly at-rist due to the terminal illness of their often single parent.

Information about The Regeneration Project is available at www.regenerationproject.org and at (800) 447-7143.