OK-CARE was the first source available to health care providers in Oklahoma, but it was woefully under-staffed and under-funded. In fact, for some time OK-CARE consisted of exactly one educator, one administrator, and one secretary to serve the entire state of Oklahoma, something that limited its effectiveness.32 While OK-CARE focused on advocacy and educating the medical community, CarePoint was one of the first organizations started to alleviate the misery of those directly affected by HIV and AIDS. Started in 1993 by Michael Harmon, CarePoint was also a nonprofit organization that offered services to Oklahomans living with HIV and AIDS in fifty-four of Oklahoma’s seventy-seven counties. CarePoint’s first president was Kay Holladay, one of the founders of OK-CARE who had some experience dealing with AIDS advocacy issues in Oklahoma. Unfortunately, private sources of funding were lacking, and the most common source of local nonprofit funds -- the United Way -refused to help CarePoint. Undaunted, Harmon took advantage of a grant from RWCA to fund CarePoint, whose mission was to provide health care and support for those afflicted with AIDS, as well as education and prevention for the community at large. CarePoint placed special emphasis on maintaining the independence of those suffering with AIDS. The need for CarePoint was acute, and the federal government apparently realized this. The program skyrocketed during its first three years in operation---from an annual budget of $90,000 and one full-time employee to a $1.2 million annual budget and twenty full-time employees. Harmon and his staff were thrilled with the expansion, but it brought its own share of headaches. “The biggest obstacle in the beginning was the rapid growth of government funding which created new programs and added additional 32
Kay Holladay, email interview by author, 10/31/2005. 332